Since its inception in 2009, WhatsApp has seen many changes. It started as a simple p2p messaging service. Now, WhatsApp has become the consumers’ preferred way to communicate with businesses, leaving competing services (e.g. Skype, SMS) in the dust.
The popularity of WhatsApp is unrivalled and unsurprising! In this article, we’re exploring the benefits of using WhatsApp business in 2023.
What is WhatsApp Business?
WhatsApp Business is a free messaging service used for both personal communication and customer support, with an app available on both iOS and Android. Businesses can streamline their customer communication and workflows with ease. Bonus: WhatsApp Business allows you to personalise your customer communications.
There are two versions of the app: WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp API. While WhatsApp Business is great for small businesses with a regular customer base, WhatsApp API is better suited for large enterprises. The latter allows for high-volume messaging across multiple devices – perfect for customer experience teams to work seamlessly together.
5 benefits of using WhatsApp Business in 2023
So now that we’ve covered the difference between WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API, it’s time to dive into how your business can benefit from using it.
1. Answer messages with automation
Capacity issues are some of the hardest to manage for small and large businesses alike. When you only have a certain number of customer support agents, there is only so much you can do. How can you do more with less? Automation!
You can integrate WhatsApp with different flow builders and chatbots to automate answering frequently asked questions. With this automation in place, your and your team’s time is freed up to focus on tackling more complex incoming queries.
Learn more about WhatsApp Flows ›
2. Be more efficient than by phone
If five phone lines are ringing, and you have five customer support agents, what happens to the person calling on the sixth line? Before you know it, you’re at full capacity and leaving customers on hold.
Think for a moment about your personal life. Have you ever had multiple WhatsApp conversations going at once? Did you have to keep anyone waiting more than a few seconds for a response? Imagine what that can do for your communications strategy!
To move calling customers from phone to WhatsApp, you can use Call Deflection. This enables quicker service for your customer and your agents can handle more incoming requests in less time.
Learn more about WhatsApp Call Deflection ›
3. Scale your marketing efforts
Did you know that you can leverage WhatsApp Business as a true marketing channel? WhatsApp templates provide various opportunities to connect with customers in a scalable and personalised way.
Social media and traditional marketing channels (like email or SMS) provide different types of opportunities to get your message out with arguably low open and engagement rates. WhatsApp, on the other hand, has a 98% open rate – making it the most interesting marketing channel for 2023!
Learn more about WhatsApp Broadcasting ›
4. Get discovered via WhatsApp Yellow Pages
Just like the phone books of old, WhatsApp now has a Yellow Pages directory. Consumers can filter businesses based on category (industry) to find businesses on WhatsApp. Or, simply search for the brand they want to connect with and see if they are available for messaging.
Yellow pages are beneficial for businesses, too. Companies are easier to reach for customers and prospects alike. Local customers, too, are more easily connected with businesses that they may not have come across otherwise.
5. Find new ways to sell
With the new reach created by WhatsApp Yellow Pages, customers and prospects are going to be exploring your profile more than ever before. Why not drive conversions with a catchy CTA alongside a catalogue of your products and services directly on WhatsApp?
Through your product catalogue, new and returning customers have a quick overview of what you have to offer. There they can access photos of your products and their prices – a surefire way to conversions!
Bottom line
WhatsApp is really changing the game and providing your business with new and improved ways to reach your customers in 2023. Not only will it enable your team to work more efficiently, but it will also help to increase revenue! At Saysimple we’ve combined the power of WhatsApp Business with an easy-to-use platform for customer service, customer experience, and marketing teams. Ready to take advantage of the benefits of WhatsApp Business in 2023? Contact us to book a free demo today.