The WhatsApp Business app is only available on Android at the moment
WhatsApp is by far the most popular cross-platform messaging app in India. Globally, WhatsApp has 1.5 billion monthly active users (MAUs) and the app processes around 60 billion messages each day. This makes it a great platform for anyone to offer business services or customer support over mobile.
In January this year, WhatsApp introduced its business-focused app in India, just days after its initial launch. The WhatsApp Business app is currently only available on Android. The app is similar to the regular WhatsApp app, but comes with a number of features that enable businesses to effectively communicate with their customers. Let's take a look at the new features, and how to make use of WhatsApp Business.
So far small businesses have been using the regular WhatsApp app to conduct their business or offer customer support. While that can also work, creating a business profile will offer much more credibility to your conversations.
To get started, simply download the WhatsApp Business app from the Google Play Store.
Sign up using your mobile phone number. Ideally, you should be using your business phone number because that will make verification much easier later on.
Create your profile by entering your business details under Settings > Business Settings > Profile. Make sure you accurately enter details like your business name, address, contact details, etc.
Once you're done creating your business profile, it's now time to set up the app. The WhatsApp Business app offers a few smart messaging tools which can help you save time and make things easier. You can set up automated greeting and away messages. You can also set up quick replies for your customers.
Here's how to set up WhatsApp for Business:
To setup these messaging tools, simply go to Settings > Business Settings and check the messaging options available there.
You'll see three available options: Away message, Greeting message, and Quick replies. You can set each of these depending on your requirements.
You can setup an automated away message when you're unable to reply to your customers. You can also set it up to send the away message at all times, on a customised schedule, or outside of business hours. A greeting message is sent out automatically when a customer messages you for the first time or after 14 days of inactivity. For quick replies, you can setup a basic message, pick a shortcut, and select keywords (optional). These come in handy when you're answering frequently asked questions, or want to exchange pleasantries.
Now that you have everything setup on the app, it's time to use it effectively. You can use WhatsApp Business in a number of ways. It could be something as simple as offering support to your customers or send them timely updates. The possibilities are nearly endless.
1. Labels for your conversations
One of the biggest things you'll need to consider while using WhatsApp Business is keeping a track of your customers. While you'll need to manually add them to your contacts list, you'll also be able to assign labels to your conversations. These are helpful while interacting with a large number of users.
You can setup labels for your customers and then label your chat conversations using them. For example: You may want to label a conversation as 'new customer'. This way when your customer replies after some time you'll still be able to make out who this person is.
To add a new label: Tap on the menu button on a chat conversation and tap New Label. Enter the text for the new label and tap on Save.
To add labels to chats: Tap on the menu button on a chat conversation and then pick a label and tap Save.
2. Use WhatsApp Business on desktop and Web
Just like your personal WhatsApp account, you can use WhatsApp Business mobile app with the desktop variant too. This makes it much easier to interact with a large number of customers.
The setup process for the desktop variant is the same as the regular WhatsApp app. Go to Settings > WhatsApp Web and scan the given QR code.
3. One-on-one support
One of the primary advantages of using WhatsApp Business app is being able to offer one-on-one support to your customers. If you're running a small business, you'd want to stay on top of your customers' queries.
WhatsApp Business app also lets you send photos, videos, and other attachments to your customers, and vice-versa. This can help your customers explain their issues more clearly.
4. Sending out updates
WhatsApp Business can also help you send out timely updates related to your business. Be it a new product or a new service you're about to launch, it's always perfect to let your existing and prospective customers know about it first.
You could create broadcast lists to send out messages to a large number of people in one go. This can help you save time in case you have a large customer base, though broadcast lists are currently limited to 256 contacts.
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