Are you optimizing the full features of the WhatsApp messenger app for your business?
There are lots of social media platforms out there that small businesses are exploring when it comes to optimizing and maximizing online tools and resources for business growth and scalability, but the most neglected one among all these social Apps is The Whatsapp Messenger.
I feel this could be because most people don’t know how to make the most use of this amazing Messenger app.
In this post, I’m going to work you through some marketing features and tactics in the New Whatsapp Business Messenger App that was created for small business owners and how you can start exploring them to grow and scale your business online.
You may probably know a lot about WhatsApp messenger, but for the seek of clarity let’s briefly go through the origin and fundamentals of this app again.
What is WhatsApp Messenger?
The WhatsApp Messenger App is one of the many social apps that allow friends and family to keep in touch through chat, it is a free mobile app that uses your phone’s internet connection to let you chat, share files and images, and also make free voice and video calls.
It became popular amidst other similar apps because it offers users the opportunity to chat with other WhatsApp users without SMS text message charges.
The App is available in different versions of operating systems, iPhone, Android, Windows phone, and the Nokia S40 and can be downloaded in various app stores online.
There’s also a web app and desktop versions for Mac or Windows PCs, but the desktop version is designed in a way that you will need to have it installed on your mobile phone first before you can use a QR code feature to active it on your desktop because each WhatsApp account is tied directly to a single phone number.
The App was created in 2009 by two ex-Yahoo employees who wanted to make free communication available to all but was acquired in 2014 by Facebook for about $16 billion.
One of the key features of The WhatsApp Messenger App is the decision of not allowing advertising on the platform, actually, this has also made the platform unfavourable for business owners.
From when it was bought by Facebook it has been anticipated that Facebook will definitely make it suitable for business due to their remarkable experience in creating business features on any of their platforms on Facebook and Instagram for example, and guess what? they did.
In January 2018, Facebook launched a new independent version of the App “WhatsApp Business App”.
The Whatsapp Business App
According to Facebook, “WhatsApp Business is free to download app that was built with the small business owner in mind”
WhatsApp business app on playstore
A lot of small businesses don’t know about the new WhatsApp Business app, and they are stock with the limited features on the personal WhatsApp Messenger and even most people who already know about the app are not optimizing all the possibilities the app offers.
Features on the WhatsApp business app
There are lots of amazing features that make the WhatsApp business tool cool for managing some activities of a business. Apart from the group and broadcast features in the regular WhatsApp messenger, here are some amazing features that can enable you to do a lot more for your business with the WhatsApp business app.
Profile
You can create a business profile with helpful information about your business for your customers, like your address, business description, email address, website, work hour, etc.
Catalogue
There is also a feature to create a catalogue to showcase your products or services.
With this, you can showcase your product or services making it easier for potential customers to get all the information they need to make buying decisions.
Away message
There is also a feature that allows you to communicate with your customers and potential customers easily by using automated messages.
For example, you can program a message that can be sent to people who chat you up when you are not online.
Greetings message
You can also send special messages to potential customers that are contacting you for the first time. This feature allows you to make a first impression to people who are contacting you even though you are currently not online, it’s all automated.
Quick Replies
Quick replies allow you to save frequently used chat message for reuse.
If there are messages that are often found in the conversations with your customers or potential customers you can save the particular message with a tag or keyword so that whenever you need the words you can simply input the keyword and reuse the message instead of going through the hassle of typing them all over.
Labels
Another feature in the WhatsApp Business App is the label, the label helps to organize your contacts or customers for quick reference.
You can choose a colour to tag your contacts or broadcast list.
For example, you can choose a specific colour to label all your buying customers and another colour for customers who are still making inquiries.
Click to chat link
This is the part I love about the new WhatsApp Business app, the short link feature.
There is a special link feature in the WhatsApp business app, this is not like the regular link feature in the personal WhatsApp app that only allows people to click through to join a group.
While the click to join a group link feature is also available on the WhatsApp business app, there is also click to chat link feature, this link feature allows potential customers to send you a direct message by just clicking on your unique link from anywhere in the web, this is actually a barrier breaker when it comes to marketing with WhatsApp.
This click to chat link feature is amazing, it means you are literally one click away from your potential customers if you really know how to optimize it.
This click to chat link does not exist in the regular WhatsApp messenger, in a personal WhatsApp messenger, if you want a prospect to send you a direct message you will have to give them your WhatsApp number, which they have to save to their contact list, then they will have to search for you on their WhatsApp contact list before they can send you a direct message, actually, this is a big task for most people, not every one of your potential customers is going to be patient enough to go through all these processes, even some people might find these processes technical and won’t follow through.
But the new Whatsapp business app has taken care of this stress with the click to chat link features, you can share your unique link anywhere on the web, since most people access the Web with smartphones which have WhatsApp installed on it, once they click on your unique WhatsApp link on the web they will be automatically redirected to send you a direct message, giving your potential customers instant access to getting more information about your business or brand.
Broadcasting in an ethical way
Another amazing thing about using the WhatsApp business app is using the broadcast features. When people connect with your business using the WhatsApp click to chat link you can add them up to your broadcast list and send them future updates about your business without worrying about being spammy.
Anyone who clicks to chat with you is probably interested in your business so when you send them a future update they are less likely going to be worried about it or feel spammed than when you collect random peoples numbers on a group and send them broadcast messages, even some will appreciate it.
Marketing tactics with WhatsApp business app
How do you use the WhatsApp business app and all its features to optimize your business activities online? Let’s look at some tactics you can deploy with this tool.
Use the short link as website link
Almost every social media platform online allows you to provide your website URL in your business or personal profile, this is to enable people to learn more about you or your business whenever they are going through your profile.
For most small businesses that do not have a website or blog, you can use your unique WhatsApp link as your website in all your social media platforms, so that when people click to learn more about you they can start a conversation with you on WhatsApp messenger.
Use the short link to build sales funnel with WhatsApp
Before the launch of WhatsApp business app building a sales funnel with WhatsApp messenger has been ineffective.
Then the only option you have to let people reach you on WhatsApp is to tell them to chat you up on WhatsApp, the problem with this process is that it’s not effective. For people to be able to chat you up they will have to get your number and save it up on their phone, then search for you on their contact list before they can send you a WhatsApp message, the process requires a lot of processes. As I said earlier, not everyone can follow through this process and this makes building sales funnel with the personal WhatsApp ineffective.
But with the new WhatsApp business messenger, short link features it’s now easier and very effective to build a sales funnel with WhatsApp. Potential customers don’t have to go through the daunting process of saving your number and searching for you on their contact list before they can send you a message, all they need to do is click on your unique link and under a few seconds, they will be able to be in direct contact with you or business.
How the WhatsApp short link can help you build sales funnel
One of the elements in sales funnel online is traffic source. When building marketing or sales funnel for your business after all other things are set up, you need to drive potential customers through your funnel and you can do that with some marketing strategies.
The two major ways to drive traffic to a sales funnel are content marketing and paid advertising.
Using content marketing as a source of traffic for your WhatsApp sales funnel.
You can use content marketing to drive traffic to your WhatsApp sales funnel by including your unique WhatsApp link in your content as a call to action.
Whenever you post on any of your preferable platforms online like social media or website/blog, you can include your unique link for people to contact you and get more information about you or your business.
This could serve as a replacement for sending potential customers to a landing page or other online platform.
Using paid advertising as a source of traffic for your WhatsApp sales funnel
If you have been marketing online for a while you have probably understood that you can’t rely just on content marketing to grow your business online. The reach on most social media has drastically reduced, your reach is very limited on these platforms. Also if your content marketing strategy includes publishing posts on your blog and indexing them on search engines you will also need time before you could start seeing results. Organic reach is no longer enough to grow and scale a business online today.
This is why any business operating online can’t afford to ignore paid advertising, although paid advertising requires a marketing budget it can help you take your business beyond boundaries.
With the WhatsApp business short link, building a sales funnel with WhatsApp is now easier and more effective, almost every platform online has paid advertising features, you can simply decide on the platform that best suits your target audience and set up a paid advertising campaign on them.
The two major ads platforms out there are Facebook ads or Google ads
When setting up your ads on any of these platforms you will have to provide your unique WhatsApp link on your ads copy or wherever links are required in the ads set up process. When your ads are launched potential customers can easily start a conversation with you by clicking on your link to send you a direct message on your WhatsApp business app.
The amazing thing about building sales funnels with WhatsApp business app is that not only will you be having direct access to your potential customers, you will also be having their contact which enables you to market and remarkable to them in future.
Conclusion
The WhatsApp business app is one free app to incorporate in your online business tools, it is the easiest and cheapest way to build sales funnel online for your business.
Just like what Facebook inc. Said, “it’s built with small business in mind” If you are a small or medium scale business you can’t afford to ignore all the possibilities you can achieve with this messenger app.
- It can help you build a list of contacts of customers and potential customers.
- You can negotiate and communicate offers to your potential customers through the app.
- You can showcase your products with the catalogue features allowing your customers or potential customers to shop with you even when you are not available.
- You can build a sales system with the app, you can attract potential customers from other sources online to the WhatsApp business app.
And more other things you can do with this app.
Now that you know all these things, are you going to start optimizing the WhatsApp business messenger app? Please let us know in the comments section below.
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