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While WhatsApp has become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, it’s still typically thought of as just a text messaging app that people use to keep in touch with friends and family. But did you know that there is an expanding set of possibilities to use WhatsApp as part of your small business? Here are three ways that you might be able to leverage WhatsApps to generate new growth opportunities.
Customer service
WhatsApp is an excellent way to respond quickly to customer inquiries and questions. By using the business version of the WhatsApp app, you can gain access to a number of features and functions that make this easier than you might imagine. For example, you can set up your WhatsApp profile to send out automated messages, such as a “thank you” to certain messages or as confirmation that a certain request has been received.
Just keep in mind, though, that WhatsApp is unlike email or any other platform that you might currently be using for customer service. Generally speaking, any message sent to you via WhatsApp needs to be answered as quickly as possible. People expect responses within minutes, not hours. That means making sure someone on your team is around to answer these messages, or that you have the proper automated responses set up in advance.
Sales and marketing
You could also use WhatsApp as part of your sales and marketing campaign. If you are tired of customers never opening your emails, or providing little to no engagement on your social media posts, you will be impressed at the baseline metrics for WhatsApp. According to studies that have been done, WhatsApp messages have a 98% open rate and a 60% click-through rate. In other words, if you send out a WhatsApp message to a customer, you can feel pretty confident that it will be opened and read.
In order to generate the best possible results, be sure to include a Call to Action (CTA) with every message that you send out. For example, you could encourage customers to “Try out our new product.” Or you could provide an incentive to “Leave us a review.” Just remember, though, that you don’t want to be spamming your customers with new messages. So make sure that customers have opted in to your WhatsApp messages, and that you don’t send out messages too frequently. Messages should also be short and succinct, usually a maximum of just 150 words.
Influencer marketing
Finally, WhatsApp could become a fantastic way to integrate any social media influencers you are currently working with to promote your products. That’s because WhatsApp enables group chats for up to 259 people. Thus, WhatsApp might become a new way to keep in touch with brand ambassadors or other key people involved in promoting your company. With WhatsApp, you can include multimedia attachments, so it’s relatively easy to send along new digital assets as you create them for further distribution.
Conclusion
As with all social media platforms, you’ll want to monitor your progress with WhatsApp via metrics. This will help you determine what is working, and what is not. To maximize its impact, also try to integrate WhatsApp with everything else you are doing within sales and marketing. That will help to provide the best chances for success for your small business.
