Start Measuring Channel Performance
After a successful Apple Messages for Business launch, work with your brands to assess the Apple Messages for Business channel performance relative to the goals set for the channel. As a Messaging Service Provider (MSP), you can help the brand set up and track certain performance measurements that are important for them. Due to Apple User Privacy Policies, Apple is unable to provide metrics to brands on channel performance.
Review the brand’s high priority items listed during Readiness Review. During the first 30 days, monitor the channel to ensure resolution of all user intents and follow the visualization path towards meeting long term channel goals.
During the first 30 days it’s helpful for the brand to pay attention to the following items:
Expected volume. Factors that influence volume are entry point placement, availability, and your contextual call-to-action (CTA). If the brand is starting with Message Suggest, determine where to place the phone number on the website. Find out how many other chat options are available to a user other than Apple Messages for Business. Review the CTAs and change them, if necessary, to match them to the user intents. Intent matching. If the brand has an automated greeting in place, start assessing some of the initial messages that users write for abandoned conversations. Determine if their messages for specific intents are listed and, if not, set up the bot to handle these types of queries correctly. Automated agent containment. Dive into the chat transcripts to see where users are experiencing more friction when working with any kind of automation. Look at how Interactive Features can help to ease friction and keep users in channel. Value of intent. Optimize for self-serve by determining if there are a high number of intents that the brand would consider to be of low value coming in through the channel and reaching agents.
30 Day Review
After the first 30 days of the brand being live on Apple Messages for Business, Apple schedule’s a review meeting with the brand. During this meeting, Apple reviews the following:
- Overall Apple Messages for Business goals set out by the brand
- Discoverability
- User experience
Prior to the meeting, the Apple Messages for Business team conducts a Mystery Shopper test to assess the current user experience. During the call, the Apple Messages for Business team discusses the results and provides suggestions to improve the user experience.
The Apple Messages for Business team reviews current entry points. Suggestions will be made in relation to the brand’s goals on how entry points can be strategically added.
Take Action to Improve the Channel
There are several actions you can take to improve your brand's channel response, such as increasing the user's ability to use entry points. You can also make tracking the channel easier by optimizing the intents used by customers.
Increase Discoverability
There are a variety of ways to increase discoverability. Make sure to take into consideration how current entry points have been implemented and see how these can be improved. Below are some best practices when looking to improve channel discovery and volume.
Add all support and store numbers to Message Suggest. Increase Message Suggest discovery by registering more numbers with Message Suggest. Brands can register individual store numbers and route them appropriately using the default intent parameters passed when a store’s phone number is tapped.
Add Apple Messages for Business buttons on brand webpages and apps. Brands should think about placing Messages buttons on their website and apps on Contact Us pages or other locations where the customer is likely to want to contact. Webpages such as ‘Product Details’, ‘FAQ page’, top menu bar or bottom footer area are key locations for placing the button. Always display message buttons with a strong call to action and context to inform the customer what they can achieve by tapping on the button.
Reduce channel confusion. Make sure that Apple Messages for Business is the preferred messaging option available for iOS users. Display the Apple Messages for Business button as the main option when viewing a mobile page on iOS. This is important to consider when guiding a customer to self serve on the website as part of a use case. Don’t have conflicting channel options display to keep the user in one channel and avoid creating multiple open cases in an agent queue.
Get creative on discovery! Think about creating opportunities to meet customers outside the website or phone. Using QR codes or NFC tags on product packaging or in physical store locations can open doors for creating valuable user experiences. Review Planning Entry Point Options for more details.
Optimize and Increase Intent Support
Create a regular process in reviewing channel performance and helping the brand to implement changes or fixes to their Apple Messages for Business experience.
Optimize current intents. Improve customer experience by adding interactive features or automated self-serve so that agents have higher capacity.
Work towards supporting more intents. Add intents that provide value to the brand in Apple Messages for Business. Implement OAuth2 so customers can achieve more within the channel versus pointing them to the phone or the website to complete. Add Apple Pay for easy and secure payments on use cases that would require a transaction.
Review Interactive Content for more ideas on what features can be used to support channel improvement.
Remember to share with Apple any new interactive feature or flow redesign for review and testing before you release.