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Still using your personal WhatsApp for your business?
Last updated in Oct'20
WhatsApp is the one of most widely used communication platform in India. It allows text messages, audio messages and other multimedia to be shared easily. It's great as a communication platform, but should you really be using it for your business?
WhatsApp Business was launched in 2018 and reached 5 million users in it’s first year. It was built specially for businesses to have a a mobile identity.
Features of WhatsApp Business
Profile: A business can create a profile with picture, business name, description, website, email address and timings. Once you have filled in the details of your business, your profile will be created as below. Anybody who adds you to their list, can see all your details in one go. This is a simple (and free!) way to increase awareness of your business.
Away messages: This is a useful feature when customers contact you outside of your working hours. Your can configure a courtesy message to let them know that you have received their message, as shown below. You can also point them to your FAQ page or other resources which may help them with their query. Finally, you can also use this feature to respond when you are unavailable on phone (like a holiday) by selecting custom hours. The best part is that the conversation remains unread till you open it, even though an automatic message has been sent to the customer.
Quick replies: If you are tired of typing the same information to every customer, then quick replies is a helpful feature for you. Following the steps below, save your response as a quick reply and assign a code to it. The next time you want to type that message, type the code instead. The message will automatically expand to what you saved, when you send it.
All these features made it a convenient communication tool, but was it worth downloading another app? I personally didn't think so until the catalogue feature was launched.
How to increase the visibility of your products through WhatsApp Business?
The catalogue feature allows you to create your catalogue within your profile itself. When people view your profile, they will be able to see the catalogue as well. You can group your products according to type, price or anything you like. You can see the details of the various pages of the catalogue in the example below.
Once you have created the catalogue, you can share the individual categories or the entire catalogue with your customer. This is great for customers who are not comfortable with websites or who would like to share it with their friends.
Update Oct'20: WhatsApp Business is rolling out payment feature in the app. This will allow businesses to directly collect payment through the app for the products in their catalogue. This is great for small businesses who do not have a website or whose customers prefer WhatsApp.
I am sure with every update, the features of WhatsApp Business will be more relevant to business owners.
Remember to use WhatsApp Business for marketing communication only, not for legal communication. If you are in the e-commerce industry, then order information and invoice should be sent by email to the customer. And if you are in the service industry, then contracts, their approvals and MoUs should also be sent by email.
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