{"id":14785,"date":"2018-08-24T17:42:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T16:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.intercom.com\/?p=14785"},"modified":"2024-07-25T11:57:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T10:57:20","slug":"why-live-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/why-live-chat\/","title":{"rendered":"How live chat increases conversion rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

For all the time and money we spend attracting customers to our website, isn\u2019t it odd how little we spend trying to convert them? These live chat stats will show you the conversion power of messaging.<\/p>\n

According to an eConsultancy report<\/a>, for every $92 spent acquiring prospects only $1 is spent converting them. Sure, that dollar could give you returns in spades, but in reality the odds<\/a> of that are no better than a craps table in Las Vegas. The average conversion rate for your typical marketing stack \u2013 things like forms, paid advertising or mass email \u2013 hovers<\/a> around the 2% mark.<\/p>\n

The report is a bit dated, but the underlying thinking persists: companies still spend disproportionately on top-of-funnel acquisition and neglect conversion rates down the funnel \u2013 and that’s where live chat<\/a> comes in.<\/p>\n

To paraphrase<\/a> Tom Goodwin, isn\u2019t it odd that we\u2019ll spend billions of dollars trying to have a conversation with consumers<\/a>, and in the rare moment we do, we consider it too expensive?<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s because the value of having these conversations isn\u2019t clear. To establish that value, we analyzed an aggregate dataset of 20 million live chat messages sent through Intercom to demonstrate the potential for live chat as a channel for converting visitors and driving actual revenue for your business.<\/p>\n

Here are 11 stats that speak to the conversion power of live chat (or scroll down for the full, embeddable infographic).<\/p>\n

1. Live chat delights your visitors \u2013 and your finance team<\/h2>\n

\"live<\/p>\n

Having conversations with your website visitors really does pay off. According to our data, website visitors are 82% more likely to convert to customers<\/b> if they\u2019ve chatted with you first. What\u2019s more, their accounts are worth 13% more<\/b> than those where the business didn\u2019t have a conversation before sign up. Leaning into real-time conversations isn\u2019t just a nice-to-have, it\u2019s great for capturing and converting<\/a> website visitors too.<\/p>\n

Key takeaway<\/b>: Live chat is a powerful (and underrated) channel for converting visitors into valuable customers. When someone visits your site, they\u2019re more receptive to chatting with a salesperson than, say, when they receive an unsolicited LinkedIn message.<\/p>\n

2. Even a short conversation can pay off<\/h2>\n

\"live<\/p>\n

A common misperception about live chat is that effective conversations need to be long and time-consuming. On the contrary, a quick, real-time connection makes a big difference. We\u2019ve found that just one reply in the messenger<\/a> can increase the likelihood of conversion by 50%<\/strong>; one more<\/i> reply makes that visitor 100% more likely<\/strong> to convert. A simple conversation with 6 exchanged messages makes a visitor 250%<\/strong> more likely<\/strong> to become a customer.<\/p>\n

Key takeaway<\/b>:<\/em> Live chatting for business isn\u2019t like chatting with a good friend, but the more you chat, the more likely you’ll convert them.<\/p>\n

3. Live chat increases conversion rate by focusing on \u201cwhere\u201d<\/h2>\n

\"live<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t assume your homepage is the only place to install a messenger. According to our data, visitors are actually 45% more likely<\/strong> to convert on pages other than the homepage.<\/p>\n

Key takeaway:<\/b> Think about the visitor\u2019s motivation for visiting a certain page and where they\u2019re most likely to need a real-time response. Perhaps that\u2019s on your pricing page when they are trying to choose between options, or perhaps it\u2019s on a promotional landing page when they\u2019ve clicked on an ad and are trying to figure out how your product fits their needs.<\/p>\n

4. Bots augment your (human) sales team<\/h2>\n

\"live
\nThe best chatbots are like an SDR\u2019s secret personal assistant. They streamline their jobs by taking on repetitive tasks, i.e. booking meetings, collecting lead information and suggesting help articles, so the SDR can focus on higher cognitive tasks. Indeed, our data shows that conversations with bots convert 36% better, likely because a bot can respond faster than humans for most repetitive tasks.<\/p>\n

But in our opinion they they should never pretend to be humans, nor should they completely replace humans, who are still more efficient at converting leads into customers (amongst other human-y things, like sensing low-level rage ?).<\/p>\n

Key takeaway:<\/b> Humans and bots make a lean, mean sales machine<\/a>. But ultimately, humans are still better than bots for qualifying leads and shouldn\u2019t replace them anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: it pays to chat<\/h2>\n

\"live<\/p>\n

Live chat bridges the gap between the personal, timely service that makes us loyal customers in real life with the extensibility of software and the ROI of automation. It has introduced a new way of selling and marketing for businesses, which we call conversational marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You certainly don\u2019t need to use our live chat solution<\/a> to experience these benefits, but some of our customers have experienced solid results:<\/p>\n