What is Digital Engagement? Let’s Deep Dive

These days, customers are more demanding than ever, particularly when it comes to communication or engaging with an organization. This means that organizations require the ability to properly connect with customers as and where they are – be it social media, SMS, WhatsApp, or plain vanilla email. In response, businesses need an integrated system to support and effectively coordinate multi-channel customer relations. That is where digital engagement comes into play. Salesforce Digital Engagement is a perfect example of how companies can take care of customers on one platform and improve communication and customer experience.

But what is Digital Engagement, and how does it fit in the Salesforce landscape? In this blog post, we will learn more about digital engagement, understand its pros and cons, and see how, with this thing known as DEOS—or Digital Engagement on Steroids—we can make customer engagement even better.

What is Digital Engagement (DE)?

Digital Engagement or DE as a high-impact Salesforce product that allows organizations to coordinate customer interactions through various digital channels within Salesforce. This can be considered the ultimate solution that connects you to customers with features such as SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, email, and many more.

This solution is precious for customer support, with integrated chat to provide real-time customer support without switching between apps. For instance, in the Salesforce SMS Digital Engagement, customer service representatives can conveniently handle text interaction from within the Salesforce environment for convenience and real-time servicing.

The primary objective of Salesforce Digital Engagement is to provide a seamless customer experience across multiple digital touchpoints and ensure that all customer information remains centralized within Salesforce. It assists organizations in providing customers with diverse experiences by connecting to different facets of the Salesforce Clouds, including Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, to provide representatives with a comprehensive customer view.

What are the Limitations of Digital Engagement in Salesforce?

Despite the numerous benefits of Digital Engagement Salesforce SMS, and other channels, the platform does have some limitations. While it’s great for streamlining communications, businesses can encounter several issues that might hinder their ability to fully leverage the tool.

Salesforce Digital Engagement Limitations

1. Inflexibility in Starting Conversations: Another limitation of DE is that the businesses themselves cannot start a conversation with the consumers. This can be annoying for the customer service representatives, especially when they relay calls to the clients to ensure that they support the customers even before they call them back.
2. Continuous Availability Requirement: Service reps need to be logged into their systems for the entire day to show their availability. This could lead to a lack of flexibility for service teams, preventing them from working efficiently or taking breaks when necessary.
3. High Costs and No Free Trial: DE doesn’t offer a free trial, and a license can cost $75 per user per month. This might be a barrier for smaller businesses or those wanting to test the platform before committing financially. 
4. Limited Bulk Messaging Capacity: Salesforce SMS Digital Engagement supports bulk messaging only through Process Builder and caps the number of records you can message at once to around 200-300. This can be a major hurdle for larger organizations that need to reach more customers.
5. Expensive Automated Conversations: Automation is critical for modern customer service, but the built-in Einstein Chatbots are costly, charging around $100 per 25 conversation sessions. This can add up quickly, making it difficult to implement on a large scale.

Service Provider Limitations

1. Complex Configuration and Setup: Setting up Digital Engagement can take more than a week, and the process is fairly complex. Moreover, a support team is required for the setup, which adds extra overhead for businesses that don’t have in-house technical expertise.
2. Limited Support Options: Salesforce’s support system is far from perfect. Contacting support is limited to email, and the response time can take more than 24 hours, which isn’t ideal when immediate technical assistance is needed. Phone support is available, but it comes with an additional cost of $1,000 for a Premium account.
3. Slow Response Times: Despite connecting with support, the firms still endure long response times, more than 24 hours on average. This can, however, be a disadvantage for companies handling sensitive customer service complaints.

The Solution: Enhancing Salesforce Digital Engagement with DEOS

Fortunately, businesses aren’t limited to the standard features and constraints of Digital Engagement Salesforce SMS. DEOS (Digital Engagement on Steroids) steps in as an advanced solution to tackle the shortcomings of DE. It enhances your communication channels, provides greater flexibility, and improves overall productivity for customer service teams.

Overcoming Product Limitations with DEOS

1. Initiate Conversations with Ease: Unlike standard DE, DEOS allows businesses to send the first message and initiate conversations with customers. This proactive communication can significantly improve customer service response times and satisfaction levels.
2. Increased Bulk Messaging Capacity: With DEOS, the limitations around bulk messaging are removed. Businesses can send messages to millions without relying solely on Process Builder. This is especially helpful for large-scale customer outreach campaigns.
3. Cost-Effective Automation: DEOS offers no-code chatbots, another benefit. We can’t overlook the importance of chatbots for businesses. Undeniably, Chatbots are the fastest-growing interaction source. DEOS chatbots allow businesses to automate routine customer inquiries, ditching the high costs associated with Einstein Chatbots and helping improve response times while keeping costs low.
4. Improved License and Pricing Structure: DEOS offers more flexible pricing options and reduced SMS and WhatsApp messaging costs, making it a more attractive solution for businesses of all sizes.

Addressing Service Provider Challenges with DEOS

1. Quick Setup and Support: DEOS provides a more streamlined and faster setup process. Businesses no longer need to wait more than a week to go live. Additionally, DEOS comes with more robust support, offering quicker response times and access to real-time support channels.
2. Flexible Configuration: With DEOS, the configuration process is simplified, and it can be done without relying heavily on external support teams. This empowers businesses to get up and running quickly and efficiently.
3. Enhanced Support Options: Unlike the traditional DE, DEOS provides more comprehensive support with minimal turn-around, reducing the need for expensive Premium accounts or slow email support.

Now, let’s take a closer look at some common questions about Salesforce’s digital engagement to understand it better in a few words.

What Does Digital Engagement Include in Salesforce?

Salesforce Digital Engagement helps add various interaction channels in Salesforce so that businesses can offer a consistent and satisfactory omnichannel experience. These channels include SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc. Users can use these channels in Salesforce Clouds, such as Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, making it easier for businesses to handle customer relations.

What is Salesforce Account Engagement?

Salesforce Account Engagement means Pardot. This is a marketing automation tool in the Salesforce suite that assists in the identification, nurturing, and sales management of leads.

Final Thoughts

While Salesforce SMS Digital Engagement is an excellent tool for managing customer interactions, it does come with its limitations. However, with DEOS, these limitations are addressed, allowing businesses to unlock the full potential of their digital engagement strategy. By upgrading with DEOS, organizations can enjoy better communication, improved customer satisfaction, and more efficient service operations. Ready to make a difference in your workflows with DEOS? Drop us a line at care@360smsapp.com or click here to contact us.

Siddharth Sehgal

CEO

Siddharth Sehgal is CEO & Salesforce Communication Guru. He helps businesses grow exponentially by putting their Salesforce CRM on steroids with his unique techniques. He is on a mission to help businesses build deeper relationships with their customers.