Google Business Communications: providing extra trust.

The truth is that when we talk about Google, we first think straight about the search engine (or more specifically SEO and SEM). But Google has grown so much that it has been, for many years now, a communication platform for individuals and companies.

 

Therefore, we are not surprised to see them launch initiatives related to marketing and, much less, to telephony. They were one of the driving forces behind  mobile first concept because they understand that mobility is a change in the way we interact with technology.

 

On this occasion, we are going to talk about Google Business Communications, which is a way to verify and enrich our telephone communications with customers beyond the Internet. An interesting twist in a reality that is increasingly multichannel.

Behind every initiative of a giant like Google, there is always an analysis of something to be created to provide a solution or improve an existing aspect that is not 100% optimal.

 

In this case, the idea stems from a problem that is not strictly technical but one of usage. Users receive countless telephone communications throughout the week, many of which are simply SPAM from brands that want to sell us any kind of service.

 

Nowadays, it is very difficult to distinguish those annoying calls and messages from those that are really part of our legitimate relationship with companies with which we have a relationship.

 How many times have you received a call from an unknown phone and simply hung up without talking to them? Well, this is what you do, practically all of us do it.

 

That is why Google has launched this solution, which allows to verify the companies and, in a clear way, identify them on the receiver's phone. It is a good way to know who is calling you and even why.

 

Add to this the fact that the general public is increasingly reluctant to talk on the phone. Text messages such as SMS and live chats have become a perfect way to interact with companies because they to do so in real time. But we are not involved in an action that prevents us from doing something else at the same time (we are multichannel and multitasking).

This is a program that is starting to grow a lot. It is an initiative that, in reality, is made up of four different solutions that aim to help us generate greater trust in our business partner and, in addition, provide added value that makes communication more interactive.

 

Let's look at each of them separately.

Google My Business is one of the tools that often gets the least attention. It seems too simple, but it has more and more functions and is critical in local marketing.

 

Company profiles have long since ceased to be just a marker on a map. They incorporate more and more features, including the ability to "chat" with users.

 

Google Business Messages allows to automate part of the communication with a chatbot system to answer more complex questions than a simple: "How to go to X store". It helps to be more efficient in deeper phases of the Customer Journey and get closer to conversion and post-sales customer service.

Google Business Messages allows to answer frequently asked questions, show suggestions with images and transfer the conversation to an agent if necessary.

 

According to their own data, 53% of consumers are more likely to shop at a store that allows messaging than one that does not. What is more, 67% of people prefer to interact with a message than with a person. 

SMS marketing is as vibrant as ever. It has a high open rate, is universal across all operating systems and handsets, and is cheap.

The problem is that it is  also somewhat basic. It is great for service communications, but it is not particularly persuasive.

 
RCS comes in to make the experience much more interactive by adding advanced features, such as the ability to perform actions from within the messaging tool itself (imagine receiving the QR code for a movie ticket and being able to directly get popcorn). This results in cross-selling, upselling and, above all, in a branded user experience.

To top it off, RCS has a complete analytics system so that you can evaluate the performance of your actions.

 

The only downside is that they are not SMS as such: RCS works on the native messaging tool of the Android operating system, which leaves out Apple device users. Even so, they boast a very high interaction rate (they say that RCS users are 35 times more likely to read one of these messages than an email).

As for calls, we have already mentioned the problem that caller anonymity poses for user trust.

 

To avoid these situations, Google Business Communications has come up with this ace. Companies that are verified on the platform will appear on the phone screen identified with the business name, a Google verification seal, the company logo and you can even customize the reason for the call with a short message.

Based on the same concept, this brand experience is transferred to SMS. In a similar way, Google incorporates a verification icon, company branding and even a preview of the content of the links.

 

The result is a communication that projects much more authority and security, something to be taken into account with the number of scam attempts that occur through this channel.