WhatsApp is one of the most popular and fastest-growing communication apps in the world. Today WhatsApp has more than half a billion active daily users worldwide – up from 450 million in the last quarter of 2018.
Free-to-install WhatsApp has in many countries, including South Africa, become the primary mode of text communication, and many businesses have started to take advantage of this incredible resource to improve communications with clients and colleagues.
Within a company, WhatsApp groups can facilitate quick and easy communication between colleagues, as all members of a group can be simultaneously updated, share vital information, etc. Because most people already use
WhatsApp, and it’s so user-friendly, no real training is required. WhatsApp Web has simplified messaging from your computer without having to pick up your smartphone.
The benefits of WhatsApp for your business don’t end here, however. Many SMEs have started to use WhatsApp to communicate directly with customers. It gives you a much more informal platform to reach customers – how much easier is it to confirm an order via WhatsApp than a formal email or phone call? Customers are also likely to respond more quickly on WhatsApp than via email, or ignore it as they might an inconvenient phone call. Larger companies are also coming on board, seeing WhatsApp as an effective channel through which to promote products and services, either through messages, images or videos.
To further facilitate communication between small businesses and customers, WhatsApp has released WhatsApp Business. Also free to install, the app has many beneficial features for small business owners.
These features include:
- The ability to create a business profile with helpful information for your customers. This includes information like your address, business description, email address, and website.
- Organising your contacts or chats with labels so they’re easy to find again.
- Creating quick replies that let you save and reuse messages you frequently send. This means you can easily and quickly answer frequent questions.
- You can set up automated messages, for example, a greeting to welcome new customers, or an away message when you are unable to respond immediately.
WhatsApp business might be exactly what you need to take your business to the next level, so why not try it out?