Oriserve

Author: Ori

  • Intelligent & Automated Response Systems: A Game Changer For B2C Revenue Through Digital Channels

    Intelligent & Automated Response Systems: A Game Changer For B2C Revenue Through Digital Channels

    If you thought it was just about chatbots and cognitive virtual assistants, you’ve been holding off a potentially 10X revenue multiplier under the hood.

    Read on to know about how conversational marketing can massively accelerate your automated conversions.

    So, What is Conversational Marketing?

    Conversational marketing is the art of giving your users the information they need to buy your product, as relevant and crisp answers to all the questions they may already have about your product.

    When executed well, conversational marketing has been known to deliver upwards of 100% revenue growth from digital channels, making it all the rage among consumer brands vying for market share in their respective categories. Conversational marketing has a proven track record across financial products (such as digital personal loans and credit card applications, where the famous ‘eligibility calculator’ doubles up as a fantastic lead-generation funnel.

    The leads that your business can receive via automated response systems are qualified, high-intent, and most likely to convert. Irrespective of what market segment you’re catering to, you’re more than likely to develop an intelligent QNA algorithm that successfully answers every consumer query about that category.

    Conversational marketing allows you to turn your industry insights into an applied vantage point, and that’s hard to match with any other conventional marketing protocol.

    How different is ‘conversational analytics’ from plain old ‘analytics’, and how does it impact your marketing strategy?

    Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 veterans are familiar with the notion of consumer web analytics (and the more savvy populace finds it easy to connect with terms like Google Analytics or GA).

    This paradigm is limited to the constructs of page views, unique users, IP clusters, demographic data, and other random data pulled together by cookie-tracking the user’s internet history.

    And while all that data does seem impressive on a spreadsheet that marketing interns can roll around every week as “reports”, they hardly ever convey the real truth behind what your users intend to do with your product offering. As a concept, conversational analytics is built upon the real-time collection of user insights as they engage in a direct & intelligent conversation with your brand.

    Consequently, the derivative learnings from such an exercise are always up-to-date and represent your user’s real-time intent. This is a priceless category of information to possess in an age of push notifications and hyperlocal retargeting of digital ads.

    While plain old analytics can give you a brief glimpse into what your user has been doing all along before stumbling upon your website or app, conversational analytics ups the game by giving you a bird’s eye view of what the user is most likely to do with your digital offer, based on exactly what they’re saying to you, or even about you.

    Predictive Intel & Social Listening: How Vodafone scaled 300 Mn.+ Conversations with ORI

    Parsing data that gets captured in conversations with chatbots is fairly straightforward. Fortune 500 companies will never need to sweat it out to hire a couple of good NLP engineers who can convert a stream of automated conversations into readable metadata.

    Social listening tools such as SprinklR and Radian6 make it easy to monitor conversations about specific keywords in real time. But when it came to the real-time application of conversational customer interactions to achieve an unprecedented scale of upselling services, Vodafone Inc (now VI) relied on the comprehensive digital intelligence offered by ORI’s fully customizable conversational analytics platform.

    After a simple study of their consumer profile, the ORI platform was able to plan and execute a multilingual assessment of customer interactions across platforms such as mobile, web, social, email, and even WhatsApp. The objective was to generate the targeted intelligence that Vodafone needed to make it worth their while.

    Move over, Hotjar and heatmaps – Enter, conversational linchpins

    The first era of the mobile web saw an explosion in “heatmap” tools such as Hotjar, where administrators had access to a graphical waveform of all the digital touchpoints left behind by a user – where they hovered their cursor (for desktop analytics), and where they touched their screens (on mobile platforms).

    The utility of these heatmaps, however, is limited to basic UI/UX redesign exercises. At most, a graphical heatmap of user interaction can be used to identify and eliminate redundant links/images.

    But when you add this capability to how users look at their own interactions with your chatbot/live agent, it can tell you a lot more, psychologically, about the impact that your conversations have on their purchase decisions. This process is deeply integrated into the best practices that make conversational analytics a real game-changer called “User Traversal Heat Mapping”. It becomes easy to identify an upsell to raving users about your product with your agents.

    It is easy to map moments of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, much before an actual “review” is recorded. That kind of intelligence is priceless in a time and age where faster and more efficient customer platforms and eCommerce portals are getting launched by the minute.

    So, Do You need a Conversational Marketing/Analytics Strategy for Your Brand?

    Strictly business-facing brands might perhaps find it prudent to ask this question while re-evaluating their marketing strategy. However, for consumer-facing businesses, it is an absolute no-brainer. If your brand fulfills the following criteria, you will most definitely benefit from investing in the right conversational analytics platform:

    1. You operate an online consumer aggregator/marketplace
    2. You run a digital-only storefront with physical fulfillment & logistics
    3. You manage the digital presence (and cataloging) of a physical consumer brand
    4. You’re a banking/BFS/fin-tech product
    5. Your profitability is tied to your customer-centricity
    6. NPS & CE/CSAT is your main performance metrics

    If the answer to any of these arguments is yes, there lies incredible value for your brand to explore ORI’s industry-leading solutions in conversational marketing and analytics.

    ORI offers a complete suite of Gen-AI powered sales, customer service, and support automation solution, as well as a platform that actionably uses the corpus of your customer interactions to train further and strengthen your communications strategy.

    This directly translates into better BPS scores, enhanced customer satisfaction, and increased customer loyalty all through the power of conversations. And, book a demo with our experts if you are looking for something like this.

  • Google Business Messaging: Use Case For Marketers

    Google Business Messaging: Use Case For Marketers

    Almost every business looking to create a profitable online presence has one primary objective in mind, which is customer engagement. A very common but effective method for businesses to achieve this on online platforms is through messages or other mediums of interaction. These interactions are crucial as they bring benefits for both the business and its customers.

    A recent survey by Google says that about 76% of consumers are interested in purchasing products using chat or messaging. As a customer, messaging a business will give them a better idea of what products or services are available. As for businesses, having a one-on-one, real-time interaction with a customer can create a better customer experience, leading to increased sales and brand affinity.

    What is Google Business Messaging?

    At present, consumers depend heavily on search engines to find what they may be looking for. The Google Search button receives close to 3.5 billion searches a day. Out of these searches, 35% are made regarding certain products, and another 34% involve individuals trying to find a business or service that will cater to their needs. Users come to Google to find solutions. Google Business messages enable brands to connect with their users directly, at the time and place their needs arise.

    Google Business Messages helps consumers go beyond just finding a list of relevant services and businesses. Present alongside the company’s name in organic search results, this tool acts as an inbuilt online channel for communication between the customer and a brand.

    A multitude of global brands and businesses use Google Business Messages along with integrated automation, such as Marketing and Sales bots, to help customers connect with their brand faster and in a personalized manner.

    The following article outlines how Google Business messaging (GBM) provides tangible results for a business across functions of engagement, lead generation, and customer retention. We then discuss the entry points for GBM and then discuss how your brand can benefit by using Google Business Messages as part of it’s marketing and customer experience strategy.

    Why Use Google Business Messaging?

    Google Business Messaging helps customers interact with a business directly from Google Organic Search Results in real-time. However, according to Google, the tool goes further than just a platform to converse. GBM can conveniently double up as a free marketing tool.

    To demonstrate how GBM can be used as a marketing tool, consider the following use cases: 

    1. Guide Customers with Product discovery:
      Consumers tend to use the Google search engine as a way to find solutions to a specific need. About 92% of online user journeys start from a Google Search!

      If this is the case, then the GBM tool is capable of aiding in the search by allowing customers to have conversations regarding products and services directly with the business. Through Google Business Messages, your brand can deliver helpful, timely, and tailored engaged experiences in the moment your customers need solutions – wherever they are.

      By doing so, a business can help pique a customer’s interest to make an actual purchase. For example, a customer can get in touch with a relevant business via a chat on the brand’s GBM channel by clicking on the chat below an Organic search result and understand more about product details, specifications, and other product nuances.

      The same Google survey quoted above – found that 72% of consumers would make a purchase online if they could get answers to questions in real time. Additionally, Organic search queries are typically from customers with higher intent. Google Business messaging integrated with an automated Marketing bot considerably aids customer product discovery leading to higher conversions. 

      This real-time product discovery through conversations – not only aids purchases but has a positive rub-off on your brand too. Using Google Business Messaging gives your brand a higher chance to aid the customer from product discovery to consideration to an actual purchase.
    2. Hub for FAQs:
      For businesses offering high-value products or services, customers may have several questions regarding the price, location, available inventory, and list of services that are available.

      Potential customers need not fish for this information on websites. Rather, they can use the GBM channel to ask their questions and receive a quick response. This not only helps the customer to find out whatever they desire about your brand, but it may also increase the trust that the customer has in the abilities of the business.

      When it comes to customers looking to buy products, they can find out information regarding shipping charges, terms, and conditions, or information about repairs. All this -directly from Google Search Results or Google Map listings of your brand.

    Personalized Customer Experience to Create Meaningful Connections Quickly

    Today’s digital customers – are expecting more information and more personalization – quickly. Through customer conversations On Google Business messages – your brand can draw deeper insights into what a particular customer is seeking.

    Through this, a personalized offering or experience can be created for the user, along with a personalized set of recommendations. This improves customer engagement and retention as they browse and learn more about your brand, while at the same time helps your brand craft meaningful interactions with customers.

    This helps the user view your brand on a more personal note instead of as a corporate entity, driving higher affinity.

    Improved Branding & Improved Customer Retention

    Customers want to feel special. Having a presence on GBM improves your brand presence by delivering real-time, improved, and customized customer experiences. When these experiences are done right – they leave a memorable experience for the customer, making them feel special.

    Through GBM, these experiences are delivered directly to the user one-on-one, helping your users get what they want when they want. This creates a sense of trust, loyalty, and referability.

    Entry Points To Google’s Business Messages

    Customers looking to interact with your brand through Google Business Messages can do so through various pathways. These pathways are known as entry points. Businesses can enter into a conversation with a customer through an AI Marketing or sales Bot integrated with the GBM channel, bringing a potential customer into the sales funnel.

    The three most common entry points for users to access your brand’s GBM channel are:

    1.  Google Place Sheets from Organic Search Results:
      This refers to the entry point that a customer can find at the bottom of a search result for a particular location. For example, let’s say an individual is searching for a restaurant near them. The search query is displayed, and the closest restaurant will be present on the list of search results with the option to message the business. This option usually involves a call to action like “Chat” OR “Chat with Agent,” displayed right after the “Call business “option.

      Having this option significantly improves ROI from your brand’s search marketing & SEO efforts – giving customers an even easier and more direct way of interacting with your brand.
    2. Google Maps:
      The second entry point is via Google Maps. When a user searches for a location-specific brand query – Example: VI store in Ranchi – they will be able to start a chat with the GBM bot directly via the search by clicking on the “Chat” option from the featured snippets.

      This entry point has worked really well for location-specific businesses such as cafes, and restaurants as well as large retail chains across categories such as electronics, jewellery, spectacles, etc.
    3. Customer Care Search Queries:
      This entry point involves search queries centered around customer care numbers that an individual may be looking to find.

      For example, a customer may search specifically for the customer care number of your brand. With Google Business messaging-enabled – The result of these search queries will showcase a “Chat” option, right beside the “Call” option.

      It is worth mentioning that the more entry points that a business possesses, the higher the chances of individuals finding the business. The presence of these entry points makes the process of engaging customers hassle-free and very effective. Entry points to Google Business messaging can further be enhanced through the use of web widgets on partner websites or third-party websites.

      These widgets would create an additional conversation entry point for your brand’s Sales bot on Google Business Messages. You can even send a direct URL through email, SMS, and social channels.

    How Can Your Brand Benefit From Google Business Messages?

    The benefits of using Google Business Messages for your brand are manifold. Apart from delivering personalized, contextual, and immediate two-way communication – here are the top 3 benefits:

    1. Lead Conversion:
      Connect with Customers where they are most likely to convert. Google Organic Searches and Google Map searches have higher customer intent and a higher propensity to convert.

      Google Business Messages helps your brand respond to these high intent, high propensity customers quickly, in their time of need – elevating the customer experience, improving credibility, and improving conversions. It’s a win-win-win!
    2. Offering Hyper-Personalised & Hyper-Relevant Recommendations:
      Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all approach. Customers are looking for customized offerings and customized solutions. Google Businesses Messaging helps your brand do just that.

      Personalizing offers, and product recommendations based on conversational insights, user intent, interests, previous shopping patterns, and questions asked in the conversation. 
    3. Improve ROI:
      Google’s Business Messages integrates with Google’s organic search to give customers more opportunities to find and engage with your brand. This increases your brand’s search engine equity and helps garner higher ROI on your brand’s SEO efforts.

      With integrating Google Business Messaging, the keywords you rank for organically can now lead to direct conversations that turn into sales. It’s yet another win-win!

    To Conclude:

    Google’s Business Messages is an effective channel through which businesses can represent their brand to customers in the best way possible. Customers are no longer left in the dark about a brand but can find out everything they desire through a simple direct message.

    With GBM, businesses can always ensure positive customer experiences delivered in real-time, at their moment of need. Schedule a demo with our experts to know more.

  • 4 Ways Conversational AI Can Increase Conversions for Banking & Insurance

    4 Ways Conversational AI Can Increase Conversions for Banking & Insurance

    Products and services offered by banks and insurance companies can be pretty confusing and complex. From a multitude of products and services such as individual and family accounts, salary accounts, PF accounts, wealth management schemes, various FD schemes, etc.,  choosing the right one is never easy.

    Buying insurance is even more confusing, the insurance plan, term and offering that is perfectly suited is not easy. Not to mention the many additional add-ons and covers such as ULIP-linked insurance plans, zero depreciation cover, roadside assistance, various health insurance covers etc. only add to this chaos.

    Increasing digital adoption in the banking and financial services industries across the globe today is driven primarily by the increased use of smartphones and affordable data services. Additionally, the comfort of accessing online services in remote geographical locations has also paved the way for banks and insurance providers to offer digital-only propositions.

    Many banks and insurers face a challenge in converting users, providing them a positive user experience and retaining them online. A Digital Insurance Survey conducted by PwC in 2019 showed that 47% of insurance purchasers in India depend on online information channels to make decisions.

    However, banks and insurance companies struggle to drive traffic on their digital platforms, and retain their existing customers thereby missing out on opportunities for up-selling and cross-sell relevant products to them. And even in cases where BFSI brands can drive users to their online platforms – conversion rates are extremely low.

    Multiple banks and Insurance providers are using technology and innovation to connect better with their online users, build a connection and drive more conversions.

    Conversational AI and AI Sales Reps are one such method. Through the use of conversational AI, BFSI brands can increasingly convert traffic to customers, improve retention and improve customer lifetime value.

    How? Let’s take a look:

    Creating Human-like interactions and individualised solutions at scale – Using AI Digital Sales Reps:

    A second-order effect of BFSI going digital is the lack of face-to-face interactions between customers and agents. Users are looking for specific solutions that can help them and not a one-size-fits-all approach.

    There is a need for BFSI brands to create trust and maintain relationships with their digital customers. However, the challenge is to provide insightful and customised guidance to customers that will help them make the right decisions – the same way as a trusted financial advisor would.

    “Let’s face it – people do not like being sold to – they like being recommended to.”

    Today, people expect high-quality, frictionless digital interactions and offerings that have been tailored for them and their needs.

    Banks and Insurance providers need to bring back the personal connection and interactions they have been running on for centuries, which has now become difficult to replicate online.

    One way to do this is through the use of Conversational Gen-AI agents that make the customer experience more individualised, human-like and human-friendly. Banks such as Citibank, and JPMorgan have introduced digital, self-service banking options, via automated financial assistants, to perform tasks like tracking budgets, product discovery and making payments. 

    Additionally, these automated financial assistants have helped customers with curated suggestions and recommendations basis the bank’s offerings – creating a heightened customer experience and a deeper level of personalisation and engagement.

    These autonomous AI financial agents can efficiently:

    • Have a conversation and understand what the customer wants.
    • Understand the context of the customer’s needs.
    • Adapt the conversation in real-time to suit the language and slang of the customer. 
    • Recommend products and services based on the customer’s preferences and previous actions.
    • Automate lead scoring and enrich the CRM in real-time – for picking up conversations later.

    Acquisition, Upselling and Cross Selling through AI-driven Conversations:

    With the complexity of financial and insurance products, about 85% of customers want to learn more about the specifics of a product, understand its nuances and in most cases – prefer to speak to a representative to understand these.

    What if the same degree of conversational ease could be translated digitally and at scale? A smart AI sales rep will ask pertinent questions about the prospect’s age, and family members, and use other factors and data points to then suggest a suitable banking or insurance plan tailored to the user’s needs.

    By having personalised, context-rich and tailored interactions with current policy owners, Ori’s Cognitive AI Sales tool – Convert, launched for a global Insurance brand increased customer engagement by 12% and upsell instances by 8% within 3 months.

    ORI’s AI Platform – Convert captured all previous customer conversation information, CRM data and behavioural insights using the same to preemptively guide prospects to closure, simultaneously enriching the CRM with new conversational analytics and insights.

    Up-Sell & Cross-Sell Using Conversational AI:

    Conversational AI assistants have helped banks and insurance providers up-sell or cross-sell products and services through a personalised and focused strategy.

    Banks and Insurance providers can use conversational insights to build custom audience groups and behaviour-based cohorts to contextually upsell and cross-sell products with hyper-personalisation.

    These insights can be used to create highly targeted and personalised automated outbound conversational campaigns using Google RCS, Whatsapp Pixel and conversational ads.

    Let’s understand more about cross-sell instances through an example:

    A male in his late thirties who is purchasing car insurance would most likely have a family. Through conversations via the digital sales rep – data on a number of family members, age of family members, locations etc can be captured.

    This can be used to send personalised communication around a possible family health insurance, Term Insurance etc. – thereby increasing the engagement with the user and the user LTV with the brand.

    Another example would be: If an existing customer having health insurance has put in a claim, he would most likely be looking to increase his Insured amount by opting for an Insurance Top-up or also purchasing a family health insurance plan.

    Capturing Real-time Insights, Intent & Context through Conversations:

    KAI, a conversational AI platform developed by Kasisto (NYC, USA). It has helped banks decrease the call centre volume as customers are given self-service options and solutions. These digital assistants on the platform also give the customers calculated recommendations to help them make everyday financial decisions.

    Another example is the money-saving AI assistant, Trim. The smart software connects to user accounts and keeps track of all spending activities. The assistant helps users eliminate unnecessary subscriptions, offers suggestions for services like insurance and even negotiates bills. According to a VentureBeat article in 2016, Trim could save $6.3 million for over 50,000 users.

    Conversational AI platforms like KAI and Trim work the same way a human financial advisor would. However, these have a layer of machine learning and are able to manage these recommendations at scale, while at the same time sending data back into CRM and Marketing automation systems to create behaviour-based cohorts and user segments at a granular level.

    These insights help re-target and re-engage customers through marketing automation tools, conversational AI tools and digital sales reps. These insights can also be extremely useful for sales agents, helping them strike a relationship with customers and tailor the most relevant recommendations for customers.

    Real-time Feedback through Conversations:

    Knowing what customers and users are saying about your brand can draw deep insights into customer perceptions and help understand their pain points.

    Banks and insurance providers, using Conversational AI platforms can truly understand what customers and users are actually saying about them and the questions they have about their offerings.

    These insights can give a deep understanding of user perceptions and pain points, helping improve customer experiences, product positioning and communication. Understanding customer conversations can help create better value propositions that clarify issues immediately and provide a simple communication path that makes customers feel comfortable and connected.

    Using conversational analytics can give some in-depth insights into consumer perceptions, behaviour and intent.

    Conclusion:

    In conclusion, digital sales have become a new crucial benchmark for Insurance and banks as more and more people shift to digital-first solutions and services. However, they must also make sure that the relationship with the customers remains intact.

    Gen-AI Agents helps with this as it adapts and learns to provide a more human-friendly and tailor-made experience for every customer. Schedule a demo with our experts, if you want to experience it firsthand.