Envolve Entrepreneurship successfully organized its 7th Live Webinar, titled "Business Messaging Is the New Normal", with the participation of Apifon, represented by Konstantinos Stroumbakis, Founder & CEO, Nikoleta Gonianaki, Head of SMEs, and Christos Stergiopoulos, Marketing Coordinator.
Envolve Live Webinars are organized by Envolve Entrepreneurship organization which aims to support individuals and groups with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, education and innovation.
The Apifon team cited practical examples in discussing the importance and potential that business messaging can offer as a business communication tool.
Opening the discussion, Konstantinos Stroumbakis stated that in the next ten years we will be seeing many changes in the messaging field, as the way in which we communicate is constantly changing.
"We started Apifon with a desire to help companies send messages, as they realize their need to communicate directly with their customers. Following the latest trends, we created a platform with multiple communication channels, enabling businesses to communicate with their clients on this channel they choose to spend more time".
Business messaging is a powerful tool for businesses and provides unique features that one does not find in traditional messaging. As Konstantinos Stroumbakis mentioned, business messaging improves customer experience and makes the communication between businesses and consumers easier and more targeted by utilizing automations based on their customer journey.
"I would say that Business Messages are the ideal tool to communicate directly with your customers. Imagine SMS messages to which you can add tools that are now essential in modern digital communication - Logos, images, long texts, smart links and much more. These opportunities are offered by Business Messages, e.g. on Viber", he noted.
Asked about the new trends in the international market, the founder of the company pointed out: "Internationally, the momentum is positive for business messaging, a fact that is confirmed by the investment activity by the biggest companies in the market. In this market, where in 2021 the global messaging app user base is estimated to grow to 2.48 billion, Apifon is claiming a share and is developing its multi-channel platform for this purpose, with a special emphasis on information security.
To give an illustration, Nikoleta Gonianaki presented a demo on how a company can use Apifon’s services, inviting viewers to register on a Sign up form built on the Apifon platform to receive a business messaging campaign on their mobile phones.
Christos Stergiopoulos, on his talk, stressed that business messaging can be a powerful marketing tool, as the way in which people search for services and goods on the internet has changed dramatically. "Now, almost the entire customer journey takes place on mobile, and businesses, following this shift of users to mobile channels, are actively adopting business messaging services and modern marketing campaigns."
Regarding SMS, he said that this is the main mobile marketing channel, showing excellent results in recent years. This is due to the fact that SMS provides a global, fully deliverable communication. Its average statistics are equally impressive; SMS has an open rate of 98% and, on average, a message is read in less than 90 seconds. This fact gives this particular medium a unique advantage.
Regarding Viber, he pointed out its great penetration in the Greek market: "In recent years, chat apps such as Viber, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, together with their unique features, have become increasingly popular. Today, more than 2.5 billion people use at least one messaging app. Turning to the Greek reality, Viber is the favorite chat app among Greek users. About 1 in 2 Greeks use the Viber application daily, as our country has one of the highest penetration rates of the application worldwide. The plethora of features that Viber offers to businesses make the application a must-have option for all businesses. "Through Viber business messages, users have the opportunity to interact with a business in the context of an interactive and content-rich environment", said Christos Stergiopoulos.
In his conclusion, Konstantinos Stroumbakis stressed that the automation of the communication process is an important piece for companies and is based on the data provided by their own customers. Also, they have to keep their eyes open for market trends, competition, and the channels people use the most.
