Use WhatsApp for Work
If you're looking for a way to renovate and streamline communication in your business, WhatsApp can be a great tool. WhatsApp is a texting app that can be used to communicate with customers and within your office. It can also be excellent for marketing. With a little care and time, you can introduce an easy new communication system in your office.
Contents
Steps
Communicating with WhatsApp
- Communicate internally in the office. If you need to communicate within your office, WhatsApp can be used for this. WhatsApp can be a quick way to send messages throughout the day that are easy to read from multiple platforms, such as phones, computers, and tablets. Simply have your employees download WhatsApp and make a habit of using it for quick communication.
- One of the main advantages of WhatsApp is that it requires very little training. Once downloaded, most users find the app largely self-explanatory.
- Use WhatsApp for talking to customers. Customers actually respond quicker to messages on WhatsApp than they do to standard forms of communication such as phone calls. Instead of reaching out to customers via e-mails and phone calls, see if they are on WhatsApp and message them through the app.
- One of the big advantages of using WhatsApp to talk to customers is that it allows for informality. If you're trying to make a sale, customers may feel pressured by formal e-mails and phone calls. An informal message may put customers at ease, increasing their likelihood of responding.
- Provide customer support with WhatsApp. Customers often get frustrated when calling a help line due to long waiting times and automated systems. Let customers know your company has a WhatsApp account and encourage them to message it instead. Have employees respond via WhatsApp whenever possible to cut down on waiting times.
- However, WhatsApp may not work well for larger businesses. If your company is getting hundreds of requests each day, it may be hard to respond to every one of them via WhatsApp. Stick to using WhatsApp for customer support if you have a smaller business.
- Let customers provide feedback with WhatsApp. If you routinely ask customers to provide feedback, Whatsapp may lead to a greater response. Customers often hang up or screen calls asking for feedback. If you use WhatsApp instead, customers may be more likely to respond to things like surveys and questions. If you're struggling to get customers to respond to phone requests for feedback, switch over to WhatsApp.
Marketing with WhatsApp
- Reach out to your target groups. You can create groups in WhatsApp based around your company and encourage customers to join. These target groups can be used for marketing as you can post exciting content, like videos and ads displaying new products. If you provide videos and other support via WhatsApp, this may get shared by your group members with those outside the group. This can lead to you reaching a larger number of potential customers.
- For example, post a funny video of a customer using a new phone application your company created. If the video is amusing, people may share it with friends. This can lead to new downloads and then new customers.
- Send messages to your customers using WhatsApp. Make a habit of messaging customers directly via WhatsApp when you have news to share about your company. WhatsApp has less restrictions on things like delivery and format than e-mail. With e-mail, there is a chance of such messages being sent to customers' spam folders. You can use WhatsApp to send your customers photos, short videos, and audio files advertising new products.
- For example, send a group message to customers letting them know you're launching a new line of products in a few weeks.
- It's a good idea to stick to texting loyal customers using WhatsApp. If you're spamming people who aren't familiar with your company, people may get annoyed. Most cell phone users are suspicious of messages from unknown numbers.
- Share codes and sales. WhatsApp can be a great way to directly reach out to users in the event of a sale or special event. As customers are more likely to open messages via WhatsApp, they're more likely to make purchases if they see a sale is happening.
- For example, say you're doing a promotion where customers who use the code "1234" get 20% off on online purchases. Let people know via WhatsApp.
- Advertise giveaways. Monthly giveaways can really help boost traffic to your website. As messages are often easier to compose and deliver on WhatsApp, use WhatsApp to let customers when giveaways are occurring.
- For example, if you're giving out free samples of a new product with purchases over $20, alert customers using WhatsApp.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
- Review privacy policies carefully. The one major downside of WhatsApp is privacy issues. Things like addresses of customers and employees and other data is not completely protected. Be careful what information you share via WhatsApp and avoid sharing any extremely sensitive information about your company or employees when using the app.
- Back up your data when using WhatsApp. WhatsApp does not provide any kind of iCloud service. Data stored in WhatsApp can therefore be easily lost. Any data you store in WhatsApp should be backed up elsewhere. In the event something goes wrong with the app, data may be completely lost.
- Avoid WhatsApp for internal communications in larger companies. Group chat features in WhatsApp tend to work best for a small number of people. The groups are limited to only 100 people. Very large companies may not benefit from using WhatsApp for internal communication.
- However, you can still use WhatsApp for marketing and customer communication if you're a larger company.
Sources and Citations
- ↑ http://www.profitbooks.net/how-to-use-whatsapp-for-business/
- https://yourstory.com/2015/02/whatsapp-businesses-work/
- ↑ https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/03/whatsapp-for-business.html
- ↑ https://www.teamwire.eu/company/blog/the-disadvantages-of-using-whatsapp-for-business-purposes/
- https://beekeeper.io/why-you-shouldnt-better-use-whatsapp-for-business-communication/
