Connecting with your audience through Rakuten Viber at all steps of the customer journey

In a digital world, the customer’s path to purchase is no longer linear. Instead, people move back and forth across multiple channels, devices, and touchpoints, before finally converting. The customer journey is constantly evolving.

This new path to purchase is complex and can be difficult to track and understand. However, it’s important for marketers to try to map out the marketing journey and identify the key touchpoints that influence purchase decisions.

There are a few key ways that the customer journey is changing in the digital world:

• First, buyers are now more likely to start their journey on a mobile device. This is because people are increasingly using their smartphones for everything from entertainment to research to shopping.
• Second, customers are more likely to move back and forth between different channels during their journey. They may start on a mobile device, but then switch to a desktop computer to do more research. Or, they may see an ad on TV and then go to a website to learn more.
• Third, people are interacting with more touchpoints than ever before. In addition to websites and apps, they’re also interacting with social media, chatbots, and voice assistants.

In our hyper-connected world, businesses need to be where their audiences are — and that means being on Rakuten Viber. With over 1 billion users worldwide, Rakuten Viber is one of the most popular messaging apps. And it’s not just for personal use — Rakuten Viber for Business solutions let brands connect with their audiences in a variety of ways, from native ads and creative stickers to bots, channels and one-to-one business messages.

Viber offers a number of features that make it ideal for businesses of all sizes, from small businesses to enterprise companies. Rakuten Viber Business Messages are especially effective for retailers, e-commerce, banks, logistics and medical companies while Rakuten Viber Advertising Solutions are highly recommended to all brands. Connecting with customers in a new way doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

Here are four ways businesses can use Viber to connect with their audiences at all stages of the customer journey:

1. Reach new audiences.

Viber has a number of ways to connect with new audiences. With Rakuten Viber Ads, businesses can target ads to specific groups of users based on age, gender, location, and interests. And while Rakuten Viber Business Messages are for brands that have their own customer data (existing and potential clients), brands can share news, product updates, and special offers to inform their audiences about new features or activities, thus building awareness. Also, co-promotions with other brands have proven to be successful in using Viber to reach more people.

2. Engage with your customers.

Viber lets businesses engage with their audiences in a variety of ways. With one-to-one business messages, brands can reach out to individual customers with personalized messages. And by using rich media capabilities, marketers can share photos, videos, emojis with their audiences to engage them in a more visually appealing way. Creative Rakuten Viber Stickers and Branded Lenses are another great tool to increase visibility and engage with your existing and potential customers by using viral and interactive solutions. Also, Rakuten Viber Chatbots will help your brand to identify new and existing audience segments on Viber to engage the discussion on your bot and target them with custom offers.

3. Support your buyers.

With Rakuten Viber Business Messages, companies can easily send transactional messages, such as appointment reminders or shipping updates, as well as to provide real-time customer support via conversational capabilities. And with Rakuten Viber Chatbots, brands can answer customer questions, provide information, operate services such as booking a hotel room or ordering a pizza, and even sell products. 

4. Measure your success.

Track key metrics, such as messages sent, messages delivered, viewability and CTR, and generate detailed reports that help track your performance over time.

If you are more accustomed to a traditional marketing definition of a customer journey, then you are probably thinking of the steps your buyers take to go from being unaware of your brand to becoming loyal customers. But as times and technology change, so do the ways people discover and connect with brands. Rakuten Viber can be a great way to connect with your audience at all steps, from discovery through conversion. Let’s look at Rakuten Viber’s role in the textbook definition of a path to purchase.

Awareness

Use Rakuten Viber to reach out to potential customers who may not be aware of your brand. You can do this through Viber Ads or by using chatbot marketing.

Consideration

Once someone is aware of your brand, it’s time to get them interested in what you have to offer. Use Rakuten Viber Chatbots and Business Messages that can also help you run competitions or giveaways.

Decision

Now it’s time to get people to take the plunge and buy from you. Use Rakuten Viber Business Messages and Chatbots to offer exclusive deals and discounts. You can also use Viber to upsell and cross-sell products.

Loyalty

Once someone has bought from you, it’s important to keep them as a customer. Use Rakuten Viber to send out loyalty coupons and rewards. You can also use business messages and chatbots to ask for feedback, reviews and provide automated or real-time customer support when they need you.

In conclusion

By using Rakuten Viber to connect with your audience at all stages of the customer journey, you can ensure that you’re always providing the best possible experience for your customers. From awareness to the possibility of two-way communication and conversion, Rakuten Viber allows businesses to engage with their customers in a unique way. 

As we continue to move into the digital world, the customer journey is constantly changing. It's important for companies to stay ahead of the curve and understand how their audiences are interacting with their brand. By understanding the customer journey, businesses can provide a better overall experience and create loyalty among their consumer base. 

Attract new clients, increase engagement, and measure the success of your marketing campaigns. Rakuten Viber is an affordable and effective tool that can help your businesses reach their goals. If you’re not using Rakuten Viber to connect with your audience, now is the time to start.