How to use commercial WhatsApp in your marketing?
There is no doubt that WhatsApp is one of the most important and popular messaging apps in the world. However, nowadays it is not only used to talk to your friends and family, it can also be a good marketing strategy for your company. It was with this in mind that its developers created the Business version of the app. In this way, you can use commercial WhatsApp to keep in touch with your customers and improve your relationship with them in several ways.
This is great for both large companies and those who want to work from home to earn extra income. After all, almost everyone uses this platform, making their customers much more accessible when keeping in touch. If you are curious to know how to use WhatsApp commercial and how it can be efficient, just check out our tips below!
What is commercial WhatsApp?
First of all, it is good to go deeper into what WhatsApp is commercial. Basically, it was created with a focus on companies that want to use the app in a totally professional manner and without having to link their personal profiles on work matters.
Since it is a completely separate app from conventional WhatsApp, you need to download it on your smartphone to use it. Like the normal app, this version is available for Android and iPhone.
Fortunately, the professional-use app is extremely similar to the original. This already gives all the advantage for the user who does not have to learn to use the application from scratch or get used to several new functions.
Basically, it only has a few features that we saw in external apps in the past. It lets you schedule automatic responses, set up a perfect appointment time, etc.
Other than that, you can customize the entire profile to have the official image of your brand. This helps especially those who have a smaller company and want to find more effective ways to connect with the customer and make money from new sales.
After all, you can answer questions, get in touch with customers looking for specific products, etc. But we will see all this in more detail in the tips on how you can use commercial WhatsApp in your marketing below.
Tips for using commercial WhatsApp in your marketing
Now that we know more about the app itself, let's talk about how to use WhatsApp commercial effectively and correctly. After all, you don't just want to answer questions or keep filling your customers with promotions messages, do you?
1. Don't send unwanted messages
The first tip for anyone who wants to use commercial WhatsApp is that you should never send unwanted messages. It is not because you have the contact of a customer on WhatsApp that you must send several messages all the time.
It is very important to know if the customer wants to receive messages there before anything. You can find this out by talking to the customer or leaving a scheduled message asking if they want to receive something.
It is also necessary to respect if the customer changes his mind after having agreed to receive messages via WhatsApp.
2. Create scheduled messages
Any commercial channel that involves conversations with the customer ends up needing scheduled messages. This is because the customer can send a message at a time that there is no one to serve him or because the situation can be resolved with a simple message.
Let’s say the customer has opted in to receive notifications about the shipment of a product they purchased from your company. You can only program the message to send this information to the customer instead of having an employee do it manually.
This saves your employees' time and brings direct and uniform messages to all customers. Of course, this does not work for all situations, but many contacts can be resolved this way.
3. Create an office hours
One of the first steps you should be concerned about is the creation of a WhatsApp service hours. This can be established on your official website and in your commercial WhatsApp profile so that the customer is aware.
This way, you can even take advantage of the scheduled messages feature. After all, they can be used to answer simple questions from customers or to inform them of when they will be able to get feedback from employees at the appropriate time.
4. Always answer customer questions
As we mentioned, there will be situations in which scheduled messages will not be the ideal way to communicate with your customers. This happens more when they have more complex questions that only an employee can answer.
Never ignore these doubts, even if they are very simple. It is important to maintain that contact and make the customer sure that he can always talk to your company when he needs it.
If you realize that it will take time to get a response from all customers, let them know. This is much better than leaving them waiting without them knowing that there will be an answer eventually.
5. Treat customers more personally
This may be an obvious tip, but it's still worth talking about for those who don't usually use channels like social networks to talk to customers. The best thing is that you always treat them more personally.
Call customers by first name, avoid a very formal conversation and try to maintain a more natural conversation flow. Of course, you don't have to force a super relaxed interaction.
Just talk to them as if you are talking in person. This can make customers more comfortable, after all, it is worth remembering that WhatsApp is still a very casual conversation app.
6. Plan the type of content you will send
If you want to use commercial WhatsApp to send some specific content, it is good to plan the type of that content in advance. This prevents your official WhatsApp channel from becoming too confusing for your customers.
For example, you may want to use your profile to spread the word, to display promotions, to offer personalized opportunities and more. You can even do multiple different things, but it is preferable that they are related.
7. Establish the type of service the app will provide
If you want to use commercial WhatsApp more for a type of service instead of sending some content, it is also good to do some planning. Will your profile serve to answer questions, for general service or to confirm sales?
These are just a few examples of how you can use WhatsApp commercially in a more planned way. This makes it even easier to establish what kind of contact this profile will provide to customers.
This way, customers will also know what to expect from the channel and will not contact you for the wrong reasons.
8. Don't lose contact after the sale
Many people make the mistake of only communicating with the customer until the moment the sale is completed. This ends up being a waste of what is known as “after sales”.
This concept is used to describe the contact established after the sale has already been made. Whether to know if the customer is satisfied with the product / service purchased, if he has doubts, if he would like to purchase other items, etc.
This creates a sense that your company cares about the customer and establishes a much better relationship with them. It also brings better chances of the customer doing business with your company again.
It is only necessary to accept customer feedback and resolve any problems they have with the product or service they have purchased. Otherwise, the contact looks much more superficial.
9. Choose the right people to handle this channel
If you are thinking of having people respond to messages instead of just automatic replies, you need to think carefully about who wants to leave it in charge. After all, remember that these people will be representing your company directly with customers.
The chosen employee must know how to deal with people, even in unpleasant situations. After all, a customer may have a serious problem or be impatient with a question.
If the employee responds in a rude manner, the customer will place the blame only on the company and not on the person who answered it individually. It is best to train the person and have a conversation about what is allowed or not allowed in conversations with customers.
10. Send personalized messages
One of the best tips for those who want to use commercial WhatsApp is to prepare and send personalized messages to your customers. Anyone using a CRM system can use the data they have about the customer for this.
Whether to find out what types of products interest you the most or to offer promotions on items they were looking for. If you don't already have a CRM system, we advise you to check out our guide on how marketing CRM works.
Another tool that can help you a lot to organize better in your company and in your projects is MeisterTask. You can check out more of the tool and start using it for free by accessing the link!
Did you like the suggestions?
Did you take advantage of our guide to learn how to use WhatsApp Commercial to help your marketing? So don't forget to leave your comment telling us what you think of the tips and check out our guide on digital banking to learn how to manage finances without leaving your home.
And if you want to read something more relaxed, be sure to check our list of games for WhatsApp or the guide that teaches you how to get WhatsApp online.