So you’re looking for ways to improve user communication and you think that chat will definitely help with that.

To pick the best type of chat for what you’d like to accomplish, you need to be clear on a few things:

• The different types of “chat”
• What you mean when you say “user communication”
• How the different types of chat help with different kinds of user communication.

This post brings much needed clarity to those items and helps you decide the best tool for your needs.

What do you think of when you think of chat? Do you think about the opportunity to interact with a website’s customer support staff (or an AI bot) live via text so that you don’t have to actually talk to someone? Let’s call that type of functionality live chat.

Or do you think of exchanging messages with other users of the app, not necessarily live, such as what you do on Facebook Messenger, Whats App, or Slack. Let’s call that type of functionality in-app messaging.

Following so far? Good. Here’s a closer look at live chat and in-app messaging and the nature of communication that each one supports.

Live chat

What is live chat?

When you come across a website or app that gives you the opportunity to communicate with support agents in real time via chat windows you’re experiencing live chat. 

Common features of live chat tools are:

• Communicate with Sales/Support - Users of your app can instant message with members of your team
• Prompt User Interaction - Members of your team can prompt user interaction with pop-up chat boxes or wait for users to proactively reach out with questions or concerns.
• Reporting - Reporting and analytics based on the conversations
• Notifications - Interactive chat notifications for your staff
• Archive Conversations - Archiving conversations that your staff can view
  

In other words, live chat allows your users to communicate with you. It’s not intended to help your users communicate with each other. Live chat also puts most of the control of the conversation while it’s happening, and afterward, in your hands rather than your users.

When would you use live chat?

Live chat is typically used for sales and support purposes. Basically any cases where it’s helpful for a member of your team to communicate in real time with customers or potential users. Live chat is especially helpful in cases where frequently asked questions or knowledge centers alone are not sufficient.

Here are some cases where live chat makes a lot of sense:

• Customer Questions - Put live chat on your product pages to answer any questions that your visitors have about that product. 
• Help Visitors Navigate - Use live chat to reach out to segmented visitors coming to your blog to figure out what information they are looking for.
• Collect feedback - Use live chat to collect feedback in a conversational format on post purchase thank you pages.
• Connect with potential customers - Use live chat on your pricing pages to allow your sales team to answer price questions and connect with potential new customers. 
  

For example, ProductCollective uses live chat to provide visitors the opportunity to ask questions about the site, which provides insight into what product management related information people might be seeking.

Who provides live chat?

There are several companies that provide live chat solutions. Both of the examples above use products from Intercom. Other companies include Podium, Zendesk Support Suite, Zoho Desk, and Freshdesk.

If you think that live chat will fit your needs, you may want to try out one of those providers, or go to this overview of the best live chat software to help you make your selection.

In-app messaging

What is in-app messaging?

In-app messaging tools allow your users to communicate synchronously, or asynchronously, with each other.

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Think of it along the same lines as having the direct message capabilities of Slack embedded right in your app. Users can carry on conversations with each other or your team via text, voice, or video calling.

Common features of messaging apps include:

• Peer-to-peer messaging - Users of your app can chat with each other in real time, or asynchronously.
• Media attachments - Users can supplement their conversations with videos, photos, and other files.
• Push notification - Notifications of new messages in the chat thread.
• Voice & video calling - Messaging apps can expand past text chat to include voice and video.
• Group chat - multiple users can create a group chat to exchange ideas with each other.
  

In other words, messaging tools provide a great deal more flexibility for user communication in that they can communicate with you, and with each other.

When would you use messaging?

Messaging tools provide a variety of ways for your users to interact with you and each other. These tools are a great add for any app or website that’s trying to instill a sense of community. They come in handy especially when you want to provide your users a means to communicate with each other in real time or asynchronously and when your users would like to keep a history of their conversations.

Here are some cases where in-app messaging make a lot of sense:

• Live events - Virtual conferences and concerts where your users see value in connecting with each other and networking.
• Healthcare situations where it can be helpful for doctors and their patients to interact.
• Online marketplaces such as Etsy where buyers and sellers need to be able to interact with each other.
• Online social communities such as gaming communities where your users want to trash talk
• Online dating sites where your users want to get to know each other better… or both.
• On-demand services such as Uber where passengers need to be able to sync up with drivers.

Who provides messaging?

We do. Us. CometChat!!

If your app supports a community, a marketplace, or other case where your users want to interact with each other, then a messaging tool is for you and CometChat is your best bet! CometChat provides a simple, secure and scalable experience for your developers and your users.

Do you need messaging in your app?

Want to try in-app messaging in your app or website? Contact us to schedule a demo or simply learn more about how CometChat’s simple, reliable and scalable in-app messaging solutions can quickly solve your needs. You can even use our live chat box if you’d like!