WhatsApp in Business

They say in any good relationship, communication is key. When it comes to businesses and their customers, communication is paramount. Customer-business communication could be two-way or one-way depending on the nature of the message being conveyed.

Looking back a couple of years ago, this sort of communication was mainly done via email, for the formality. Fast forward to now and businesses have adopted better, faster, and more convenient methods to reach out to their customers.

Classic examples include text messages and WhatsApp.

SMSs and Business

Statistically, 98% of all text messages are viewed and this fact has influenced many businesses to revert to using text messages to communicate with customers. Text messages are sent to customers either through a cellular network or over the internet – the text itself being referred to as a business SMS.

By definition, it is a short text message sent by a business to customers for various reasons such as sharing updates or news, promoting their products, or informing customers about discounts.

How to Use Business Text Messaging

Reminders

You could send a text to remind customers of an upcoming appointment or remind them about that outstanding bill they still have not cleared.

Birthday wishes

Depending on the customer information you have, you may send a customer a happy birthday message – let them know they matter and you are thinking of them on their special day. You could even add in a little discount or free gift.

Polling for customer preferences

To keep up with customer demand, you can conduct a poll through business SMS asking customers what they prefer.

Conduct contests

To increase customer loyalty, you could set up contests along the lines of “Enter now and stand a chance to win a gift hamper and vouchers.”.

Customer care

Some folks, especially those from the younger generations, prefer texting over having to call customer care or customer service.

For optimal results, you may need to consider these good practices;

Opt-in users

You need to ask for customers’ consent before sending them text messages to avoid giving users an unpleasant experience by sending them unsolicited messages. This malpractice may be against the law and may taint your brand name.

Keep it short

With a limit of 160 characters, it is advisable to keep the SMS short to avoid boring customers with unnecessarily long details.

Time it right

It goes without saying that no one likes hearing their phone buzzing at 2 in the morning so reasonable hours are the way to go.

Add a bit of email marketing

The two complement each other in the sense that in case a customer misses either, they probably will see the message from the other channel. This indeed does cover all your bases splendidly.

You may be wondering why to make the move to using text messages to reach customers. Here are some reasons:

  • With global coverage, you can reach your target audience with ease
  • It works wonders for local businesses mainly because you can encourage people to visit your premises.
  • With a 98% open rate, it is nigh on impossible that your message will not be viewed.

As earlier mentioned, businesses also make use of Whatsapp to communicate with customers. Let’s dive into that.

Hey There I am Using WhatsApp

WhatsApp in itself needs no introduction. It has more than two billion users globally. It basically is the default messenger app when it comes to connecting with family and friends. Businesses are joining in on using this platform to communicate with customers owing to how fast, easy and convenient it is – not to mention fun as well.

Unlike your personal WhatsApp on your mobile device, businesses have specially tailored applications to use.

Whatsapp Business

Released in 2018, it is a perfect fit for small businesses. The basic idea behind it is to allow a user to have two accounts, a personal account, and the business account, on a single mobile device without having to switch to another WhatsApp account.

Free messages are sent directly to customers’ mobile devices provided they have an internet connection and a working WhatsApp account.

WhatsApp Business also conveniently comes with a quick reply feature that gives customers replies to frequently asked questions with predefined replies.

Below are some of the major features of WhatsApp Business:

  1. Content, in whatever form, can be broadcasted to a maximum of 256 contacts.
  2. The app is automated to include quick replies and greeting messages.
  3. Whatsapp Business can be used to make voice calls and video calls as well.
  4. Contacts are retrieved from phone contacts.
  5. The app is open source – free to use.
  6. The app can send and receive multimedia files with a limit of 100MB.

However, if you are a large business or corporation looking to use WhatsApp for business, WhatsApp API for business is the way to go.

Whatsapp API for Business

This is a WhatsApp messaging API specifically made for large companies and organizations that power a company’s communication with customers all over the globe. It allows a business to connect with customers all over the world.

This application programming interface (API) allows businesses to receive and answer unlimited WhatsApp messages from their customers.

They do this by utilizing a WhatsApp messaging API.

Messaging API

It is a service that enables various messaging technologies all under one interface.

They are generally offered by third parties with access to global mobile service providers to provide message transmission on whatever platform.

Using messaging APIs eliminates the need to develop backend systems for all the components integrated under one interface. Below are the features of the API.

Contact opt-in

Businesses are required to ask for consent before sending messages to avoid spamming customers with unwanted, unsolicited messages.

Consent may be obtained via filling in of online forms where customers fill in their WhatsApp registered numbers or through WhatsApp links.

It does not have a front-end interface

Being an API, it is not an app and lacks a front-end interface. In lieu of this, the API itself is integrated into the business software by the end-users.

The API supports an unlimited number of users and devices. However, it does not support calls, both incoming and outgoing. Messages must be responded to within 24 hours.