WhatsApp is an instant messaging application for smartphones, where you can send and receive content such as text, audio, video, GIF, documents, contacts, location, calls, and video calls.
Currently, WhatsApp Business (the sister tool) is ideal for any business that seeks to implement a conversational marketing strategy and increase its sales.
What benefits then does Whatsapp bring to you?
Companies and users are beginning to realize that WhatsApp is a tool that facilitates interaction. Which leads to consistent sales and serves as a big tool for customer service options.
Does WhatsApp Business serve the same functions as Whatsapp?
WhatsApp business focused clearly on the business sector. It opened up a world of possibilities for the business sectors to have a better relationship with their customers.
In addition, Whatsapp business comes with features in its application oriented to the commercial management of clients through the instant messaging platform, which you will see in detail throughout this article.
Furthermore, it is an application that allows you to apply 100% Conversational Marketing and Marketing Automation as you do with your email campaigns.
Basic Features of Whatsapp business For Android, iPhone, and Mac users
#1: Profile information: For businesses, companies, or SMEs that want to be easily viewed and discovered by customers, the WhatsApp Business app allows users to create a business profile with useful information for their customers.
You can create a publicly visible profile with information such as work address, email contact, description, website, and hours of operation. Don't forget to include your company logo as well.
To access this resource,
- Go to Menu
- click on Settings
- Click on the Company Tools
- Access the Company Profile and fill in the required details as mentioned above.
#2: Catalog of products or services:
It is common for companies that work with the sale of products to want to disclose a series of images of the articles, to facilitate the visualization of what is being sold.
In the commercial profile itself, companies can also create their product catalog.
To access this resource,
- Go to Menu
- From the Settings option
- Click on Company Tools
- Access the Catalog, and put up your product Imageries
Another amazing effect of this is that you can leave the entire list of products, invariably saving your phone memory from carrying loads of such files.
In case you work with the delivery of some type of service, this functionality will also facilitate your communication, since in each element that you register, in addition to a photo or image, you can include a name, price, and even a personalized description field.
#3:Direct link and default message for customers:
Also in the business configuration part, WhatsApp Business offers the direct link resource. In practice, that is a link that you can copy or share so that other people have easy access to the company profile.
This functionality makes profile disclosure easier.
And there is more! In that same area, you can create a default message that will be automatically completed to everyone who accesses the link.
This will help when identifying messages from new contacts. You can use something like: “Hello! I am making the first contact and I want to know more about the company”, to quickly know who are the new contacts in the conversation list.
To access this resource
- Go to WhatsApp Business
- Click on Business tools
- Access your direct link and optimize the message options to suit your business standards.
#4: Absence message:
The WhatsApp business application also has three other resources related to contact messages for your company. These are located in these areas
- Click on Company Settings
- Access Company Tools
- Then optimize the Messaging.
In this part, the first resource is Away Message. You can define automatic messages to send to customers when you are not online, preventing them from having doubts about when they will receive a response from your company.
- Access Menu
- Go to setting
- Click on Tools for company
- Enter the response you want your customers to receive when you are not online by clicking the 'Absence message'
#5: Write and edit your message:
Define who can receive that message.
Define the hours that the function will be enabled. In this case, you can define if you want to always send, only at some scheduled time or only when you are outside the business hours defined in the company profile area.
#6: Welcome message:
To ensure that all your new contacts will get at least one quick response from the message they send, you can set up an automated welcome message.
This is a default model for customers who start conversations with your business profile.
WhatsApp Business itself creates a default first message that you can adjust and edit the way you prefer.
You can also define who can receive this type of contact, creating a segmented list of contacts and even excluding some.
To access the welcome message on Whatsapp Business
- Go to menu
- Once you've accessed your settings
- Click on the business tools
- Grouped in the Messaging enter your write-up in the Welcome message.
#7: Quick answers:
One of the most loved features by the public that uses WhatsApp Business is Favorite Answers. Quickly, you can save frequently used responses as favorites, to send by typing just a few shorter commands.
To define each answer, create a code beginning with / (slash) and complement it with a word. The application itself already has a first model with the shortcut /thank you and a thank you message ready, but you can edit it.
On the right side, there is a + button to access the area for creating new quick-response messages.
Just type the message, and shortcut you want to have when using the code and keyword to create message groups (this last part is optional). After saving, it just works sorting automatically!
In the message area, just type / to bring up the list of favorite answers you created, or type the word that forms the code of the answer you need to appear as a message.
#8: One More Blast
In addition to these resources in the Business Tools area, you also have access to some very important functionality that you can access directly from the main menu.
We are talking about Labels, which have the function of labeling and marking your messages with a specific color and description.
You can filter and add labels with different and custom-colored labels for active conversations with your contacts. The main goal of taking advantage of that functionality is to keep your mailbox organized.
By doing that, you can even label chats like “New Customer” or “New Order” and set up quick replies accordingly. By definition, WhatsApp Business is already configured with 5 different labels.
Top Benefits of WhatsApp Business?
When it comes to employing a conversational marketing strategy, most companies have chosen to use WhatsApp to communicate with their Leads and Customers.
However, the main problem that arises here is that the sellers use, in most cases, their personal WhatsApp accounts, instead of an official company account.
This, on the one hand, jeopardizes the company's image, and, on the other, means wasting the sales potential offered by a tool like WhatsApp Business.
However, here is why as a selling brand you should switch from personal WhatsApp to Whatsapp business
The best way to understand the problems that using a personal WhatsApp account to sell generates is with this given example. Read on!
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Imagine, for example, that you want to buy a new cell phone. You do your research on the different brands and models available, search for reviews on Google and Youtube, evaluate the different prices, and choose possible stores to buy your product online.
When you decide on a store, the first thing you do is visit their website or Facebook page to see how you can contact them to make your purchase. You discover that on their website they have a WhatsApp button installed that will allow you to chat with a salesperson directly from your phone.
Excellent!
The in-app chat window opens and you discover that the contact's avatar doesn't have the store logo, but a photo of a person. The account also does not have a predefined welcome message or automatic responses that explain what the opening hours are.
You write him/her a message to consult about the product you want to buy, and the seller does not respond. A few hours later, you get this message:
"I'm not working right now. I'll call you later." The hard truth is you will most likely change stores.
Do you realize how a simple WhatsApp message without answering or careless communication can become a lost sale?
What is Conversational Marketing and why do brands Need It?
According to Martin, Whatsapp and web expert, he says "WhatsApp Business is a tool based on conversational marketing and has a series of functionalities and features that help facilitate and streamline sales processes.
In the age of conversational marketing, WhatsApp has become one of the main forms of communication worldwide. We are all part of this trend that is here to stay. So, what is better than taking advantage of it?
In interviews carried out by the Sirena team, 85% of salespeople from different companies stated that WhatsApp is a "very important tool in the sales process" and that "not having this tool would greatly complicate their closings."
In addition, in that same report, Sirena concluded that 95% of the cell phones that customers share with vendors are associated with a personal WhatsApp account. This means that all your clients are there, you just have to know how to contact them.
In short, WhatsApp represents a great difference in the commercial results of businesses, especially those dedicated to B2C marketing.
Let's see some techniques used by sellers to achieve more sales on WhatsApp.
Tips and Tricks of Whatsapp Marketing
#1: WhatsApp messages: Taking advantage of all the resources
When it comes to selling, one of the tips that specialists repeat the most about what WhatsApp is for is to make the most of the features offered by the platform to communicate with customers.
This means that we should not limit ourselves to just sending text messages. We must expand the horizon with Images, voice messages, and videos.
4 Benefits of conversational marketing
Let's talk about the strategy par excellence on this platform which is conversational marketing. Here are the main benefits of this type of action:
1. Real-time
When you use a conversational marketing strategy, the interaction with your customers happens instantly and in real-time. There is no waiting, no delays. Your customers are served when they need it, regardless of the time they do it.
2. Scalability
With the rise of technologies like chatbots, companies can automate and scale conversations with their customers to unprecedented levels. Thanks to these technologies, companies can hold personalized conversations with different customers at the same time, without impairing the operation of their team or their effectiveness when it comes to selling.
3. Personalization
The use of technology also makes it possible to collect a large amount of data, contextualize conversations and offer unique personal experiences. Conversational marketing helps businesses build trust with their buyers and create a very positive consumer experience.
4. Feedback
Another of the great advantages of conversational marketing is feedback. Each conversation with a customer provides a fundamental contribution that helps businesses improve their communication processes and customer service.
How did the conversation take place? What went right? What can be improved? It's just a matter of taking notes and working on it.
It is not a secret that this platform is not the only one that allows us to have Conversational Marketing. However, WhatsApp Business continues to be the quintessential tool for marketing and automation in companies.
Usage policies: how to comply with WhatsApp Business Rules
Having a platform to communicate easily and quickly with your clients does not exempt you from your responsibilities and obligations.
In recent months, the WhatsApp authorities made the drastic decision to start blocking all those accounts that send unwanted advertising and massive and invasive messages.
Faced with this initiative, companies are facing a serious problem, since there are currently many businesses whose sellers use WhatsApp to contact potential customers and offer them products, promotions, and discounts.
As reported by the platform itself, more than 2 million accounts are blocked per month due to these violations. And 75% of those accounts are removed as a result of the app's algorithm's machine learning.
As it does? WhatsApp has three checkpoints:
1.During registration: WhatsApp uses the phone number to verify coordinates. The algorithm uses basic information such as IP address and operator information to verify the provenance of the new account.
This way, if a network tries to register many accounts at the same time, the system removes them even before they can send a message. According to WhatsApp, of the two million deleted accounts, 20% are done before registration.
2. Sending messages: On the other hand, if an account starts sending malicious messages, WhatsApp marks it as suspicious. And once an account has been identified as a source of Spam, the platform will automatically remove it.
Therefore, when interacting through WhatsApp Business, companies must follow certain rigorous rules:
When a conversation between a company and a client starts through WhatsApp Business, the first message must consist of a template pre-approved by the platform. Once the person replies to that message, you can continue the conversation as normal.
If the user takes more than 24 hours to respond to a message, the communication must be resumed through a template.
The conversation between a company and a client must be carried out from the official telephone line of the company and not from a private telephone. Failure to comply with this requirement can mean a severe penalty.
3. Responding to negative comments: The interaction between companies and customers should always aim to provide quality service and a good experience for users.
Now it's time to put out what you've learned so far, download your Whatsapp business app, and enjoy the next phase of your business growth.