WhatsApp is surely one of the most popular cross-platform messaging applications across the globe. Having 1.5 billion monthly active users and processing about 60 billion messages on a daily basis makes it super dependable for those who love to get in touch with their friends and loved ones.
In fact, WhatsApp is not just known to connect the world via its platform, it is also available to provide business services or customer support on your smartphone. To help business minds, WhatsApp has launched a business application that is available on Android and iOS devices.
The WhatsApp business application and the normal WhatsApp application are quite identical, but the former comes with several features that help business owners to communicate seamlessly with their customers. Let’s show you how small businesses can use WhatsApp to market their products and services consistently. See How To Use WhatsApp Business To Promote Your Business:
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Get Started With WhatsApp Business App:
- Be aware that the WhatsApp Business application can be downloaded for free on the Play Store and App Store. Once that is done, simply click the WhatsApp Business icon on your home screen.
- After that, study the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service well, then click “Agree and Continue” to accept the terms.
- Choose your nation from the drop-down list to add your country code, then type in your phone number in international phone number format. Click “Done” or “Next,” then click “OK” to get your 6-digit registration code through text message or phone call. To wrap up the registration, simply type in your 6-digit code.
- Contacts can be added to the WhatsApp Business app from your device’s address book. You’ll also be able to allow access to your phone’s pictures, clips, and files.
- Enter your business name, choose a business category and select a profile photo.
- Click “Explore,” then “Business Profile.” This is where you can add vital business information such as your business address, description, hours, and so on.
- That is that, chat away.
Creating and Maintaining a Catalog:
Be aware that an updated catalog on WhatsApp Business simplifies the process of customers buying what you are selling. It also helps business owners to flaunt fresh products and services whenever they feel like it.
Add A Product Or Service To Your Catalog:
- Launch the WhatsApp Business application, tap “More Options,” “Settings,” “Business,” “Tools,” and “Catalog.” If you are creating a fresh catalog, click “Add New Item.”
- Click the plus icon, then “Add Images.”
- Click “Gallery” to upload pictures from your smartphone or capture new images.
- Come up with a product or service name. You can even share other information like price, description, website link, plus product or service code for every product you upload, but this is not compulsory.
- Tap “Save.”
Control The Products Or Services That Customers Can View:
Be aware that this feature might be available to you yet. If it is, just adhere to these instructions:
Hide Catalog Items:
- Launch the WhatsApp Business app, tap “More Options,” “Settings,” “Business,” “Tools,” and “Catalog.”
- You can hide items individually as a group. To do it individually, click the items to access the product detail page. After that, click “More Options,” then “Hide.”
Be aware that items will still be visible in your catalog manager. If the product detail page is opened, a note that shows you have hidden this item will be visible.
Unhide Catalog Items:
- Launch the WhatsApp Business application, then “More Options,” then ” Settings,” “Business Tools,” then “Catalog.”
- Users can also unhide items individually or as a group. To unhide one item, click the item to access the product detail page. After that, click “More Options” “Unhide.”
- To unhide items in group, simply press and hold the item you’ll wish to unhide, click the other Items you would wish to unhide, then “Unhide.”
Delete A Product Or Service From Your Catalog:
- Launch the WhatsApp Business application, then click “More Options,” “Settings,” “Business Tools,” then “Catalog.”
- Press and hold your finger on the photo of the product or service you would love to get rid of.
- Click “Delete,” then tap “YES.”
Be aware that all images uploaded to the catalog will be reviewed. This review will serve as a confirmation that the image, product or service doesn’t contradict the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.
If your WhatsApp Business account is connected to a Twitter shop and you’ve enabled WhatsApp as a sales channel, your WhatsApp catalog will be replaced by your Twitter shop by default. Be aware that this will not alter or get rid of your WhatsApp catalog, however, you and your customers will not see it. Simply head back to your WhatApp catalog at any point by disabling or hiding WhatsApp as a sales channel.
Why You Should Use WhatsApp Business:
1. Guaranteed Real-Time Customer Service:
As you already know, delivering real-time customer service is something most small businesses can’t afford, however, with WhatsApp Business, you and your employees will be able to respond to questions your customers have at all times. Also, because rich media is supported on the platform, users can use text, audio, or video to offer a more personal customer service experience.
2. Customer Support:
Small businesses offer lots of services, and it doesn’t matter if you are a cobbler, repairer, or provision seller, users will be able to create clip presentations for their customers. These presentations can be DIYs and no use of a professional will be required. Customer support will also cover live-video help, tutorials on how to fix something, or offer guidance. This makes your business dependable, and if your customer is in need of extended services, you should be contacted before anyone else.
3. Feedback:
If you’re not aware, the open rate for WhatsApp messages is seventy percent, therefore, rather than calling customers to receive feedback, users can create questions for your group that will give answers that are relevant to whatever you are selling. This is proper marketing research at its peak, plus it is very free. As expected, with the feedback you get from customers, users will be able to reply requests and improve their products and services.
4. Personal Touch:
As your WhatsApp group keeps growing, users will also be able to customize the interaction with their customers via one-on-one communication. This is key for owners of small businesses because it triggers a direct relationship that will make customers send you a direct message if they want a specific product or when they need answers to their questions.
5. Creating And Targeting Groups:
If your small business mainly focuses on a specific product or service, it’ll make sense to create or groups on WhatsApp that are interested in related topics, thereby boosting your customer base. Also, by creating video content and offering live support, members can share it with their friends and loved ones, leading to more people becoming customers.
6. Share Promotional Codes, Flash Sales:
With the fresh “Status” feature, business owners can even create unique promotional codes that customers can use while patronizing them. “Status” lets everyone in your group know about your promotions, including a 2-hour flash sale or a 24 hours special to boost traffic and create more awareness about your business.
7. Special Access:
“Status” also aids business owners to offer special access to events they are holding and even send a live feed. Let’s assume a popular chef is set to storm your restaurant or a famous musician is about to dazzle at your bar, or you have a respected lawyer at your company, you’ll be able to share any interesting news with potential customers.
8. Giveaways:
Last but not the least, it’ll make sense to organize giveaways for customers every day or on a weekly basis as well. This will surely boost your traffic, and because WhatsApp and Status are completely free, you’ll only be spending on the items you’ll be giving away.
Features Of WhatsApp Business:
1. Business Profile:
Users can create a publicly visible profile with information about their business, including email address, location, and so on.
2. WhatsApp Business Statistics:
Users will have access to basic analytics reports about their account activities like the number of messages sent, delivered, read, and received.
3. Labels:
Users can include custom color-coded labels in active chats with customers to ensure things are well organized.
4. Greetings:
Users will be able to set up a default greeting message for customers that chat with their business.
5. Away Messages:
Users can even pre-set messages to send to customers who are not online.
6. Quick Replies:
Business owners can also save frequently-used responses by typing in short commands that start with “/”. For instance, after saving a quick reply that tells customers about when you open for business, you can just enter “/time” to instantly send a pre-saved message like “Thank you for asking. We open by 8 AM.”
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How WhatsApp Business App Stands Out:
The WhatsApp Business application stands out because it makes life easier and business smoother for small brands. The platform makes business information available to customers while helping with sorting active chats. On top of that, its auto-reply capabilities and proper response templates help business owners cope with a smaller customer base.
However, medium and enterprise-sized businesses will most likely need a more advanced tool if they are dealing with a large number of users, or when they want access to added functionality.
There you go, if you need information on how to use WhatsApp Business, you now know what to do and how to go about it.
