A (proactive) chat invitation defines the actual interface seen by customers upon invitation. Invitations can increase customer satisfaction, conversions, and revenue. You can customize invitations in a number of ways.

  1. Create or edit a chat invitation, as follows:
    1. In the Web Admin Center, go to Customers > Custom Invitations. The Custom Invitations page is displayed.
    2. On the Custom Invitations page, select an existing item or click Create New.

    Result: The Create/Edit Chat Invitation page is displayed.

  2. Name the invitation.

    This is for internal reference and is not seen by customers.

  3. Choose an Invite Type:
    • Simple Image displays a basic image to the customers that they click to initiate chat.
    • Chat Form displays a chat invitation that is structured like a chat window chat form.
    • Pre-Chat Form displays a chat invitation that is structured like a chat window pre-chat form.
    • JavaScript provides flexibility by allowing you to craft a JavaScript function that will be called when rule criteria are met.
  4. Set animation options:
    • Animation Duration sets the length of time (in seconds) that the chat invitation is displayed to the customer. For animated invitations, this controls how fast the invitation will move across the browser.
    • Animation Type > Left To Right starts the chat invitation at or near the left edge of the customer's browser and animates it across to the right edge of the browser.
    • Animation Type > Right to Left starts the chat invitation at or near the right edge of the customer's browser and animates it across to the left edge of the browser.
    • Animation Type > No Animation - Plain instantly displays the chat invitation in the customer's browser.
    • Animation Type > No Animation - Fade-In makes the chat invitation appear gradually (as opposed to making it appear instantly)
  5. Under Box Width and Box Height you can set the invitation's width and height in pixels.
  6. Under Position you can define the invitation's initial relative location on the customer's browser window.
    Option Description
    Browser Window With this option, the invitation starts in the defined position on the viewable browser window. As the customer scrolls up/down, the page content moves up/down, but the invitation stays in its defined position.
    • Vertical Alignment (or offset) is the relative position from the top edge of the viewable browser window. This number must be greater than 0.
    • Horizontal Alignment (or offset) is the relative position from the left edge of the viewable browser window. This number must be greater than 0.
    HTML Document With this option, the invitation starts in the defined position on the HTML page. As the customer scrolls up/down, the invitation moves up/down along with all other page content.
    • Top is the relative vertical position down from the top of the HTML page. This number must be >= 0
    • Center is the relative vertical position from the center of the HTML page. A negative value indicates a relative distance above the vertical center, while a positive value indicates a relative distance below the vertical center. The value 0 represents the center.
    • Bottom is the relative vertical position up from the bottom of the HTML page. This number must be greater than 0.
    • Left is the relative horizontal position in from the left edge of the HTML page. This number must be >= 0
    • Center is the relative horizontal position from the center of the HTML page. A negative value indicates a relative distance to the left of the horizontal center, while a positive value indicates a relative distance to the right of the horizontal center. The value 0 represents the center.
    • Right is the relative horizontal position from the right edge of the HTML page. This number must be greater than 0.
  7. Under Custom Window, choose the chat window to associate with the invitation.
  8. On the Parameters tab you can customize the invitation's design, text, and more.
  9. On the Advanced (HTML) tab you can directly edit the invitation's HTML to achieve a finer level of customization.
    Tip: Editing HTML can result in a broken invitation!
  10. On the Mobile tab you can set up a mobile-friendly version of the invitation.
    • To never use a mobile-friendly invitation and always show the desktop invitation to all customers regardless of device type, select Never.
    • To show a mobile-friendly invitation to customers who are detected as mobile users, select On Mobile Devices.
    • To show the mobile-friendly invitation to all customers regardless of device type, select For All Computers and Mobile Devices.
  11. Save your changes.
Remember: To put your invitation into use, you must associate it with rules or some other type of invitation (for example, after a delay or for chat recovery).

How should I best deploy proactive invites?

  • Proactive invitations should start out at high priority pages (for example, forms, trial pages, and at check-out stage)
  • Proactive invitation images and rules should be A/B split tested to identify highest rates of acceptance
  • Proactive invitation images should be customized for desktop and mobile (for example, footer ? banner for mobile)
  • Proactive invitations should either have no pre-chat form or ask for only 1-3 questions (without any required questions)
  • Customize invitations to tailor to the exact use case (for example, checkout page, product selection, sign-in trouble)
  • When using a chatbot, leverage widget-specific content (tailor to the use case)
  • Use different messaging and images to exhibit brand/personality
  • Leverage audio and animation
  • Aim for Acceptance Rate of 7% (industry average)
  • Implement invitations on certain pages or scenarios, where chat can influence conversions, and anywhere you want to drive chat ? for example on a checkout page
  • Implement "fast" invites with tailored and specific messages on pages where the goal is either to prevent abandonment in the sales funnel (checkout pages) or to help fill out a form.?
  • Do not use a pre-chat form when inviting customers to chat (under chat window settings). Implement "slow" generic invites on pages where customers spend considerable time (3-4 minutes)
  • Keep in mind that proactive invitations increase customer satisfaction, conversions, and revenue.
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