The Complete Guide to Conversational Messaging | Convonite
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Overview
When running a business, customer acquisition is only half the battle—what truly defines long-term success is how you engage with your customers between clicks, conversions, and purchases. And that’s where many businesses fall short. The real question now is: how do you create meaningful, seamless interactions that build trust and loyalty?
Why Customer Experience Between Touchpoints is Critical
When running a business, customer acquisition is only half the battle—what truly defines long-term success is how you engage with your customers between clicks, conversions, and purchases. And that’s where many businesses fall short. The real question now is: how do you create meaningful, seamless interactions that build trust and loyalty?
54% of adults
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The Real Opportunity? Conversational Messaging
To meet rising customer expectations, businesses need to rethink how they communicate—beyond forms, emails, and call centers. Conversational messaging offers:
- Instant, two-way communication.
- Personalized interactions that build emotional connections.
- Higher satisfaction and retention.
And here’s why this matters:
- 80% of customers say the experience is as important as the product or service.
- 1 in 3 customers leave after a bad interaction.
- 92% abandon a brand after 2-3 bad experiences.
- 88% of business leaders admit engagement directly impacts revenue—yet only 9% feel their current engagement is excellent.
So, What’s Holding Businesses Back?
Despite understanding the importance, many companies are still behind:
- Less than 50% are investing in new engagement strategies.
- Only 40% use data effectively to personalize communication.
The Solution? Modern Conversational Messaging Platforms
If you’re serious about elevating your customer experience, you need a platform that:
- Enables real-time, multi-channel messaging (text, chat, WhatsApp, etc.)
- Automates responses while still feeling human.
- Delivers personalized messages using customer data.
- Integrates with your CRM and support tools.
By the end of this blog, you’ll understand how conversational messaging bridges communication gaps and transforms ordinary interactions into loyalty-building moments.
Evolution of Communication
Phone calls and emails are often missed or delayed. One-way promotions on social media offer no room for interaction. These outdated methods create frustration and leave customers feeling unheard.
Business communication has evolved dramatically—from face-to-face interactions and phone calls to emails, social media, and now, instant messaging. Each phase has been driven by the need for speed, convenience, and connection. Today, with technology advancing and customer expectations rising, businesses must adapt faster than ever.
Once marketing was one-sided like TV, radio, or email but today consumers expect two-way, real-time interactions. The digital noise has made customers more selective, with 80% reporting fatigue from generic, one-way engagement (Sendoso).
That’s where conversational messaging comes in.
Modern customers don’t just want to be spoken to—they want to be heard. Some prioritize instant replies, others seek personalized experiences. Traditional methods no longer meet these evolving demands.Conversational messaging bridges that gap, enabling businesses to engage customers on their preferred channels with timely, relevant, and interactive conversations. It’s not just a trend—it’s a strategic shift from transactional communication to meaningful, relationship-building dialogue.
What is Conversational Messaging?
Conversational messaging is the practice of engaging in real-time, two-way communication between a business and its customers through preferred messaging channels like WhatsApp, Instagram, or SMS. Unlike traditional one-way communication, it enables interactive conversations that are personalized, responsive, and customer-centric.
This form of messaging allows businesses to provide immediate support, share information, and build stronger relationships by tailoring responses based on customer preferences and history. It plays a vital role in enhancing customer satisfaction, streamlining service, and increasing engagement.
For example, a customer can inquire about a service, receive tailored recommendations, ask follow-up questions, and finalize a purchase—all within a single chat thread. Conversational messaging transforms basic interactions into seamless, meaningful experiences that drive loyalty and conversions.
Importance of Conversational Messaging
Modern consumers expect fast, personalized, and convenient communication and traditional channels like phone calls, emails, and social media broadcasts no longer meet those expectations.
- Rise of Instant Messaging
Instant messaging has become the go-to communication method for today’s consumers. A study by Meta found that 68% of international adults prefer businesses that offer messaging options over conventional communication methods.
- Evolving Customer Behavior
Customers are conditioned by everyday use of platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram to expect instant replies and personalized interactions. They want businesses to communicate the same way they chat with friends—convenient, fast, and human.
Conversational messaging helps in meeting the growing expectations of the modern age consumers and bridging the gaps in the conventional methods of communication by offering:
- Swift responses: With conversational messaging customers can receive swift and prompt responses to their queries that can reduce the waiting period and frustration.
- Personalization: As the conversations are one on one, messages can be personalized according to each customer’s data and preferences.
- Effective engagement: As the conversation is two way, it helps businesses foster a deeper connection and engagement with the customers to enhance their customer experience.
Landscape of conversational messaging
The conversational messaging landscape represents a rapidly growing ecosystem of platforms, technologies, and real-world applications that empower businesses to engage in real-time, two-way communication with their customers. What once began as simple live chat support on websites has evolved into a dynamic, multi-channel experience that spans messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, SMS, in-app chats, and even voice assistants. This transformation isn't limited to any one industry and businesses across healthcare, finance, travel, and more are adopting conversational messaging to enhance customer experience, streamline support, and drive engagement. It's about creating interactive, meaningful conversations at every stage of the customer journey, on the channels they use and trust most.
Popular Conversational messaging channels
There are several forms and platforms that have emerged as leaders in the conversational messaging space, offering businesses the tools they need to engage with customers effectively. These include:
SMS
Infobip’s data from 2023 shows that SMS remains an essential channel communication for business. SMS is one of the oldest forms of communication but it is still relevant in regions especially where internet access is limited. With SMS being supported by every mobile device and with a higher open rate of 98% than other channels, SMS is becoming one of the versatile channels of communication in business. Most business and brands that use a combination of the messaging platforms, 63% of the time SMS is one among the two options.
Messaging apps
Messaging apps have become a main pillar for conversational messaging. Messaging apps offer a wide range of features that help in delivering instant and seamless experience to the customers.
According to a 2024 report by Statista, India leads with the most number of WhatsApp users at 535.8 million. With Brazil ranking second in the world in WhatsApp usage with 139.3M users where 98% of the messaging app users of the country are using WhatsApp regularly. USA rounds the top three with 91.3 million active users on the platform.
With a global reach of WhatsApp being accessible in 180 countries, it is a widely used communication platform with a strong base of exceeding over 2 billion users, it has become an indispensable tool for instant messaging and global communication. In India, 80% of small and mid sized businesses consider WhatsApp as a crucial channel of communication for scaling their business. Globally, around 50 million companies are already leveraging WhatsApp for their business needs. With most of the consumers already familiar with the platform and regularly using it for their personal conversations, 39% of them have expressed their preference for using WhatsApp as their preferred channel for customer service as well. To know more about this, read our post on why small and mid-sized business need WhatsApp to stay competitive.
Viber
With over 1 billion user base and penetration of over into 190 countries, Viber is a fast growing messaging app offering free messages and voice calls along with a host of other features that is making it popular among the consumers. It supports encrypted communication for securing the conversations. Asia and the Asia Pacific region accounted for 25% of Viber’s user base.
Telegram
Telegram is a cloud based instant messaging app that is known for its end to end encryption. It has 900 million active users worldwide and is one among the top most popular messaging apps in terms of user base. While the app has users all around the globe, the majority are from Asia (38%), followed by Europe (27%), Latin America (21%), and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region (8%).
Line
Line is a messaging app that originated in Japan. It has gained popularity across several Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. It is being widely used for both personal and business communication.
Social media platforms
Social media platforms have built in messaging features for the customers to directly reach out to you from social media.
Facebook messenger
With over one billion active users every month, Facebook messenger has become the second most sought channel of communication among the consumers. Messenger is integrated with Facebook and allows businesses to connect with a wide range of audience and engage in interactive conversation with them.
Instagram direct messages
Instagram also has over a billion active users with most of the users being the young audience on Instagram. It has also started to gain the momentum of conversational messaging for business. Instagram direct allows to send text messages and media among the users within the Instagram app and supports integration with facebook messenger.
In-App chat
Though there is a big benefit to connect with your customers on apps that they are present and frequently use, many businesses want to develop their own apps to curate the best possible experience for their customers. Over 41% of the customers expect a live chat widget on websites. As of 2022, around 85% of online businesses have implemented chat options on their website. Incorporating in-app chat features within their website and mobile apps allows timely and personalized interactions with customers. This also allows your customers to reach out to you in real-time without even the need of switching to a different platform while browsing through your website or mobile app.
Benefits of conversational messaging
Benefits of conversational messaging are
- Asynchronous messaging
Messaging is asynchronous, users don’t have to stay on hold or wait for extended periods of time to get a response. Messaging allows them to multi-task and go about their routines at the same time. The conversation can keep going even when your team is offline.
- Personalization
73% of the customers expect personalized experiences but they are spammed with mass messages everywhere. With conversational messaging, businesses can tailor their messages to individual customer preferences and behaviors, leading to higher engagement rates.
- Prompt Communication
Conversational messaging can ensure real-time responses that can reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction.
- Higher Conversion Rates
Engaging with customers in real time leads to faster decisions and higher conversion rates.
- Enhanced Customer Relationships
Consistent and meaningful interactions build stronger relationships and improve loyalty towards the brand.
- Improved customer satisfaction
Resolving issues promptly and providing personalized support improves the satisfaction of customers.
Best Practices for conversational messaging
- Choose the right platforms
Choose the right channels for communicating with your customers. Identify the platforms that your customers prefer and are most actively present to cater to their needs.
- Provide omni-channel support
Ensure to provide consistent, connected and unified messaging experience across the different communication channels offered by your business.
- Personalize interactions
Use the insights from interaction history to personalize the messages to individual customer preferences and needs.
- Use automation wisely
While automation provides a smooth workflow, according to a Forbes report, 86% of consumers prefer to interact with a human agent; 71% said they would be less likely to use a brand if it didn’t have human customer service representatives available. So it is important to use automation wisely. Instead of solely relying on bots to handle your customer interactions, use automation as a tool to enhance and support your human agents. This approach combines the speed of automation with the empathy of human agents to provide exceptional customer support.
Omni channel conversational platform
As businesses embrace conversational messaging across various channels, the next big step is centralizing these conversations into a seamless, unified experience. This is where omnichannel conversational platforms come in.
An omnichannel conversational platform is a centralized solution that allows businesses to manage and engage in real-time, two-way conversations with customers across multiple messaging channels from a single interface. Instead of treating each channel like WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, live chat, or Facebook Messenger as separate silos, an omnichannel platform brings everything together under one roof.
Key Features of an Omnichannel Conversational Support Platform
Cross-Channel Unified Inbox
- A unified inbox brings all customer conversations whether they start on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, SMS, or live chat into one centralized dashboard.
- No more switching between tabs or missing messages. Your team can respond from one place while maintaining context, history, and a consistent tone of voice across every channel.
Multi-Agent & Team Collaboration
- Multiple team members can manage conversations at the same time without overlap or confusion. You can assign chats, tag teammates, leave internal notes, or escalate queries all in real time.
- This ensures faster resolution, smoother internal communication, and better workload distribution.
Identifying Users Across Channels
- Customers often switch channels, maybe starting a conversation on Instagram and later following up on WhatsApp.
- Omnichannel platforms can recognize and link a customer’s identity across all touchpoints, providing a complete interaction history. This allows agents to personalize conversations with full context, even if the platform changes.
Integrations (CRM, E-commerce, Helpdesk, etc.)
- Seamlessly integrate with your existing tools—like CRM (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce), e-commerce platforms (e.g., Shopify, WooCommerce), and help desks (e.g., Zendesk, Freshdesk).
- This helps your team access order details, customer data, or previous tickets instantly making your responses more informed and efficient.
AI-Powered Personalization
- AI enhances the support experience by offering smart suggestions, auto-replies, chat summaries, and even intent detection.
- AI chatbots can handle FAQs or lead qualification, while your agents focus on complex queries ensuring speed and personalization at scale.
Compliance & Security
- A robust omnichannel platform ensures data protection, end-to-end encryption, and adherence to platform-specific compliance requirements like GDPR, WhatsApp API guidelines, and more.
- This helps you maintain customer trust while avoiding penalties or service interruptions.
Pricing & Scalability
- Whether you’re a growing startup or an enterprise, omnichannel platforms are designed to scale with you.
- From flexible pricing tiers to features that grow with your team size and customer volume, you can start small and expand without switching systems or losing data.
Top Omnichannel Conversational Tools:
1. Convonite
Key Features
- Cross-Channel Unified Inbox: Manage WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and more from one place.
- Multi-Agent Support: Assign conversations to team members and track performance.
- Custom Chatbots & Automations: Automate workflows with tailored flows for each channel.
- CRM & E-commerce Integrations: Sync customer data with popular CRMs and platforms like Shopify.
- Omnichannel Campaigns: Run personalized messaging campaigns across all integrated channels.
2. SleekFlow
Key Features
- Omnichannel Messaging Hub: Integrates WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Line, SMS, and more.
- Workflow Automation: Trigger messages, reminders, or handovers based on customer actions.
- E-commerce Integrations: Works with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and payment gateways.
- Team Inbox with Roles & Permissions: Manage multiple agents and teams for support and sales.
- Campaign & Contact Segmentation: Filter and target users across different channels intelligently.
3. DelightChat
Key Features
- Unified Multichannel Inbox: Combines WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and email.
- Built for Shopify Stores: Direct Shopify integration for order and customer info within chats.
- Multi-Agent Collaboration: Assign tickets, add private notes, and collaborate efficiently.
- Broadcast & Campaign Management: Send bulk messages with tracking and personalization.
- Custom Automations & Responses: Save time with smart replies and rules-based workflows.
4. Infobip
Key Features
- Enterprise-Grade Omnichannel Cloud: Supports SMS, WhatsApp, Email, Messenger, In-App Chat, and more.
- Powerful APIs & Automation Tools: Ideal for developers building large-scale messaging experiences.
- Customer Journey Orchestration: Create personalized, cross-channel experiences with Flow Builder.
- AI Chatbots & Virtual Assistants: Handle FAQs, onboarding, and support across multiple channels.
- Global Reach & Compliance: Trusted by banks, telcos, and enterprises for security and scalability.
5. Rasayel
Key Features
- Unified Messaging Interface: Manage WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and more from one dashboard.
- Team-Based Collaboration: Assign chats to agents, leave internal notes, and track performance.
- Workflow Automation: Build chat flows and trigger responses based on customer actions.
- Contact Management & Tagging: Segment customers and manage conversations more efficiently.
- Analytics Dashboard: Track message volumes, agent response times, and engagement rates.
6. Verloop.io
Key Features
- AI-Powered Omnichannel Chatbot: Supports WhatsApp, Messenger, In-App, Web Chat, and more.
- Human-Agent Handoff: Smooth transition from bots to live agents based on user needs.
- Intent Recognition & NLP: Provides smart replies using advanced AI and machine learning.
- Industry-Specific Solutions: Tailored workflows for BFSI, e-commerce, telecom, and more.
- Deep CRM & API Integration: Seamlessly integrates with tools like Salesforce, Zendesk, and custom apps.
These are the tools that support omnichannel communication, offering businesses a unified platform to manage conversations across multiple channels like WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Email, and more:
| Tool | Omnichannel Support | Key Channels Supported |
|---|---|---|
| Chatzeal | ✔ Yes | WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Web Chat |
| SleekFlow | ✔ Yes | WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, Messenger, Line, Telegram |
| DelightChat | ✔ Yes | WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Email |
| Infobip | ✔ Yes | WhatsApp, SMS, Email, Messenger, In-App Chat, Viber |
| Rasayel | ✔ Yes | WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger |
| Verloop.io | ✔ Yes | WhatsApp, In-App Chat, Messenger, Web Chat |
The following tools are WhatsApp-first platforms and do not support full omnichannel communication:
| Tool | Omnichannel Support | Focus Area |
|---|---|---|
| Interakt | ✖ No | WhatsApp CRM & automation |
| Gallabox | ✖ No | WhatsApp campaigns & workflows |
| WATI | ✖ No | WhatsApp shared team inbox |
| AiSensy | ✖ No | WhatsApp drip campaigns & analytics |
| Zoko | ✖ No | WhatsApp commerce & payments |
| Zixflow | ◯ Partial | WhatsApp + Email/LinkedIn outreach |
