WhatsApp is a messaging app that’s used by billions of people around the world. But the platform has also proven to be a valuable tool for businesses, allowing them to interact with customers and apply effective marketing strategies. But how does WhatsApp work and what advantages does it offer?
WhatsApp offers a variety of ways to communicate with customers and promote your brand. One of the easiest ways a business can make good use of the messaging system is by using the app as a customer support channel. Customers can ask questions and provide feedback and issues can be resolved, while companies can offer outstanding customer service by responding to any requests quickly and easily.
WhatsApp can also be used for marketing campaigns. Companies can use it to send advertising messages to customers, announce new products or services, or even to promote offers and discounts. It can also be used to introduce customer loyalty programs by sending exclusive content and offers to subscribers.
Besides these obvious advantages, WhatsApp can also function as a sales channel. Companies can sell their products and services directly to consumers via the app by taking orders and processing payments. This way, they can reach customers who are unable to physically go to a shop due to restrictions or distance constraints.
When it comes to WhatsApp Business, it pays to follow some best practices. Firstly, companies should definitely make sure that they comply with data protection regulations. After all, before they send messages, they need the customers’ consent to contact them.
It’s also vital to make sure that not too many messages are sent and that they are relevant and useful. Flooding customers with promotional messages may cause them to turn away from the brand.
Companies can create good customer loyalty by rapidly responding to requests, and any communication on WhatsApp should be polite and professional.
Of course, companies can follow various strategies to get the most out of WhatsApp Business, but here are some general tips that should apply to most of them:
• Use WhatsApp for customer support: WhatsApp is a straightforward way for customers to ask questions or report problems. When companies ensure that they respond quickly and professionally to inquiries, they gain the trust and loyalty of their customers.
• Avoid spam: Take care not to overwhelm customers with too many messages, and make sure that advertising messages are neither aggressive nor irrelevant.
• Use WhatsApp for marketing purposes: WhatsApp is an effective channel for marketing campaigns, e.g. for announcing new products or services, offers and discounts, or customer loyalty programs.
• Use WhatsApp for sales purposes: Products and services can be sold directly to consumers via WhatsApp.
• Create groups and broadcast lists: By using groups and broadcast lists, companies can keep their target groups up to date. This is because these features allow messages to be sent to a large number of people all at once. This is an especially useful way to inform customers about news and offers.
• Use WhatsApp tools: There are some tools and plugins that can help you use the messaging app even more effectively, such as chatbots that respond to customer queries. Or analytics tools that can help companies track the performance of their WhatsApp campaigns in detail.
• Comply with the privacy policy: It is essential that businesses ensure that they comply with WhatsApp’s privacy policy and get their customers’ consent to contact them before sending messages. This is important to gain customers’ trust and avoid problems.
Follow these tips and use WhatsApp to communicate with customers, carry out effective marketing strategies, and grow your business.
By using WhatsApp, companies can interact with customers easily and effectively, whether for the purpose of customer support, marketing campaigns, customer retention or sales. Those who follow best practices for using WhatsApp and send relevant and useful messages are exploiting its full potential.
About the author:
BASICthinking is an online magazine and a tech portal with one of the widest reaches in the German-speaking world. Every day, the editorial team reports on social media, marketing and business topics. This article was written by Christina Widner from BASIC thinking GmbH and BASIC thinking International.
Sources:
• https://business.whatsapp.com/
• https://faq.whatsapp.com/641572844337957
• https://www.lupiter.com/blog/intro-to-whatsapp-marketing-for-business
• https://www.twilio.com/en-us/learn/messaging/five-reasons-to-use-whatsapp-business-api
