If there’s one thing you should add to your social media strategy it is WhatsApp Marketing! Truth be told, WhatsApp is rarely considered when creating a social media strategy. However, WhatsApp isn’t just your regular messaging app.
When used to its greatest potential, your ROI on WhatsApp Marketing is not just justified but it will even be celebrated. Adding WhatsApp Business to your marketing strategy just might be the missing link to take your brand to the next level.
As the world becomes more digitally connected, businesses are looking for new and innovative ways to reach their customers. One platform that has gained immense popularity in recent years is WhatsApp. With over 2 billion active users worldwide, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps in the world.
Whatsapp Business is specifically engineered keeping in mind small business owners and helps them connect and engage with their customers. If this is something that excites you, read this basic yet powerful guide to WhatsApp Marketing.
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What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is a free, cross-platform messaging app that allows users to send text messages, voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share media files such as photos and videos. It was founded in 2009 by two former Yahoo employees, Brian Acton and Jan Koum.
In 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion, and since then, the app has grown exponentially, with users from all over the world using it to stay connected. WhatsApp is the 3rd most used social media app in the world. There are 60 billion messages sent each day.
Why should you have a WhatsApp Marketing Strategy?
- It’s free!
- WhatsApp offers you a real-time 1:1 connection with your customers.
- WhatsApp allows you to send messages to your customers personally on their WhatsApp number.
- It can revolutionise your customer support.
- It’s where your customers can be most responsive.
- You can measure data.
- WhatsApp allows you to create groups as well as broadcast messages.
Getting Started on WhatsApp Business.
Create a WhatsApp Business account by downloading the separate app called WhatsApp Business designed for businesses. You can download it from the app store or play store. It allows you to create a business profile, which includes your business name, address, and contact details. Don’t forget to read the terms and conditions before you agree.
You can discover how to set up an online catalogue of products or automated messages. Be sure to provide more details about your company before utilising advanced capabilities like automatic messaging. In the settings menu, under the Business Profile category, you can control addresses, times, and websites.
Once you have set up your business profile, you can use WhatsApp to communicate with your customers. You are now ready to start!
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How to use WhatsApp Business effectively?
1. Create a professional profile
The first step to using WhatsApp Business effectively is to create a professional profile that represents your brand. This includes adding your business name, logo, and contact information. Add a category that best describes your business.
2. Use WhatsApp to provide the best customer support
WhatsApp is an excellent tool for providing customer support. You can use it to answer customer queries, provide product information, and even process orders.
The platform is particularly useful for businesses that have a small customer service team or those that want to provide support outside of regular business hours. The app also allows you to provide quick responses with a vast variety of automated responses, templates and shortcuts.
You can even use labels to segregate customer responses. WhatsApp has a bank of pre programmed labels but you can also create your own. You can set up automated “away” messages for when a customer messages you beyond working hours letting them know you will get back to them.
3.Use WhatsApp to send marketing messages
WhatsApp allows businesses to send marketing messages to their customers. However, it is essential to get the customer’s consent before sending any promotional messages. You can use WhatsApp to send newsletters, promotional offers, and product updates.
4. WhatsApp Business catalogues
You can have a catalogue with approximately 500 products for customers to browse through and they can all have a title, price, description and an image. You can send links from the catalogue into direct messages as well to your customers.
To set up your catalogue, you have to select the ‘Catalog’ option from the list in settings. Tap on the ‘Add Product or Service’ button, organise them by category and then tap on the ‘Share Catalog’ button to share your catalogue with customers via WhatsApp or other social media channels.
5. Use WhatsApp for internal communication
WhatsApp is also an excellent tool for internal communication. You can create groups for your employees, which can be used for team collaboration, sharing files, and even conducting virtual meetings.
You can communicate with up to 256 individuals at once on a group chat and send PDFs and other documents over WhatsApp Business. The maximum file size you can send is 100MB.
6. Make connections with other professionals
Just like zoom or google meet, you can connect with other experts in your industry and have meetings with them over WhatsApp’s video calling feature. The best part, this can be done from a desktop as well as a phone with WhatsApp Desktop feature.
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3 Tools for WhatsApp Business.
1. WATI:
WATI is a communication platform that specialises in providing AI-powered chatbots for businesses. Its chatbots are designed to automate customer conversations and improve customer engagement, making it an ideal tool for businesses looking to scale their customer support operations.
One of the key features of WATI is its ability to integrate with WhatsApp Business API, which enables businesses to send and receive messages directly through WhatsApp.
2. Twilio:
Twilio is a cloud communication platform that offers a range of messaging services, including WhatsApp integration. Its USP is its scalability and flexibility, allowing businesses to integrate WhatsApp into their existing messaging workflows and scale their messaging as their business grows.
3. Statusbrew:
Statusbrew is a social media management platform that allows businesses to manage their social media presence across multiple channels from one central dashboard. With its suite of tools, businesses can manage their social media profiles, publish and schedule posts, monitor their brand mentions, and analyze their performance.
You can even manage several WhatsApp accounts with the assistance of Statusbrew without having to sign in and out of each one separately.
One consolidated inbox allows you to monitor all incoming messages and discussions from all connected accounts and allocate them to the proper team member for follow-up.
Microsoft Teams and Slack can both be integrated with it. It develops automated message programmes and monitors client engagement.
WhatsApp has now opened up a brand new avenue for digital marketing and this is a bandwagon you should climb on! With its extensive user base and powerful features, it provides businesses with a unique opportunity to build meaningful relationships with their customers.
By creating a WhatsApp Business account, using it to provide customer support, sending marketing messages, and using the various tools available, businesses can get the most out of WhatsApp and take their marketing efforts to the next level. Toolcano has a vast repository of tools you can use to optimise your social media strategy! Check out Toolcano today.
This piece was collaboratively written by multiple members of the We Think North team, bringing you perspectives from across the branding, marketing, content and tech verticals.