Singapore brands’ success hinges on more than just reaching consumers—it is also about engaging them through intelligent, seamless, and personalised connections. Marketers stand at the forefront of this evolution, harnessing advanced technologies to keep pace with the dynamic industry. To thrive, brands must navigate the AI-first world, leveraging its capabilities while strengthening their omnichannel strategies.
Designed to empower this shift in the industry, the ‘AI-volution: Spark, Engage, Convert’ workshop is heading straight to the hub of innovation to dive into AI and omnichannel strategies for customer engagement. While discussing practical applications in marketing, the event will also gather brands and industry experts to share insights and ultimately shape customer engagement strategies.
The workshop will be held on 2 July 2025 at InterContinental Singapore, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. SGT. Through the event, brands will gain knowledge on methodologies and platforms essential for forging meaningful connections with customers. It aims to demystify how AI-driven personalisation and omnichannel journeys are becoming the catalyst for sustainable growth.
Participants can expect mastery of omnichannel, blending AI with human connection, and customer-centric growth through the workshop. The event will cover strategies for creating seamless customer journeys, leveraging AI for personalised interactions, and the importance of innovative digital chat. Attendees will also engage in interactive sessions and hear from industry leaders on customer-first principles for sustainable growth.
Leading this transformative session is Asnawi Jufrie, vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia at SleekFlow, an omnichannel conversational AI platform. Jufrie’s extensive background in CRM, CX, and AI positions him to provide extensive insights on how brands can scale through smart automation while preserving the human element in their customer-first approach. More speakers will be announced soon to complete the lineup.
SleekFlow partnered with MARKETECH APAC to host the event. To join the AI-volution and redefine your brand’s customer engagement, register your interest here to secure a spot and step into the future of intelligent customer engagement.
AI-powered customer engagement strategies are transforming the way businesses interact with their audiences. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, companies can deliver hyper-personalised experiences, anticipate customer needs, and provide real-time support. This not only streamlines interactions but also fosters deeper connections and trust.
With AI-driven insights, businesses can proactively address concerns, optimise marketing efforts, and enhance overall customer satisfaction. In an era where customer expectations constantly evolve, AI is no longer optional—it’s necessary to stay relevant and build lasting relationships.
To better understand what lies ahead for AI-driven customer engagement strategies, we sat down with Asnawi Jufrie, vice president & general manager of Southeast Asia at SleekFlow for our latest What’s NEXT in Marketing interview to better understand the importance of customised AI-powered customer engagement strategies, ethical considerations when implementing it, and the synergy between AI and human expertise.
How conversational AI is transforming customer interactions
Asnawi highlights that conversational AI is more common than people think–and that we interact with it daily. A recent Southeast Asian survey by SleekFlow revealed that 86% of respondents are familiar with AI-powered customer service, even if they don’t recognise it as ‘conversational AI.’.
This further highlights his point on how AI is making customer interactions smoother, faster, and more engaging by bridging the gap between brands and users, enhancing customer service by automating common inquiries while keeping interactions natural, and improving customer care by providing real-time assistance with minimal wait times.
“Conversational AI is currently helping us form closer ties between brands and their users while actually reshaping the customer care segment,” Asnawi said.
He added, “With messages and with the tones of your messages, it’s a lot easier—by having different guardrails in AI—to actually determine what kind of intent or what kind of emotion this person is feeling.”
AI agents versus traditional automation
In the interview, Asnawi explained the key differences between AI agents and traditional automation tools, emphasising how AI-powered solutions are more adaptive, intelligent, and personalised compared to basic rule-based bots. Meanwhile, traditional automation tools function using pre-programmed rules and can only handle structured, predictable queries.
AI agents, on the other hand, use natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) to interpret context, intent, and sentiment. Unlike traditional bots, AI agents can handle unstructured human language, including slang, abbreviations, and variations in phrasing. They can learn from past interactions and improve over time, making conversations feel more natural and less robotic.
“Many times, people say, ‘I don’t want to speak with a chatbot.’ And I completely understand. Traditional bots follow structured rules, and that makes them feel robotic. The difference between AI agents and traditional bots is that AI agents understand unstructured, real-world conversations, while bots only follow a script,” he explained.
He also highlighted how AI agents are evolving beyond just answering questions; it can now analyse emotions and adjust interactions in real-time.
“Real-time sentiment analysis is a game-changer. AI agents can now detect frustration, urgency, or satisfaction in a conversation—and respond accordingly,” he added.
A good example of the key strengths of AI agents nowadays is how they are trained to understand regional dialects and cultural nuances, such as Singlish (Singaporean English) or Taglish (Tagalog-English in the Philippines).
While data notes that AI may eventually replace human intelligence for customer service in the future, Asnawi said that AI will only serve as an enhancement for said service.
“I believe AI will never fully replace human agents, but it will enhance their ability to focus on what really matters—providing genuine human connection where it’s needed,” he stated.
Key considerations for implementing AI agents
For Asnawi, successfully integrating AI agents into a business requires careful planning, strategic deployment, and a focus on privacy, ethics, and optimisation. One of the most important factors is data quality—since AI relies on past interactions to improve, businesses must ensure that their datasets are accurate, unbiased, and representative of their customer base.
Another critical consideration is privacy and security. AI systems often process large amounts of customer data, making them potential targets for data breaches. Companies need to implement strong security measures, including data encryption, secure authentication, and regular audits, to comply with regulations such as GDPR (Europe), PDPA (Singapore/Malaysia), and CCPA (California).
“Privacy and data security aren’t optional. AI collects massive amounts of information, and if mishandled, it can lead to significant legal and financial consequences,” he stated.
Moreover, he also noted that companies must customise their AI agents to fit their specific industry and operational needs. In his observation, many businesses make the mistake of copying AI strategies from competitors without considering how AI can best serve their unique workflow. AI deployment should be based on a thorough evaluation of customer touchpoints, identifying areas where automation adds value rather than creating friction.
“One of the biggest mistakes companies make is assuming that AI is a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. Every industry has unique needs—AI must be tailored to those needs,” he said.
He added, “AI is a tool, not a replacement. The best customer experiences come from AI working alongside human agents, not instead of them.”
By using Sleekflow’s AI-powered automation and omnichannel messaging services, Asnawi highlights how they aim to help businesses to focus on personalised AI interactions that bridge the gap between brands and customers.
To view the full discussion, watch the video interview here:
Staying connected with customers means meeting them where they already are—and more often than not, that’s on their favourite messaging apps. Channels like WhatsApp are no longer just for personal; they’ve become the go-to platforms for brands to engage with their customers in a way that’s personal, convenient, and instant.
For businesses, these messaging apps are a game-changer. They allow brands to provide quick support, share updates, and even create tailored experiences, all in the same place where people are chatting about their day. The result? Happier customers, stronger relationships, and a smoother overall experience.
For our latest case study, we delve into how the Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) tapped Sleekflow, an AI-powered omnichannel conversation suite, as its official WhatsApp Business API provider to power its WhatsApp business channels for better customer engagement and experience for users.
The Challenge
As the telecommunications landscape continues to evolve, the Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) has recognised the need to adapt its communication channels to better reach and engage with customers. In response to the surge in scam calls and the growing preference for online messaging apps, the company decided to pursue WhatsApp as a customer connection channel. The company then set out to create official WhatsApp Business API accounts, since they noticed WhatsApp offers a more user-friendly and interactive option than phone calls or emails.
The Objective
HKBN’s objective was to leverage WhatsApp’s user-friendly and interactive features to distribute important notices, and promotions, and enhance service offerings. Customers can easily connect with HKBN, receive prompt support, and better customer service on the messaging app.
The Solution
HKBN began its reform by centralising WhatsApp management through SleekFlow integration. They decided to have separate WhatsApp API accounts for different services, such as Home Broadband, Mobile Service, and Promotion Updates. This approach allowed customers to easily recognise the distinct services offered by each account.
Within a month, HKBN seamlessly integrated WhatsApp into their operations, fostering direct engagements with customers. One important aspect of building trust with customers was obtaining official verification for their WhatsApp accounts, soon receiving the official WhatsApp verified badge next to their account name. This verification further boosted customer trust and willingness to engage with HKBN through the platform.
To streamline customer interactions and improve the overall chat experience, HKBN implemented SleekFlow’s automation tool, Flow Builder. This revolutionised how HKBN managed customer interactions by introducing automated processes that guide customers through various flows, allowing HKBN to collect context and information before assigning an agent to interact with the customer.
In addition to enhancing the customer experience, SleekFlow’s collaborative team inbox empowered HKBN’s large teams to work more efficiently. With over a hundred representatives in their customer service and sales teams, simultaneous access and engagement with customers on the same WhatsApp API account became possible. This allowed representatives to move beyond traditional sales scripts and foster genuine two-way conversations.
The Result
The implementation of SleekFlow’s solutions has yielded significant results for HKBN. One notable outcome is the boosted marketing impact and improved data for analytics. HKBN has leveraged SleekFlow’s broadcast feature to send targeted WhatsApp marketing campaigns and utilised in-built data analytics to measure campaign effectiveness.
In September 2023, HKBN launched a WhatsApp campaign targeting hundreds of inactive users who were unreachable via the service hotline for contract renewal. The engagement rates were impressive, with a 95% message read rate and a 50% response rate. These results demonstrate that WhatsApp is innovative and effective as a major means of service renewal, targeted marketing and customer engagement instead of phone calls.
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Looking ahead, HKBN is keen on exploring SleekFlow’s advanced features, such as CRM integration, to offer even more personalised customer services. By integrating their customer relationship management systems with SleekFlow, HKBN can further enhance their understanding of customer preferences and provide tailored services and recommendations.
In short, the partnership between HKBN and SleekFlow demonstrates how leveraging innovative communication platforms can lead to enhanced customer experiences and business success.
Singapore – SleekFlow, a Singapore-based provider of omnichannel conversational AI for customer engagement, has secured US$7m in a Series A+ funding round led by South Korean venture capital firm Atinum Investment, bringing its total funding to US$15 million.
The new funding round is expected to fast-track SleekFlow’s global expansion, targeting key markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The investment will also fuel advancements in AI technology, including enhanced analytics and the development of sophisticated marketing workflows, while expanding communication channels such as calls and emails to better serve its growing international customer base.
The investment round also saw participation from existing backers, including AEF Greater Bay Area Fund, managed by Gobi Partners GBA, and Transcend Capital Partners. Additionally, it attracted a new investor, Moses Tsang, a former general partner of Goldman Sachs Group and chairman of Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC.
Peter Na, regional head of the Singapore Office and director of Atinum Investment, said, “Being at the front of the rapidly expanding global customer engagement market, SleekFlow meets the evolving needs of enterprise customers. SleekFlow’s localised approaches have expanded it beyond Asia, entering new markets in the Middle East and South America. We are fully committed to supporting its ongoing global expansion and are excited for the opportunities ahead.”
Looking ahead, SleekFlow plans to secure its Series B funding within the next 12 months as it continues to solidify its position. SleekFlow’s solutions have already made significant inroads across various industries, serving prominent clients such as Delonghi, Hilton Dubai, L’Occitane, Shangri-La, Hong Kong Broadband Network, Cellini, Khind, TOTO, 7-Eleven, Kimberly-Clark, Awfully Chocolate, and Audi.
Henson Tsai, founder and CEO of SleekFlow, shared, “Since the appointment of our Chief Technology Officer, Gao Lei, a Silicon Valley veteran, we have significantly increased our engineering efforts to be at the forefront of innovative tech and advanced AI. We are more ambitious than ever, with offerings underway for fully automated sales and support journeys in voice, calls, and emails, to deliver unparalleled value to our customers across industries like insurance, healthcare, telecom, service, and retail.”
Singapore – AI-powered omnichannel conversation suite provider SleekFlow has announced the appointment of Gao Lei as chief technology officer, effective immediately.
With over 20 years of tech leadership at Silicon Valley and tech entrepreneurial experience in AI and Big Data, Lei brings a wealth of expertise in building and scaling engineering teams, developing and operating highly scalable and available infrastructure, and creating innovative products that drive business growth.
Prior to joining SleekFlow, Gao Lei served as the CTO at LinkedIn China, where he was responsible for building and scaling the engineering team to support the company’s rapid growth.
During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in developing several award-winning products that have transformed how businesses engage with their customers.
Gao also holds a PhD in Data Replication/Distributed Systems from The University of Texas at Austin and has been recognized as a thought leader in the technology industry, having been featured in numerous industry publications and conferences.
Speaking on his appointment, Lei said, “I am excited to join the SleekFlow team and contribute to the company’s continued success. SleekFlow has a strong reputation for delivering innovative customer engagement solutions. I look forward to leveraging my experience to enhance the platform further and drive even greater value for our platform users.”
Meanwhile, Henson Tsai, founder and CEO of SleekFlow, commented, “We are looking forward to welcoming Gao Lei to the SleekFlow team. His record of successes in delivering transformative technology solutions makes him the ideal candidate to lead our future plans. We are confident that his leadership and vision will further strengthen SleekFlow’s position as a leading player in the customer engagement space.”
Omnichannel solutions have become essential for organisations hoping to provide smooth and consistent consumer experiences in today’s quickly changing digital market. In contrast to conventional multichannel methods, which frequently function in isolation, omnichannel tactics incorporate every consumer interaction point—website, physical store, social media, and mobile applications—into a single and seamless experience.
In more recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) to these solutions has been monumental in terms of effective reach to customers by brands. By leveraging AI, brands can analyse vast amounts of data from various touchpoints to gain deep insights into customer behaviour and preferences. This data-driven understanding enables brands to personalise interactions at an unprecedented scale, offering tailored recommendations, targeted marketing campaigns, and proactive customer support.
To learn more about the role of AI in optimising current omnichannel strategies for both brands and marketers, we sat down with Asnawi Jufrie, Vice President & General Manager of Southeast Asia at SleekFlow as part of our Expert Up Close interview series to discuss the trends and technologies influencing the future of omnichannel, and how is SleekFlow contributing into developing new measures for effective omnichannel strategies.
What will influence the future of omnichannel
To begin the discourse on improving omnichannel experiences, Jufrie stressed that the use of AI in omnichannel experiences is based on doing more with less, as brands are looking to increase their revenue while also reducing costs.
For him, there are three key trends for the future of omnichannel: all-in-one, referring to unified and integrated communication channel solutions for brands; AI-powered conversations that refer to smart choices made by AI model integrations to deliver appropriate messaging to customers; and automated workflows that refer to the seamless communication to customers through integrated messaging like call-to-action and quick replies.
Much of these trends for the future of omnichannel are rooted in the rising success of social commerce, with Jufrie citing a Statista study of how global social commerce sales is forecasted to reach USD$8b by 2030–and certainly a promising space to watch out for.
“Since the e-commerce industry has been growing on a monumental scale, social commerce has been a game-changer, it has reshaped the way people discover, engage with and purchase products online. Consumers are now more than ever inclined to interact with brands on social messaging platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, because that’s where most of their daily personal interactions take place,” he said.
How SleekFlow is responding to omnichannel trends and challenges
Jufrie further noted in the interview that SleekFlow’s strength in providing efficient omnichannel relies on hitting the marketing and sales aspect of the ideal customer persona (ICP). In order to hit the target of ICPs for businesses, he enlists three things that should be on top of mind for marketers: lead generation, lead qualification, and lead nurturing/engagement.
These key takeaways–which are part of the overall omnichannel experience–revolve around the ideal acquisition of a potential customer, sorting out using AI on quality leads for sales, and having current customers stay for the longer run through retention and loyalty strategies.
Meanwhile, the three things that should be on top of the mind of marketers in terms of sales revolve around the SCD acronym: speed to lead, collaboration, and data ownership. As sales teams chase quality leads to convert them into retaining customers, there should also be a system where there is a unified solution that encourages collaboration within an organisation in terms of support and marketing.
“Besides sales and marketing, we also recognise the impact that customer support can bring in lead procurement, engagement, conversion and customer retention. SleekFlow aims to help businesses stay competitive and be closely connected with customers from the beginning to the end, and maintain healthy repeat customer cycles,” he said.
Interestingly, he also shares data that customer conversion from a landing page only accounts for 2%, and only 17% converted from those opening an EDM. However, in the case of chat channels, opening rates on WhatsApp specifically account for almost 98%. The question is: how do you execute an omnichannel strategy that will get addressed immediately by the customer?
“The most important thing here is to make sure [that] you’re giving the right copies, the right people with the right messaging. If you can infuse [with] AI as well, you’re saving a lot of time which reduces your cost [and] enables you to increase your revenue, because you are giving people relevant things,” he explained.
By having an effective chat-driven omnichannel strategy, it relieves the business’ pain point in having to switch between different platforms or tools, so employees can focus on faster, more accurate, and streamlined communication on one single platform. On the other end, customers will also experience a smooth journey from discovery to purchase, increasing sales conversions and brand loyalty.
“SleekFlow incorporates both automation workflows and AI chatbot, along with other AI features such as writing assistant, smart reply and data-driven AI insights and analysis. Sales & marketing teams and customers can benefit from this, as it saves a significant amount of time on all ends, enhancing productivity, optimised engagement, and the overall chat experiences,” Jufrie further explained.
Engaging with customers effectively to build loyalty through AI integration
When there’s a discussion about building loyalty, Jufrie stresses the importance of having the support team also aiding in the process, as they will be responsible for promoting repeated purchases–the ultimate goal of loyalty. For that to happen, brands need to understand customers and let their voices be heard, whether through ratings, surveys and even direct messaging.
“We should be building and improving products and services based on the voice of the customer so we can continually evolve, and continually give the customers what they want so that we promote the whole idea of repeated purchases which allows brands to have better lead procurement, engagements, conversions, as well as retention,” he stated.
Bringing up his previous points, he then stresses how AI integration for these solutions will help brands focus on making data-driven decisions for their omnichannel strategies for customers, adding that leveraging AI data analytics allows brands to gain exclusive insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and market trends. This will then enable brands to make informed decisions and anticipate changing consumer needs.
Moreover, he shares that brands can also invest in AI talent and partnerships, to build a team with AI expertise or partner with AI service providers to embrace newer technologies and place greater attention to the implementation of AI solutions.
“My last advice is “better late than never”. I believe brands should continually position themselves at the forefront of AI integration, drive innovation, and meet the evolving needs of their customers in a rapidly changing market landscape,” he concluded.
Learn more about his insights on omnichannel strategies by checking out the full interview below:
Imagine a world where every customer interaction is not just a transaction, but a meaningful conversation. A world where businesses can anticipate customer needs, respond with precision, and engage at a personal level that transforms the customer experience.
The next 2024 revolution in customer engagement entails breakthrough features that redefine the standards of online customer interactions, and I will be listing two prominent ones in this article; ‘Automated Workflow Platform’ and ‘AI Response Feature’. These features are not only incremental improvements, they represent a sea change in how businesses of all sizes—from startups to corporations—can connect with their potential and existing customers on online platforms; WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook etc.
An Automated Workflow Platform is an automated powerhouse that streamlines customer conversations. The platform offers a visually user-friendly interface and intuitive approach to analyse, understand, and respond to customer queries in real time with pre-determined questions and answers. It delivers a personalised experience 24/7 without the need of constant supervision.
If you’re looking to create dynamic and responsive workflows, most platforms offer custom conditions and branching, which allow you to set up workflows that respond only to certain scenarios:
Custom conditions: You can create workflows that adhere to different scenarios. For example, auto-responses will be sent when you receive messages containing specific keywords.
Branching: Branching allows you to create different paths within a workflow based on a criteria. This enables your desired actions to specified individuals or groups, such as assigning conversations to sales representatives based on inquiry type.
The power of automated workflows results in increased productivity in sales and consistent, efficient and optimised customer interactions, all while saving innumerable hours.
An AI Response Feature takes time- and cost-efficiency to the next level. With great feasibility, businesses can easily generate AI-powered responses in chats within a click. The features aims to solve the pain point of time and costs expended in training and assigning staff for personalised customer engagement, since this feature allows businesses to go beyond the usual responses to customer queries; it enriches each conversation with tailored content, product recommendations, and offers, driven by a deep understanding of customer preferences and past interactions. The tool’s superpower is in human-like digital communication in superhuman speed and efficiency, which has proven to foster loyalty and significantly boost sales conversion rates (by up to 80%).
For businesses that operate in the diverse and rapidly expanding Southeast Asian market, they are left to pivot in the complexity of engaging with a multicultural audience. An Automated Workflow Platform and AI Response Feature emerge as game-changing features that equip businesses to navigate language differences and unique cultural nuances with ease. The AI-powered platform ensures that no message goes unattended, enabling businesses to cultivate robust customer relationships and drive growth in this dynamic landscape.
This article is written by Henson Tsai, founder and CEO of SleekFlow
As customers increasingly rely on in-person and various online channels when making purchases, marketers need to adopt an omnichannel approach to provide a seamless and integrated customer experience across all touchpoints.
An essential component of omnichannel marketing is the implementation of chat platforms as a lead generation tool. By facilitating one-to-one conversations between a brand and customers, businesses can customise interactions to align with customer preferences, introduce their latest products or services, and provide support in real-time.
Now more than ever, marketers have to navigate and resolve the challenges associated with integrating new messaging channels into their existing omnichannel strategies.
Sharing his insights as a presenter at the conference, Asnawi Jufrie, vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia (SEA) at SleekFlow, underlines the importance of customer-centricity within omni-enterprise models, as well as the role of automation in effectively managing multiple messaging channels while maintaining a consistent brand message.
Why chat is important in a conversion-driving marketing strategy
According to Jufrie, chat is an often overlooked but highly effective subsegment of the traditional marketing funnel. Research shows that 7 out of 10 people feel more connected to brands that are accessible via direct messaging, rather than relying solely on emails or phone calls. However, many CRM platforms primarily focus on tracking emails and phone calls, neglecting the potential of chat.
This is especially significant nowadays with messaging applications such as WhatsApp having over 2.5 billion monthly users, with a daily engagement rate of 70%. Among these users, 175 million of those users are communicating with businesses every day. Additionally, other messaging platforms such as Telegram and Line also attract millions of users.
When explaining chat’s significance in customer-centric marketing, he noted that conversations through chat align with how typically communicate and establish connections in their daily lives, making these channels inherently familiar and easy to use. The integration of AI further elevates the potential of chat in the marketing space, with marketers and brands exploring AI platforms like ChatGPT.
Jufrie further emphasised that brands that fail to leverage this market opportunity risk falling behind. Engaging in conversations allows for the development of stronger brands, improved customer engagement, and ultimately leads to higher conversions.
Accelerating lead generation through chat
Jufrie reiterated the need to prioritise improving lead generation through chat as an efficient means of communication when driving traffic to a brand’s website. To achieve this, brands can implement simple tools like a messaging platform widget or an embedded link. These tools allow consumers to quickly submit queries, concerns, or feedback. Offline media can also utilise chat-based lead generation strategies by incorporating QR codes that direct consumers to messaging platforms.
When leads are generated through chat, it’s crucial to qualify them. This can be easily achieved using automation features within messaging platforms, which lighten the workload for sales staff when dealing with a large number of leads.
Once leads are qualified, the focus shifts to nurturing and retargeting them. Traditional methods like email marketing (EDMs) and social media orchestration are commonly used, but Jufrie highlights WhatsApp as a more effective option due to its 98% open rate and personalised messaging.
To maximise efficiency, Jufrie suggests promptly responding to leads and adopting a chat-first strategy. This can be facilitated through website form submissions and Facebook instant forms, which direct leads to chat for a seamless process. The same approach can be applied to organic social media engagements, automating responses to comments and initiating direct chats.
In addition to these processes, collaboration and smart routing are essential. Organising and assigning conversations to support or sales staff based on queues or specific conditions optimises team collaboration and ensures prompt responses to lead needs.
Considering data management is crucial for effective chat processes. Data ownership and visibility are key factors since chat conversations may contain valuable information such as mentorship processes and collaborative strategies. Locally storing data is also vital for security, especially when it involves customer data.
Lastly, Jufrie addressed the importance of driving customer loyalty through a chat-first strategy. Instead of relying on email surveys, brands can use messaging to gather feedback, providing a streamlined and personalised approach that values the customer’s voice. Moreover, a chat-focused approach increases the visibility of promotions and event invitations.
How SleekFlow empowers brands with an automated platform for chat marketing
For these channels, it’s very important to organise a chat-first strategy. By leveraging SleekFlow, marketers and brands have a wide range of features at their fingertips to efficiently streamline customer interactions and push this strategy forward towards their consumers.
“At SleekFlow, we advocate for a chat-first strategy and develop brands into an omni-enterprise by orchestrating everything into our platform. Our solution is rather agnostic, meaning that it’s versatile and can integrate with different messaging and chat platforms, making it a suitable solution for industries like education, beauty & wellness, finance, and more. If you use varying messaging or chat platforms to communicate with your customers, we are a good solution fit,” Jufrie mentioned.
To help put this strategy into fruition, SleekFlow offers brands and marketers an AI-powered Omnichannel Conversation Suite that enables a seamless and personalised customer experience across popular social and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, SMS, live chat, and more.
Jufrie’s presentation is part of a series of presentations and discussions under the What’s NEXT 2024: Marketing in Singapore hybrid conference, where SleekFlow was a proud Gold sponsor. In it, SleekFlow led the discussion on the challenges and solutions in integrating new messaging channels, as well as how applying customer centricity with this method leads to enhanced customer experiences.
With SleekFlow’s customer engagement platform, enterprises can conveniently manage all customer interactions in one centralised hub, automating their business growth from sales and marketing to customer support. The most recent launch of SleekFlow 2.0, which includes the launch of SleekFlow AI, aims to empower companies to centre all their workflows around meaningful conversations.
What’s NEXT 2024: Marketing in Singapore is part of the trilogy of conferences from MARKETECH APAC’s “What’s NEXT 2023-2024 Series.” The conference featured a diverse lineup of marketing leaders across Singapore, representing local and international brands including DirectAsia, Grab, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Kaspersky, Singapore Management University, Singapore Post, Standard Chartered Bank, StarHub, The LEGO Group, and more.
As Google prepares to phase out third-party cookies, marketers are exploring alternative strategies to directly gather valuable customer data. In their quest to drive customer engagement on social platforms, AI-powered chatbots have emerged as both a viable and effective tool for boosting conversions. These intelligent chatbots excel at facilitating meaningful conversations, offering real-time personalised assistance that aligns with a brand’s tone and identity.
Training language models typically involves three techniques: pre-training, fine-tuning, and in-context learning. While these approaches aim to improve model performance, they vary in methodologies and objectives. Therefore, when implementing an AI chatbot for your brand, it’s crucial to understand the key differences between these training approaches and, more importantly, recognise why in-context learning models provide the most compelling solution for businesses looking to optimise marketing efforts while minimising costs.
Understanding Training Language Models: Pre-training, Fine-tuning, and In-Context Learning
Having a basic understanding of training language models is advantageous for marketers as it allows them to establish realistic expectations for chatbot capabilities, tailor chatbot responses to align with marketing objectives, and foster effective collaboration with technical teams engaged in chatbot development. Here’s a concise overview of the three techniques:
1. Pre-training:
Purpose: Establish a foundation of knowledge and generate coherent and contextually relevant responses in a wide range of topics.
Benefits: Learns general linguistic patterns, grammar, and semantic relationships.
Limitations: May not be domain-specific or tailored to specific tasks.
Potential Marketing Use Cases: Text generation, language translation, news articles entity recognition, sentiment analysis for social media.
2. Fine-tuning:
Purpose: Adapt the model to a specific domain or task and improve task performance.
Benefits: Learns from task-specific examples and becomes more relevant to a particular application.
Limitations: Requires a labeled dataset specific to the target domain, which can be expensive and time-consuming to create.
Potential Marketing Use Cases: FAQs, text classification for document categorisation, sentiment analysis for market research.
3. In-context learning:
Purpose: Enable the model to understand conversational dynamics and generate contextually appropriate replies based on the given instructions.
Benefits: Learns from conversational exchanges, including user inputs and system responses.
Limitations: Requires a dialogue dataset specific to the target application, but can be curated and augmented more easily compared to creating a fully labelled dataset from scratch.
Potential Marketing Use Cases: Chatbots and virtual assistants, dialogue systems, personalised recommendations.
Characteristics of In-Context Learning AI Chatbots for Marketers
In-context learning AI chatbots offer three useful characteristics that enhance organic customer interactions.
Firstly, contextual prompts can boost the effectiveness of personalised email marketing campaigns. Marketers can use in-context learning language models to ask subscribers about their fitness goals and preferences via email. Analysing the responses enables the generation of personalised product recommendations, leading to a more tailored and impactful email marketing experience.
Secondly, reinforcement learning or structured feedback can drive sales in e-commerce chatbots. Marketers can integrate a reinforcement learning mechanism by asking customers to rate the helpfulness of the chatbot’s responses after each interaction. This feedback allows the chatbot to prioritise and generate accurate, relevant responses, elevating the overall customer experience. Continuous reinforcement learning enables the chatbot to better understand customer queries and provide satisfactory solutions.
Thirdly, through multiple iterations of training, in-context learning AI chatbots can adapt to evolving marketing requirements and improve their responses. For instance, a travel agency’s chatbot can undergo iterative training to stay up-to-date with the latest travel destinations, flight schedules, and hotel availability. As new information becomes available, the chatbot learns and adjusts its responses, delivering customers accurate and timely travel recommendations. This iterative training process ensures that the chatbot remains well-informed and capable of meeting customers’ changing travel needs.
Cost-Effectiveness of In-Context Learning AI Chatbots
In-context learning AI chatbots offer a cost-effective solution for marketers compared to other training approaches. Here’s why:
Reduced Data Labeling Costs
In-context learning AI chatbots require a dialogue dataset specific to the target application. While effort is still needed to collect and curate this dataset, it is often less expensive and time-consuming than creating a fully labelled dataset from scratch, as required in fine-tuning approaches. This cost advantage makes in-context learning more accessible, particularly for businesses with limited resources.
Continuous Learning and Adaptation
In-context learning AI chatbots can continuously improve their performance through reinforcement learning or structured feedback mechanisms. This iterative process allows the chatbot to adapt to changing customer needs and refine its responses over time. Instead of investing in periodic retraining or fine-tuning, marketers can leverage the ongoing learning capabilities of in-context learning models, saving both time and resources.
Improved Operational Efficiency
By automating customer interactions and handling a wide range of queries, in-context learning AI chatbots reduce the need for human intervention. This streamlines operations, enabling marketing teams to allocate their resources more strategically. With AI chatbots taking care of routine queries and tasks, marketers can focus on higher-value initiatives, maximising their productivity and cost-effectiveness.
Enhanced Conversion Rates
In-context learning AI chatbots excel at delivering personalised and contextually relevant responses, which significantly impact conversion rates. By providing tailored recommendations, addressing specific customer needs, and fostering engagement, these chatbots create a more compelling user experience. Higher conversion rates translate to a better return on investment (ROI) for marketing efforts, making in-context learning AI chatbots a cost-effective choice.
Drive Customer Acquisition through AI-Enhanced Conversations
AI and predictive analytics are essential components of a comprehensive marketing strategy. In addition to its cost-effectiveness, in-context learning chatbots enable forward-thinking marketers to identify precise customer segmentations, optimise human resources, and drive conversions more effectively. Are you ready to take the lead and unlock the full potential of your customer interactions? The choice is yours.
This article is written by Henson Tsai, founder and CEO of SleekFlow
The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT 2023-2024. What’s NEXT 2023-2024 is a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year.
Singapore – SleekFlow is proud to announce its participation as a Gold Sponsor in MARKETECH APAC’s “What’s NEXT 2024: Marketing in Singapore” conference. The company will take the lead in driving the conversation on improving omnichannel customer experiences for enterprises.
SleekFlow offers an AI-powered Omnichannel Conversation Suite that enables a seamless and personalised customer experience across popular social and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, SMS, live chat, and more. With SleekFlow’s customer engagement platform, enterprises can conveniently manage all customer interactions in one centralised hub, automating their business expansion from sales and marketing to customer support.
Asnawi Jufrie, vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia (SEA) at SleekFlow, will deliver a keynote presentation tackling the challenges and solutions of integrating new messaging channels into existing omnichannel strategies. Jufrie will emphasise the importance of customer-centricity within omni-enterprise models, as well as the role of automation in effectively managing multiple messaging channels while maintaining a consistent brand message.
SleekFlow 2.0, the latest offering from this global SaaS brand, revolutionises customer communication by delivering AI-driven, personalised conversational experiences at scale. The newly introduced feature Flow Builder seamlessly integrates workflows, enabling smarter and faster operations that ensure a unified customer experience. SleekFlow’s mission is clear: to empower companies to centre all their workflows around meaningful conversations.
Teddy Cambosa, regional editor at MARKETECH APAC, commented, “In today’s dynamic business landscape, success lies in the seamless integration of diverse channels, for in the symphony of commerce, a harmonised omnichannel strategy not only amplifies reach but orchestrates customer experiences, transforming transactions into relationships and businesses into brands. We look forward to SleekFlow imparting actionable insights on enhancing omnichannel CX strategies across enterprises.”
What’s NEXT 2024: Marketing in Singapore is part of the trilogy of conferences from MARKETECH APAC’s “What’s NEXT 2023-2024 Series.” The conference features a diverse lineup of marketing leaders across Singapore, representing local and international brands including DirectAsia, Grab, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Kaspersky, Singapore Management University, Singapore Post, Standard Chartered Bank, StarHub, The LEGO Group, and more.
Head over to the official event site to see the full agenda and roster of speakers of What’s NEXT 2024: Marketing in Singapore.
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