With an excess of 100B messages sent daily by its 2B user global customer base, it’s clear that WhatsApp is a strong channel to connect with consumers. To support commerce, new WhatsApp Business features are rolling out too, full of promise for digital marketing, sales, and care initiatives — an increasingly important element for brands as the pandemic has accelerated both adoption of and demand for digital experiences.
Speaking at a recent webinar hosted by CSuite Africa in conjunction with Gupshup, WhatsApp business experts discoursed on how to best leverage WhatsApp for any business brand’s needs.
The WhatsApp team demystified the tools at disposal — like the WhatsApp Business API — and shared why in 2022, now more than ever, businesses need to meet customers where they are by future-proofing engagement strategy by using conversational AI to create hyper-personalized experiences, at scale, to nurture and grow B2C relationships, increase agent efficiency and increase revenue.
“WhatsApp Commerce reimagines the entire shopping experience for users and brands. Businesses can leverage the captive user base on WhatsApp and move beyond delivering important notifications and providing on-time support,” noted Michael Michie, a Nairobi based tech innovator who spoke during the webinar. He added that WhatsApp business revolutionizes the future of shopping allowing businesses to engage with customers, sell and manage products/ services in WhatsApp, and deliver a seamless buying experience to users.
Also speaking at the one hour virtual event was Oti Ukubeyinje, the President, ADMARP, Snr VP, Terragon, Nigeria.
Oti noted that, “WhatsApp Business API offers rich conversational features to help you connect with your customers, in a simple, secure, and reliable way. An instant messaging application like WhatsApp can help businesses have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and experience. Businesses can expand their reach, improve message deliverability rate, have secure conversations with their customers, increase conversions, and also achieve business critical goals.”
Stella Magana, the Chief Technical Lead, Shehacks Limited also spoke at the webinar, listing the use cases for this commodity.
She noted that although WhatsApp business exuberates numerous uses, its call options and automated messaging stands out.
“There’s always the option to jump on a call when needed. Texting is always the mainframe agenda, but customers and businesses alike can indulge in a quick call to resolve an issue faster, with permissions granted suitably both ways,” Magana said adding, “One of the prime messaging features of the WhatsApp business is its automated messaging systems. Businesses can set up automated ‘away’ and ‘welcome’ messages and create templates for ‘quick replies’, which could be sent out as prompt customer support messages.”
Barinderpal Sigh Mumick, VP of Business Development and Operations, DotGo & VP Operations at Kirusa also joined the experts opining that customers are better able to explain the issues they are facing with a product or service leveraging the multimedia option of WhatsApp, adding that it helps the business in resolving the issue quickly and efficiently by escalating to the correct department.
“Generally,” he noted, “WhatsApp Business Solution makes it easier for businesses to personalize communication with each customer. It has the potential to connect businesses with customers in a secure way and increase customer engagement due to convenience, trust, and familiarity with the application.”
Today, more and more businesses are using messaging apps to facilitate customer support, inquiry, sales requests, and even purchases. Creating a more intuitive and natural way of interacting with customers opens more avenues for retaining and servicing them.
WhatsApp Business Solution has emerged as a frontrunner in enabling brands to strengthen customer relationships and increase customer engagement. With automation and chatbots, brands are reaching customers at scale while making customer engagement conversational.
