One of the most popular corporate messaging apps nowadays is WhatsApp Corporate. WhatsApp Business App is an essential tool for many local businesses in countries with high monthly active users (MAUs) of WhatsApp. This article will show you how to use the app to connect with and reach new customers.
What is WhatsApp Business App?
The most widely used messaging app worldwide is WhatsApp, which is particularly popular in Pakistan, India, and Brazil. Before the launch of the WhatsApp Business App in 2018, businesses were using personal WhatsApp accounts for business due to the app’s widespread use.
With the WhatsApp app, broadcast lists of up to 256 contacts may be created and labelled for simpler management. Up to four devices can now be linked together with a single phone number thanks to Meta in 2023. Nevertheless, it is not a good option for business communication.
On the other hand, WhatsApp Business programme is a business messaging programme accessible on iOS and Android that is designed for small enterprises. Although it and the WhatsApp app have certain similarities, it has a number of advantages. Business solutions including greeting and away messages, WhatsApp Catalogue, WhatsApp Pay, and rapid replies are just a few examples.
Continue reading if you are a small business looking to use WhatsApp to contact customers. We’ll delve more deeply into WhatsApp Business App in the following part.
What You Should Know About WhatsApp Business App
You’ll need a phone and a phone number in order to create a WhatsApp Business App account. The SIM card or phone number you use for your personal WhatsApp account cannot be used. You’ll need a dual SIM phone if you want to use both your personal and business WhatsApp accounts on the same phone.
It’s crucial to realise that the WhatsApp Business App is only compatible with one user per phone. However, you can use the web browser or the WhatsApp desktop app to link your WhatsApp Business account to up to four more devices.
Consider subscribing to WhatsApp Business Premium or WhatsApp Business API if you anticipate using WhatsApp with several users or perhaps different teams.
One thing to keep in mind is that the WhatsApp Business App permits you to start discussions with contacts at any time, whereas the WhatsApp API necessitates the usage of template messages.
We’ll go through the particular features of the WhatsApp Business App in the following section.
WhatsApp Business App Special Features
The WhatsApp Business App offers various capabilities that are absent from the normal WhatsApp App that assists businesses in conducting business on the platform. They feature company biographies, catalogs, advertisements, and more. Let’s go over a few of them.
WhatsApp Business Profile
Every WhatsApp Business App account has a profile with details about the company. Along with the standard information like the company name, description, and location, the WhatsApp Business profile displays a sneak peek of its product or service catalog.
Using the Catalog, customers can quickly see what you have on offer without having to leave the app.
WhatsApp Business App: Catalog
WhatsApp is widely used by small enterprises as their online storefront in Asia and South America. WhatsApp created the WhatsApp Business Catalogue to assist businesses in showcasing their goods and services, which makes the process even simpler.
The WhatsApp Business App Catalogue is cost-free and simple to use in comparison to creating an e-commerce website from scratch. It’s as easy to use as listing your products in the app’s Catalogue section.
Up to 500 products may be listed in a product listing in the WhatsApp Business Catalogue. The items can be named, given a 5000-word description, a link, organized by item code, and given a price. The currency is determined by the country code of your phone number.
When your catalogue is ready, let others know! Customers can receive links to your catalogue or specific items via WhatsApp, and you can also share the URLs on other websites and social media.
Catalog Collections
If you have a lot of products in your catalog, grouping them into collections will help buyers locate what they’re looking for.
Go to Business tools > Catalogue > Add new collection to add products to a collection. Select the things you want to include in the collection after entering a name for it.
Like individual items, collections can also be shared via short links: Click on the collection and select Share link.
Advertise Your Catalog on Facebook
Users of the WhatsApp Business App may quickly and easily convert items from their catalogue into Facebook adverts. If you have money to spend, Facebook advertising is a terrific way to reach a large number of potential customers.
Tap the item you want to advertise in your catalogue, then tap Advertise. Enter the wording for your advertising and then click Next. Choose your advertising time, budget, and target market.
Tap Create ad after choosing your payment method or adding one if you haven’t previously. A preview of your Facebook ad’s final appearance can be seen at the top of the page.
WhatsApp Pay
In some regions of the world, WhatsApp users have access to WhatsApp Pay, the company’s digital payment solution. With the help of this function, WhatsApp users can send money to other individuals or businesses without ever leaving the programme.
Since there is no need to rely on third-party services for transaction processing, this convenient feature is advantageous to both individuals and enterprises.
WhatsApp Business Premium
In some regions, WhatsApp introduced a paid version of the WhatsApp Business App earlier this year. For companies who require extra capability from the programme, it is a little more configurable version of WhatsApp Business.
You get a customised link and a more thorough WhatsApp web page with WhatsApp Business Premium compared to the normal WhatsApp Business web page.
Additionally, you get chat assignments and multi-agent support for up to 10 devices, which improves the usability of the app if you have a team of 5–10 communication agents.
There aren’t many functions right now, but we may anticipate additional WhatsApp tools in the future.
Join the 30-day free trial of WhatsApp Business Premium to try it out before subscribing. Although you must input your payment information, you won’t be charged until the trial period has ended.
Let’s talk about how to create a WhatsApp Business App account now that you are aware of the features that the app offers.
How to Create a WhatsApp Business App Account
Download the WhatsApp Business app from the Apple Store or Play Store, then confirm your phone number. Next, finish the business profile by uploading a profile photo and entering information about the company, including its name, description, address, website, and hours of operation.
Use a cover photo to draw more attention to your profile. You can also insert information on your cover photo that isn’t allowed on your profile, like a different phone number or Twitter account.
Visitors will receive a pop-up indicating the account is unverified when they click on your business profile. Sadly, verifications are frequently only given to well-known companies who use the WhatsApp API.
On the plus side, you can utilise your WhatsApp Business account to its full potential without needing authentication. We’ll discuss the ideal methods for attracting clients and chatting them on WhatsApp in the next section.
WhatsApp Business App: Best Practices
You must establish a connection with your customers before you can start a chat. For this aim, the WhatsApp Business App is thankfully equipped with a variety of useful functions. Let’s discuss these technologies, which range from brief links to WhatsApp buttons on your social network pages.
Help Customers Find You: Social Media Traffic, Short Links, and QR Codes
This section will lead you through some top tricks for enticing both current and potential clients to message you on WhatsApp.
If you have access to your clients’ phone numbers, you might be curious about whether you can import your Contacts. While you can’t import contacts into the WhatsApp Business App directly, you can message any contacts you have on your phone (for example, from Google contacts).
After importing your current clients, you might be unsure of how to engage potential clients in conversation. Here are some easy tips for leveraging links on your website, QR codes in stores, and attaching your Facebook Page or Instagram account.
Turn Facebook and Instagram Traffic into WhatsApp Contacts
The WhatsApp Business App, a member of the Meta family, can be connected to a Facebook Page or an Instagram account to direct visitors from these social media platforms to WhatsApp.
Use a WhatsApp Send Message button on your Facebook page and Instagram profile, create Facebook and WhatsApp ads, or just put your WhatsApp number in the “about” part of your page or account.
Once added, the WhatsApp button will appear directly below your Facebook Page’s cover image. It will be next to the Facebook Messenger Send Message button if you have one.
Users can hit the WhatsApp button on your Instagram profile to start a WhatsApp discussion with them if you are linked to Instagram.
Direct Traffic to WhatsApp Business App with Short Links and QR Codes
For companies with a lot of internet traffic, short links or direct links are helpful. A visitor to your website may easily start a WhatsApp chat with your company by adding a link to the WhatsApp Business App on your website.
You may create WhatsApp short links by tapping More choices (3 dots), followed by Short link, from the Business Tools tab. You can include a pre-written message in addition to the link to allow users to start a conversation with one click.
A printout of your WhatsApp Business App QR code posted in your physical storefront is a terrific way for clients to add you on WhatsApp if you have a busy retail location. On the Short Link tab, select View QR Code to view the QR code for your account.
Your consumers only need to scan the QR code to be taken directly to your WhatsApp account. Additionally, unless you reset it or deactivate your WhatsApp Business App account, your special QR code will not expire.
Automate Chats With Greeting and Away Messages
Customer service response time is crucial for businesses. Your consumers won’t be left wondering if you’re available to answer questions thanks to automatic welcome and away messages.
When turned on, welcome messages are sent automatically to visitors and clients who message you for the first time or after a 14-day inactive period. Go to Business Tools, choose Greeting message, alter it, and then save the changes to establish your greeting message.
The away message can be configured to be broadcast continuously, at specific intervals, or outside of your regular business hours. The other two alternatives are helpful if you know exactly when you won’t be available, but sending an away message all the time is convenient if you need time to respond.
WhatsApp Business App: Messaging Features for 1:1, Broadcast and Group Messages
As easy and uncomplicated as messaging on the WhatsApp App, messaging on the WhatsApp Business App is also. However, WhatsApp Business App does offer a few extra capabilities to aid businesses in increasing the productivity of their messaging.
Get the most out of these capabilities since WhatsApp Business App is truly only meant to be utilised by a select group of users. Here’s how to go about it.
Master 1:1 Messaging With Quick Replies
Managing a packed inbox when chatting multiple WhatsApp Contacts at once can be challenging. You can personalise up to 50 quick responses and use them in 1:1 discussions with your clients to respond to FAQs more quickly.
To add new quick replies, select Quick replies from the Business Tools menu and then click the Add button.
Edit your message and add a shortcut with no more than three keywords, each no longer than 15 characters. You can locate and sort through numerous rapid replies using these keywords.
When in a chat, type ‘/’ to display your rapid replies. You can choose the best response to the query from a saved list of replies that are displayed to you. If you need to add or remove anything before submitting, you can edit these responses.
Although rapid answers can help to reduce the response window, they must be manually entered while the user is online.
Mass Message Customers With Broadcasts
After 1:1 messaging, users can send mass messages and rich media content for free using WhatsApp broadcasts. Businesses can use them to communicate updates to existing products, alterations to the hours of operation, store relocation, and more.
Although this seems convenient, WhatsApp has implemented several restrictions to stop spam. There are a maximum of 256 receivers in each broadcast list, and only individuals who have saved your phone number in their phonebook can hear your broadcast message.
You need to make another broadcast list if you want to broadcast to more than 256 contacts at once. Each broadcast list can be identified and categorised according to, for example, new clients, new orders, pending payments, and so on.
Any broadcast message will show up in a private chat with the recipient, maintaining privacy. Nobody else on your broadcast list has access to another person’s reply or contact information, similar to how blind carbon copy (BCC) functions in emails.
The megaphone icon is the only thing that distinguishes a 1:1 communication from a broadcast message in a private conversation. A broadcasted message is displayed to the contact as a regular message, but only business accounts can see the loudspeaker icon next to it.
Collaborate With Customers Using Group Messaging
Businesses can use WhatsApp groups to communicate with a huge audience, similar to broadcasting. The main distinction is that group messaging brings contacts together in a chat while broadcasting sends messages to private chats at scale.
A group invitation can contain up to 256 contacts from your contact list. Client or customer support groups, company product/service beta testing groups, and marketing campaign groups are a few examples of popular uses for business group chats.
Consider forming a WhatsApp Community to bring together any groups you may have on WhatsApp that are associated with the same organization or cause.
WhatsApp groups with WhatsApp Business App accounts can be joined to communities even if the WhatsApp Business App cannot yet build communities. Following that, community administrators may be appointed from among the company accounts.
You are now knowledgeable about WhatsApp Business App. Start now by installing the app on Android or iOS if you own a small business and want to improve your communication skills.
Upgrade your account to WhatsApp API to link WhatsApp to Msgclub if your needs go beyond what the WhatsApp Business App can offer. You can sign up for a free trial right now!
Frequently Ask Question
what is a business account in whatsapp
A WhatsApp business account is a dedicated account for businesses to communicate with their customers. It allows businesses to create a profile with important information such as business description, contact details, and website links. It also offers features like automated messages, quick replies, and labels to organize conversations. With a business account, businesses can provide customer support, send updates, and even showcase products or services. It helps businesses establish a professional presence on WhatsApp and effectively engage with their customers.