Recently, Google announced new functionality that allows businesses to message customers right from Google's My Business desktop and mobile Interface. 

Visitors who discover your Google By Business Profile in their search results can engage with your listing by clicking through to your website. They can request information like find the nearest location, receive a quote for services, or message your business with a question. Today, more and more people use their mobile devices to search for local companies. 

Before Google added messaging, businesses responded to messages received from customers through their Google listing by logging into the Google My Business app. Now you can build connections with consumers and communicate in ways that enhance their experience. You can display wait times, provide answers to FAQs, or allow them to connect with a live agent. And, no longer limited to simple messaging, you can implement loyalty programs, upsell with product catalogs, schedule service appointments, and even let them purchase a product in Google Business Messenger.

Companies like Radiance Commerce provide brands with automation to manage cross-channel business messaging. You can consistently drive customer engagement with personalized and interactive content across Facebook Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, and Instagram Messaging .

Almost every business is on Google, and offering messaging will make responding to customers more practical, efficient, and faster. To set up Google My Business Messaging as an option for your business, all you need to do is log into your Google Business Profile and click on messages on the left side of the menu. You will need to ensure your listing has first been verified; if it is, you'll see a "Turn on Messaging" option in the top right corner. Just click on it to activate messaging for your business, and the message button will appear on your listing. Business and marketing managers can download the Google My Business app on their phones and receive a notification when they have received a message. It's best practice to make sure someone on your team responds to messages within 24hrs. Otherwise, Google may disable the functionality. 

You could avoid that happening altogether by using a Messaging platform because you can offer customers instant and automated responses. For example, Radiance Commerce uses Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to power conversations and understand customers' intent. This means it will answer customer questions the best it can before transferring to a live agent; the customer can always speak with a live agent at any time. 

Customers have told us how they want businesses to communicate. Both publishers and major brands are embracing digital transformation by adopting customer-preferred channels that allow the personalization needed to build deeper connections with customers and slowly phase out less effective methods like direct mail and cold calling.

Business messaging enables teams to be more productive and efficient. Routing calls to chat or chat to calls to improve customer service or product carousels to drive engagement and mobile payment methods increase sales. 

About Radiance Commerce

Radiance Text-to-Order platform helps brands generate orders through messaging channels like SMS, Messenger, Instagram, and Google Business Messaging. Our platform provides sophisticated tools to build automated and feature-rich workflows that create a frictionless experience for your customers. We use Natural Language Understanding (NLU) with entity-extraction technology to truly understand your customer's intent. 

Contact Radiance Commerce to learn how we can help you generate revenues from messaging channels