Boost Your Brand with the Power of Business Inbox

At Rakuten Viber, we understand that in today's fast-paced world, people can easily get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages they receive on a daily basis. This is especially true when it comes to interactions with businesses and brands. That's why Rakuten Viber has introduced the Business Inbox – a dedicated space that stores all chats with verified brands on users’ screens. This feature allows for a more organized and streamlined communication, enabling people to customize their experience inside the app. 

The Business Inbox not only enhances user experience but also encourages engagement and increases brand loyalty. It allows companies to separate their messages from the general message pool on the users’ screens, ensuring that important information does not get lost in the shuffle. This ultimately leads to a more efficient interaction and benefits personalized customer service, fostering stronger relationships between businesses and their clients.

What is Business Inbox from Rakuten Viber?

The Business Inbox is a separate folder – on the regular Chats screen – designed for brand-user interactions. It serves as a centralized hub for messages from brands, enabling companies to connect with people more effectively.

Rakuten Viber has always prioritized the needs and satisfaction of its users, and this has always been evident in the features and services the company develops. With a keen focus on user convenience, the Business Inbox is designed to make communication with brands even more seamless, efficient, and enjoyable. This move further solidifies Rakuten Viber's reputation as a platform that genuinely cares for its users and goes above and beyond to ensure their comfort.

Capabilities of Business Inbox

Business Inbox allows users to tailor their Rakuten Viber experience to their preferences and effortlessly manage communication with brands. 

• Dedicated space for brand-user interactions. The Inbox provides a separate environment, ensuring that conversations between the brand and consumers are never mixed up with regular chats.
• Customization options and useful functionalities:
  • The ability to pin a specific brand's conversation at the top of the Business Inbox for easy access.
  • The option to move any brand's chat out of the Business Inbox and into the regular Chats screen for a more integrated experience.
  • The flexibility to pin any business conversation to the top of the regular Chats screen, ensuring important messages are always visible.
  • The convenience of receiving notifications about new business messages on the locked screen, keeping users informed without needing to open the app.
  • The helpful display of the number of unread business messages next to the folder's name, as well as the names of the brands users have most recently engaged with, allowing for quick and efficient navigation.

The Benefits of Business Inbox for Brands

The Business Inbox not only caters to users but also offers significant benefits to brands, creating a more robust and efficient communication channel. 

• Happy and loyal users. Separating business messages from personal chats creates a more favorable user experience. A Rakuten Viber survey conducted prior to the Inbox release revealed that 68.73% of users found the potential feature convenient, 55.5% wanted to receive messages in the Inbox, and 32.7% expected to have a more positive attitude towards business messages after the introduction of the new folder.
• Lower block rates due to the absence of the overlay that previously accompanied the first business message, indicating it was from a brand. Interacting with brands in a user-friendly manner, people are more likely to engage and be satisfied.
• Higher seen raters and CTRs. The latest Rakuten Viber data reveals that the seen rate of business messages in the Inbox is continuously growing. There are also positive trends in click-through rates. CTRs for promotional messages, for example, are above 6% compared to mid-February to mid-March 2022.*
• Trust. Messages from personal accounts without a business profile do not appear in the Inbox. Using this folder, users can be assured that they won't be contacted by private accounts that might impersonate the brand.
• Boost in visibility and engagement. The Business Inbox is conveniently placed at the top of the Chats screen by default, making it easy to find and difficult to overlook. It moves up the Chat list with every new message, even if unpinned, ensuring constant visibility.

How Business Inbox Benefits Your Customer Service

A powerful tool for customer service, Business Inbox creates a space where users are ready to be contacted by and interact with brands. Here are some of the main benefits:

• Improved customer experience: Business Inbox offers users a more organized, efficient, and personalized experience, allowing them to connect with your brand in a way that suits their preferences.
• Increased customer engagement and loyalty: People are more likely to feel valued and appreciated when they have freedom in organizing their communication with brands. It encourages engagement and builds brand loyalty, increasing the likelihood of repeat business.
• Streamlined communication: Business Inbox is a single interaction platform for users where all chats with brands are readily available. It helps users to quickly and easily find messages from your brand, which is especially valuable when you send important notifications and provide customer support.

How to Access Business Inbox

Upon launching, Business Inbox appeared for users with existing business chats in their accounts. All corresponding messages have been automatically transferred there (for Rakuten Viber version 18.0 and later). 

For those without business chats, the Business Inbox will appear upon receipt of their first business message. Once the Inbox is integrated into the Chats list, it will serve as the default destination for messages of this kind.

Rakuten Viber's Business Inbox is an innovative feature that improves user experience and increases brand loyalty. By keeping brand messages separate from personal chats, users can enjoy a more organized space, while businesses can make sure their communications are easy to find and see. 

If you’d like to learn more about Business Messages on Rakuten Viber, do not hesitate to contact our team. 

*Internal Rakuten Viber data: 1st of January - 16th of March 2023