Increasing customer churn rates and shorter customer lifespans are posing great challenges for companies in most sectors. Data shows that the Financial and Credit sectors have one the highest churn rates at 25%.


It poses the question of how to keep customers engaged in an environment where they are constantly targeted with ads, and the efficiency of channels like email has decreased.


Another important factor to note is that the communication preferences have changed. Gen Z and younger people are not using email the way previous generations used to. Their focus has shifted to social media and conversational channels, such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger. With over 3 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp alone holds a 44.8% share of the global messaging market.

How do you keep customers engaged in 2024 and onwards?

Two-Way Conversations for instant engagement


Customers value immediate feedback and instant problem-solving, so email and usual support chats no longer fulfill the purpose. At the same time, people have gotten used to chatting with their peers, they increasingly expect the same from businesses.


Conversational channels like WhatsApp enable businesses to interact with their customers the same way they do with their peers. This means that customers can initiate a conversation with you to ask questions or get help. If you have the customers opt-in, you can also send transactional and marketing messages.

Encourage immediate action with CTA buttons

Over time, Email effectiveness has decreased. Recent data shows that the average open rate is less than 20%. This has had a great influence on the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Conversely, WhatsApp boasts an open rate higher than 90%. You can embed the call-to-action button straight into the message to encourage customers to take immediate action on time-sensitive matters such as security alerts and limited-time offers.

Boost engagement with interactive content

WhatsApp lets you insert rich media content such as visuals, videos, and buttons into the message.

This creates a highly engaging experience, encouraging users to take action. In contrast, email and SMS are limited to only certain types of content. 

Automate support with chatbots

Customers want their questions answered and problems solved immediately. However, your customer support might not always be available. WhatsApp allows you to build a chatbot that takes care of immediate questions and, in specific matters, hands the customer over to human support. 

Increase trust with Verified Business Account

Channels like email and SMS are full of bad actors who try to impersonate your business and thus damage your reputation. This has led to decreasing customer trust in these channels. WhatsApp allows you to add an extra layer of security by offering a verified business account. This gives your business a verified badge and allows you to add brand materials to your profile.


Thanks to this, customers can be assured that they are talking to an actual business. 

Implement Fall-Back Channels

What if a customer doesn't have a WhatsApp account when you are trying to send a message? No worries! Business messaging providers, including Messente, offer a fall-back solution. First, you can try to send a message via WhatsApp. If the system recognizes that the user doesn't have an account, it sends the message via, for example, SMS.


This ensures that your messages are always delivered.

Track message performance and engagement

Numerous email inboxes prevent you from getting open receipts or marking the message opened right away. This gives a false impression of the campaign's success.

WhatsApp does much better by allowing you to see if the message was delivered and seen by the customer. You can have peace of mind that your campaign is working and customers are actually engaging with the message.

Ensure security with End-to-End Encryption

Security and privacy are important, especially for the Financial Services sector. WhatsApp's encryption ensures that important customer details are always secure and not tracked by third parties.

What's next for Business Messaging?

It’s clear that WhatsApp has quickly become the preferred platform for customer communication. Messente’s seamless integration of WhatsApp alongside SMS and Viber allows businesses to easily incorporate WhatsApp into their existing messaging strategy without added complexity.

Is your business leveraging real-time conversations with WhatsApp yet?

Messente can help you, let's talk!