In January 2018, WhatsApp launched its standalone Business app called WhatsApp Business, targeting small business owners. This app allows companies to communicate with their customers in a better way. However, that is not all. It is no doubt a messaging app but offers a lot more than that. We will see the general idea behind WhatsApp Business and the top Whatsapp Business strategies to start your new year with a bang.
To start with, apart from mere messaging, WhatsApp Business offers a personal touch. This makes customers feel welcomed. Imagine a brand sending a ‘hello’ message or personalized greetings on your special occasions. Won’t that make you happy?
So, that is it. Any business can jump into the WhatsApp Business bandwagon to promote itself a little more. Furthermore, use this feature of WhatsApp to reach out to people in a warm way and ensure better engagement.
Why use WhatsApp for Business?
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is the most sought-after messaging app worldwide. Therefore, a business should focus on creating its presence on WhatApp without delay. Let us discuss a few benefits that will make it all the more important to use this app.
Benefits of using WhatsApp Business
- Real-time customer service
Service here refers to sending texts and videos, sharing pictures, and voice messages. A business can share its proposal, offerings, and business news. Product features can be promoted here in a few seconds.
Not only this, but it can also share its brochure, videos, and audios, catalog, or any information related to its area of work on WhatsApp. Companies can engage with their customers quickly and communicate with a personal touch.
2. Cross-platform messaging service
When a company markets, it reaches out and communicates. WhatsApp serves the purpose just right. Being a cross-platform messaging service, it has the power to reach out to people who are not on any social media platform. This service comes free of cost.
3. Broadcast list feature
With this feature, a business can send a single message to a lot of contacts on its list in one go. There is a list of recipients saved with this feature. A company can send any message to the entire list. It can repeatedly send messages to these recipients without having to select them each time.
4. Power of grouping
This feature of groups allows collective conversations to happen among people. A business can draft and send messages to specific groups, if not intended for all. There can be a maximum of 256 members in one group.
5. More interactive and better engaging
WhatsApp messages have more chances of being read in comparison to other texts or emails. The replies are also let out instantly or eventually. So people are involved or engaged in interacting. That ensures a healthy communication.
WhatsApp Business has many tools for use, which gives us another strong point about its usability.
Let us see some important features or tools that make the WhatsApp Business app:
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Brands can have dedicated Business profiles.
Add an image to the WhatsApp Business profile with all the necessary information for the customers. A brand profile can have an address, email id, website link, and business description. It is as simple as the regular WhatsApp.
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Messages are automated
Here, a business can create a message and post it later, when needed. It can have a greeting message or an away message.
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Quick replies
Even with early responses, it can save and send messages used frequently. There are a lot of standard queries raised by customers. So, with WhatsApp Business, the same can be answered in no-time.
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Label chat
This is a tool that allows a business to organize its contacts and conversations with labels making it easy to find.
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Analytics
WhatsApp Business tool gives precise data of all the messages sent, the ones delivered, and those read by the customers. Data analysis is a must for any business to measure its performance.
Now that we know the benefits and the tools of WhatsApp Business, all we need is a marketing strategy to get into action.
Top WhatsApp Business strategies to kickstart your new year:
1. Reaching out to the target audience
One of the important WhatsApp Business strategies, reaching out to the audience. People mostly use WhatsApp for messaging or say, to reach out to each other. So, as a business, think of ways to enter into these conversations. People talk in informal tones here. So, a brand should carry a similar image. It should create a persona that customers can associate with better.
Maybe create a brand persona of an individual catering to customer support, who speaks to customers. This way, people feel as if they are talking to a real person and not a robot. Conversations become easy and free, with no barriers.
This way, a brand can reach out to the audience in a much friendlier form.
2. Offer value to customers
There is never a free lunch. It is always the game of giving and taking. The sole success of WhatsApp depends on the number of customers a business has on its contact list. Moreover, these people are willing to share their contact information.
So, there has to be a mutual association to fulfill the purpose of communicating and marketing. That is why a business needs to offer something that is valued by the customers. They will happily share their contact details in exchange for this value offering.
The offer could be anything, a promotional activity, freebies, or maybe some information.
Once a business has them added on WhatsApp, it can send them the offerings right away. Ensure to engage with the customers to build a long-lasting relationship of trust.
3. Providing strong customer support
WhatsApp can help not only small businesses but also the medium and larger ones to offer excellent customer support and deliver valuable information to customers.
Today, in this busy world, everyone wants fast and easy contact, straight communication, and instant resolution to queries. So, the platform of WhatsApp can help in a big way here. Businesses can have a resource primarily catering to customer queries.
As a happy customer will stay with a brand forever and can bring in new prospects, it is essential to handle him with care. Any brand or business must address issues put up by customers immediately and render a quick reply to the same. That will ensure a better customer experience.
This way, a business will gain trust and more visibility. Also, WhatsApp supports various media types, not just texts. One can share snippets, videos, gifs, or any other document.
So, with WhatsApp Business strategies, a brand can set up sturdy customer support to service its customers in a much better way.
4. Using third-party marketing tools
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is the most preferred messaging app. With the potential to reach out to a massive mass, it also has its share of limitations. It can reach out to a limited mass at one time.
With WhatsApp Business app and other third-party apps, this issue has found a way out. Using the WhatsApp marketing software, bulk messages can be sent out in a go, thus increasing a brand’s reach.
With Viking WhatsApp tools, the Bulk WhatsApp sender, WA panel, and many more, companies can conveniently cater to their customers. They can send bulk files or documents in all formats, filter contacts, send bulk messages, send engaging campaigns, all with just a click.
These tools have unique features, all with the power to make a brand better.
5. Making use of WhatsApp story feature
Just like Instagram, WhatsApp has its story feature wherein posts disappear after 24 hours. One can have anything put up here, say photos, videos or texts, and it stays there for 24 hours.
Share offers with the Stories feature. Any promotional offer can be shared, which would become invalid after completion of 24 hours.
This being a part of the Whatsapp Business strategies, a brand can choose to put up a lot of things on its page for the audience.
A business can even give a sneak-peek of its processes. Say, for instance, its office set up or its working style, behind the scene scenario of a product’s making. All this helps build more trust amongst the customers. They get an insight into their brand’s capability.
Examples of Brands doing great with WhatsApp Business:
- BookMyShow
An Indian company that lets people book movie tickets online. According to data shared by the online entertainment industry, BookMyShow sells around 13 million tickets in a month.
The WhatsApp Business feature is a pilot project for BookMyShow. They started offering tickets via WhatsApp. Show the QR code and get access, paperless ticketing.
The company soon realized that many customers today want to get in touch via WhatsApp, being a secure means and does not consume time. They are working towards getting a dedicated team on board to look after the customer service aspect on WhatsApp.
They are even working on new ideas and planning to book movie nights with friends and family, also get tickets for the same over the same chat.
2. Netflix
There have been many instances when all of us must have called up our friends and asked them to suggest a few good movies to watch.
Well, this has been taken care of by Netflix when it started sending out Tv series and movie recommendations via WhatsApp, in India.
Well, now just ask Netflix. One can ask for suggestions based on genre, length of the movie, and a lot more, even share the same with friends.
Based on a person’s viewing details, Netflix can recommend similar other series to watch. It can also tell its audience about the new shows that they may probably like.
This new feature surely has many potentials.
Our takeaway:
Of all that we have seen so far, the underlying motive is to stay connected with people. For a business, it would mean a way to communicate and engage with its customers.
So, ideas are well thought of and implemented with tactful strategies in place. Nevertheless, include WhatsApp Business strategies in the marketing plan, to jump a step ahead of the competition.
Just remember that WhatsApp is for quality interaction with the customers. It is for the business to offer great content at all times to attract and engage with its audience to keep them connected for long.