Live chat is a relatively new phenomenon that has taken the marketing world by storm. It is not just a tool designed to make your website look sophisticated, but it also comes with immense benefits that were either difficult to achieve in the past, or they took longer to realize. If you are running an e-commerce or even a service-based website, then you fully understand the need to optimize your website for conversions, because this is how you make your money. Though there are a myriad of ways to optimize e-commerce websites in terms of conversions, incorporating a live chat is one of the easiest, quickest, and most cost-effective ways to multiply your sales volume. With that in mind, here is a brief look at how you can boost conversion rates with live chat on any transactional or service website.
Livechat offers SEO benefits
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, the ability of a website to rank high up in Google search results. The most underrated benefit gained by engaging visitors via livechat, is the SEO benefit of having visitors stay on your site for a longer duration. Google takes into account user performance, and so each livechat conversation results in a website visitor having an extended visit, better usability stats, and hence improved SEO performance.
Smart use of canned messages
Certain platforms offer robotic chat whereby you can program a series of answers. However, these tend to turn people off and are generally inaccurate. One of the most beautiful things about live chat is that it can use canned messages. These messages are extremely useful in reducing the amount of time needed by the chat operator to type a reply. With them, you will not only shorten the duration you take to address the concerns of your website visitors, but also they will impress upon the visitor that the chat operator is caring enough to be prompt in their responses. However, when creating such messages, it is imperative that they are done professionally so that they don’t appear robotic. By increasing the speed of responses to online visitors, you are also likely to increase the website’s overall conversion rate.
Use live chat to target returning visitors
A great feature you will find in good website chat services, is the ability to target returning users on your E-commerce website. With such a feature, you can capture the user’s name and when they visit for a second time, you can greet them with a customized message and not just the generic one. Also, now that you have their names, you can send them personalized messages, trying to convert them based on their subsequent visit. You can also use this feature to offer them discount codes that are not available to anyone else, thus making them feel special and more inclined to buy from your store. You’ll not only make the visitor feel special and appreciated, but also, you will dramatically increase your conversion rates courtesy of the live chat.
Take advantage of pre-chat surveys to boost conversions
Most live chat applications offer you the power to send your website visitors personalized communications, including pre-chat surveys. This is not only a powerful way to provide unique customer experiences, but it is also a tremendous opportunity to increase your conversion rate. Good personalization is always known to increase conversion figures because you are allowing customers to feel special, and you are keen on ensuring that they have a good experience while at your store. And since studies suggest that 80% of shoppers are likely to buy when they are offered personalized experience, this is an opportunity not to be missed, to increase conversion rates of your E-commerce website.
Use chat to help each customer make up their mind
With a traditional approach, customers with concerns or questions about a product will generate inquiries mostly through email. But the problem with email is that the customer will have to wait for some time before getting a response. It becomes even worse when it is a weekend or a holiday, and with such wait time, the customer is likely to lose interest or will simply purchase from another store. However, with live chats, responses to such queries and concerns are instant. The customer doesn’t have to wait, and in just a few short minutes, they will have the clarity they needed to make up their minds. This is also the critical point whereby a chat operator can have an edge in tactfully convincing the visitor to buy the product. This is usually not possible through email, and if implemented correctly, the conversion numbers for the E-commerce store will always rise.
Integrate the live chat tool with Messenger and email
One of the greatest e-commerce marketing tools is email marketing. This is because most people will not make a purchase the first time they enter your site, but once you have their emails, you can craft email sequences with promotions and codes to entice them to buy. With the inclusion of a live chat, it will be possible for you to collect email addresses from customers and send them promotional emails at a later date. Also, if you know that you will not be available all the time to respond to emails, then all you have to do is sync your live chat software with Messenger or email so that you get notified every time a new chat is started on your website. In such a case, you will respond in real-time and you will not have to worry about losing customers and sales simply because you were not around to answer live chats.
Communicate value to site visitors using live chat
When using a third party for managed live chat services, you can always tell precisely what page the visitor was looking at when they initiated the chat. In the case of an E-commerce store, you can tell what products they are looking at, and even where they are physically located, so you get an idea what the taxes and shipping will be. With that information, you can engage them to determine whether they need more information about the product. This is also your chance to bombard them with value and tell them why they will make a good decision if they go ahead with the purchase. In case of any inquiries, you will be on standby to answer, and with this level of response, your sales numbers are likely to go through the roof.
For self-managed chat, teach your support team how to use live chat effectively
Another way to use 24 7 live chat is to ensure that your support team understands how to use it correctly. They need to learn how to enhance dialogue, be professional, communicate in a language that the customer understands, and make every site visitor feel comfortable with the business.