We live in a fast-paced digital world and the landscape of customer interaction channels is continually evolving. At QContact, we closely monitor these trends to understand how different communication platforms are shaping the way businesses and customers connect. Here’s the top 2023 channels revealed.

In this short blog, we’ve put together a rundown of the most popular contact channels business offer to show you how the channel landscape changes year on year.

Here you will see see the enduring dominance of voice communication to the dynamic shifts in social media interactions, we explore the changing preferences and patterns that are defining the customer service industry in 2024.

Voice remains the number one channel, as it has done for every single year so far, counting for 45% of all customer interactions with our clients. However, WhatsApp continues its meteoric rise – up another 40% on last year to now account for 32% of all customer interactions.

While Meta has won favour with WhatsApp, we have for the first time this year seen Facebook usage fall – with Messenger down 40%, and Comments down 50%. Facebook Lead Generation remains strong though, with 40% growth compared to last year, highlighting the continued value in Facebook Advertising, even if it’s falling out of favour for customer care.

E-mail continues to be in 3rd place accounting for 13% of all customer interactions this year – up 15% from last year – proving e-mail remains an extremely important channel. Live Chat remains in 4th place with little change in usage, with SMS also holding steady in 6th place.

We have seen continued growth in online reviews, especially for those clients that are proactively pushing customers to leave positive reviews after great interactions with their advisors.

Rounding out the list, we have Instagram which we continue to see low demand for direct communication on, and rather see it as more of a marketing channel. This is reflected in the statistics as for every three Instagram direct messages we handle, we see a public comment, whereas on Facebook the ratio is 12 messages for every public comment.

Twitter removed their APIs earlier this year, ending our support for Twitter, however it should be noted that last year just 0.04% of all customer interactions were over Twitter among all our clients, and that was before the significant decline in Twitter active users.

The key takeaway for businesses is the importance of a diverse and flexible communication strategy. While certain channels like voice and WhatsApp are gaining prominence, it’s crucial not to overlook the value of other platforms like email, live chat, and even emerging trends in social media interactions.

By embracing a holistic approach and leveraging the insights from our latest analysis, businesses can ensure they are effectively meeting their customers’ needs, fostering positive experiences, and building lasting relationships in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

At QContact, we’re committed to staying ahead of these trends, offering solutions that not only meet the current demands but also anticipate future shifts in customer communication preferences