Businesses run on good products, excellent customer service, and a strong relationship. And when it comes to providing excellent customer service and building strong business-customer relationships, WhatsApp Business ticks all the right boxes.
WhatsApp Business is a prominent name when it comes to online marketing and customer relationship management. WhatsApp Business has changed the paradigm of online marketing and has given businesses a personal space where they can connect with their audience directly. This allows them to be precise with their marketing approach and establish a strong relationship with them.
WhatsApp Business: An Introduction
WhatsApp Business is a conglomerate of WhatsApp which was rolled out in 2018 and is one of the crowning jewels of Facebook. It was introduced seeing the growing popularity of WhatsApp as an instant messaging tool. Many businesses sharted to engage with customers using the platform as it was an easy and cost-efficient option.
The idea behind WhatsApp Business was to provide businesses of all sizes a lightweight easy to use platform that could be used as a marketing platform. This platform can be used to reach out to leads, nurturing them and converting them to customers, promoting products and services, extending personalized customer services, and everything in between.
Businesses all over the world are shifting to WhatsApp Business due to its ease of use and the high message read rate. WhatsApp Business offers various features which make running the entire business on WhatsApp Business possible.
Here is the list of some of the features of WhatsApp Business:
1 . Business Profile
2 . Quick Replies
3 . Automatic Greeting Message
4 . Automatic Away Message
5. Contacts Labels
6. Data Analytics and Statistics
7. Product Catalogs
8. Link Generation
9. Facebook Shops Integration
10. WhatsApp Payments in India
These features make WhatsApp Business a one-stop solution for e-commerce and open up avenues of infinite opportunities for small and medium businesses.
Top 7 Reasons to Use WhatsApp Business Account
Here are the top 7 reasons for you to own your professional WhatsApp Business Account.
1. It is cost-effective
For businesses, operation cost is a major factor impacting their overall budget. WhatsApp Business is a free service that comes as a boon for small-time businesses who have a modest budget to run their business. Be it creating a business account, creating and sharing product catalogs, engaging with customers through text, voice, and audio calls, it allows you to use the platform without any charges.
It not only cuts down a huge part of the operations and marketing budget, but it also brings efficiency, and transparency while is a major plus for any business.
2. Allows close conversations
In traditional marketing, most interactions between a business and the audience are one-sided. Unlike traditional marketing, WhatsApp Business allows two-way ‘conversations’. One-to-one communication with individuals allows you to understand their interests, preferences around your products and helps you in providing precise and personalized product recommendations and customer care. It also helps in constructing user personas and provides efficient customer support.
For customers, having an unscrutinized space to engage with business allows them to open up and discuss their experiences and opinions. It improves the overall customer experience and helps businesses establish a strong personal bond with them.
3. Easy to use
WhatsApp Business is highly user-friendly. It and can be used equally well by a kid as well as a senior citizen. The process of setting up an account and enabling all its features takes minutes. It does not require an individual to be a technology expert to use the app.
This is one of the reasons that WhatsApp has managed to reach more than 2 billion active users across 106 countries and various age groups in such a short time span.
With WhatsApp Business, you can exchange text messages and emojis, place a call, share product catalog, update status, or exchange links with just a click.
4. Connect with a large user base easily
There are more than two billion WhatsApp active users worldwide. Through WhatsApp Business, businesses all over the world can reach out to their customers through a platform that they are already available on. You send invitation links to individuals and ask if they would be interested in notifications and updates. If they consent to it, you get a potential lead whom you can further approach to convert them into customers.
WhatsApp Business makes it extremely easy to reach out to a wide range of audiences and identify potential leads. Connecting with leads on a personal level can help gain a lot of valuable information that can aid in shaping future products and marketing strategies.
5. Instant messaging makes the process faster
Be it pitching your customers for a new product, or resolving a customer’s issue. Instant messaging helps in saving a lot of time for both parties can provide prompt responses.This can help in boosting the efficiency of customer care services and get your business a good reputation. By providing in-time responses and addressing customer queries instantly can positively impact your business and help you gain a loyal customer base.
In terms of sales, instant messaging can help businesses introduce their brand or product and crack a deal on the spot. These small efficiencies can improve the overall productivity in a big way and speed up the end-to-end process.
6. High read and engagement rates
WhatsApp boasts of one of the highest message open and reads rates as compared to any other platform. For businesses, it acts as an advantage as they get maximum attention from customers through WhatsApp Business. This makes WhatsApp Business based marketing campaigns to be more effective.
Getting high read rates helps brands and businesses to boost engagement rates through regular updates and notifications, relevant and engaging content, and at times games and fun activities.
7. Build a strong presence using a professional account
With WhatsApp Business, you can create a professional account and build a market identity for your business. A professional account helps in building trust among customers and provides them all the necessary information to reach out to you.
As a professional account, you can make it easier for your customers to identify you and help in building a brand presence. Businesses reaching out to individuals using a professional account have a lower risk of getting blocked.
Along with your business name, you can also include your bio, address, opening hours, product catalog, and all information that allows you to reflect your vision and your corporate tone using your profile.
Limitations of WhatsApp Business Account
There is no doubt that WhatsApp Business can be seen as the future of e-commerce and corporate communications. Its futuristic features make it a preferred choice for businesses of all kinds. But it has its own limitations when it comes to its use in large organizations.
Large organizations are run by multiple administrators and diverse teams. Since WhatsApp Business allows a single account, it can become quite cluttered and unmanageable for an individual to run the account.
This limitation can be overcome using the WhatsApp Business API-based SocialEpoch. SocialEpoch is a CRM tool that allows you to have 10 WhatsApp accounts simultaneously. Using SocialEpoch, you can have a separate account for each department, team, or client and have a more organized and transparent system. You may explore several other features of SocialEpoch here.
Concluding Remarks
WhatsApp Business is a complete solution for small and medium businesses. Its features and ease of access make it an optimal choice for business and make having a WhatsApp Business Account a must for everyone!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is WhatsApp Business API pricing
A: WhatsApp Business API, SocialEpoch is a subscription-based service and is available on an annual subscription.
The subscription charges are $859/ year and $1499/ year. You can find more information about them here.
A: No. WhatsApp Business follows strict security protocols and restrictions using the same WhatsApp Business Account on multiple phones simultaneously.
A: WhatsApp Business as a stand-alone app does not allow multiple agents but when used with the WhatsApp Business API SocialEpoch, you get up to 50 agents.
SocialEpoch also allows you to use the same account on multiple devices at the same time.
A: Yes. WhatsApp Business like its counterpart, WhatsApp is absolutely free in India. However, if your register for the app through A WhatsApp Business API, the service provider may charge you a certain amount.
A: The core functionality of WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business is the same. However, WhatsApp Business offers certain additional features such as professional accounts, product catalogs, contact labels, automated greetings and away messages, and more.
A: No. If you are planning to use WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business using the same number, it may not be possible as WhatsApp prohibits the use of the same account in more than one instance due to security reasons.