WhatsApp is Facebook-owned, and the most popular instant messaging application in the world, supporting more than two billion users around the world.

Countries like India and Brazil, have more than 400 million and 120 million daily active users, respectively, according to TechCrunch. Besides, the countries having high penetration are Netherlands (85%), Spain (83.1%) and Italy (83%).

In January 2018, considering the high demand for leveraging WhatsApp for a business perspective, WhatsApp launched the WhatsApp Business application.

WhatsApp Business has impressive features such as:

• Business Profile
• Catalogue
• Shortcuts for the quick reply
• Labels
• Automated messages

Where there are potential customers, there is a market to sell goods and services. Hence, by leveraging WhatsApp, business owners can massively grow their business by reaching potential customers. If you keen on using WhatsApp for business, this post is for you. Implement these WhatsApp business tricks for more sales and profits!

• How Can I Use WhatsApp For Business Promotion?
• How Can I Make my WhatsApp Account Normal For Business?
• Is it Legal to Use WhatsApp For Business?
• How to Increase WhatsApp Sales
• WhatsApp Marketing Strategy
• WhatsApp Business Tricks
• WhatsApp Promotion Message
• WhatsApp Marketing Course
• WhatsApp Marketing Messages Example
• WhatsApp Marketing Campaign Examples
• WhatsApp Strategy
• Is WhatsApp Business Free to Use?
• How Can I Use WhatsApp For Business on Multiple Devices?
• What is The Benefit of WhatsApp Business Account?
• What Are The Features of WhatsApp Business Account?
• How Can I Start Selling on WhatsApp?
• How WhatsApp Makes Money?

How Can I Use WhatsApp For Business Promotion?

Now let’s look at smart ways to optimize WhatsApp.

1. Capitalize on the Cross-Platform Advantage

When an app is cross-platform, it reaches social networks (and people) that aren’t currently in your social media wheelhouse. That’s great news all by itself! What makes it even better is the traffic analytics that give you insight into which networks are popular within your target audience.

Read Also: How Does Whatsapp Make Money?

Whatsapp traffic analytics are abundantly available from many third-party sources, probably because it’s been developed from the early days using open source software. This offers data that can help you tweak your social media strategy and adjust your priorities as you look for the ideal target audience.

2. Create Broadcast Lists

Create lists related to specific topics, then blast one-way communications designed to increase engagement, much like you do on Twitter. For example, include links or invitations in your messages.

3. Take Advantage of Group Chat

Group messages are shared among all members of a group, including responses from any participant of the group. Think “interactive.” This is especially useful when conducting focus groups. Or performing market studies prior to a product launch.

4. Enjoy Cost-Free Messaging

With WhatsApp, you can exchange messages without SMS costs. It’s available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone, and Nokia. They can all message each other because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing.

For added value, users can create groups, send each other unlimited images, video, and audio media messages. This simple advantage has big benefits for both users and marketers. If you are trying to reach an international audience, WhatsApp can easily breach international borders.

5. Take Customer Support to a New Level

Although WhatsApp was designed for mobile devices, it’s compatible with desktop devices. So you can use it along with the other desktop applications for powerful customer support—your customers can reach you directly and you can provide instant answers.

The process is unique but very straightforward. Simply go to the web app site and scan the QR code on your screen. With a few simple instructions, you’re in!

6. Make Creative Offers and Promotions

Looking for a creative way to make new offers? WhatsApp may be just what you’re looking for. Here’s how companies like Homeshop 18 and Absolut Vodka use it to direct people to promotions on Youtube.

7. Build User Loyalty

Collectively, the group lists in WhatsApp have exhibited more brand loyalty than other social media groups. Similarly, brand personas seem to have developed a good rapport with their followers. This is reinforced with the tools mentioned above, like push notifications, group chats, and broadcast lists.

8. Engage Directly with Phone Calls

You have the option of using WhatsApp to make sales calls through their own built-in version of VOIP. So when you get a customer request—as when someone asks for more information or wants to talk with a salesperson—WhatsApp allows you to respond right away.

9. Maintain Quality Content, Even in a Message App

Since WhatsApp’s core purpose is messaging, make your messages short and powerful. But don’t worry too much about length. Unlike Twitter, you’re not limited to 140 characters.

10. Incorporate Curated Content

As with your other social channels, you can send curated as well as original content. Keep in mind, although the format is different than Facebook, the general philosophy about the content should apply. That includes ratios between curated versus created content.

How Can I Make my WhatsApp Account Normal For Business?

Due to various reasons, one can also resolve to create a WhatsApp business account. These reasons can be technical, loss in business, or planning a new business. In this case, it is not necessary to delete a WhatsApp business account. Once a WhatsApp Business account is completely used and you need to abandon it, you can easily convert it into a normal WhatsApp account.

Well, not just converting accounts from WhatsApp business accounts to normal WhatsApp accounts, you can also retain the WhatsApp backup. This means that there is also a great advantage of retaining your messaging history.

All the content from a WhatsApp business account can be easily transferred to a normal WhatsApp account. WhatsApp business account does not readily facilitate the transfer of contents from a WhatsApp business account to a normal business account.

WhatsApp business accounts are meant for business purposes only. Once you resolve to convert a WhatsApp business account to a normal business account, it is not desirable to retain its backup. If still, you desire to retain your WhatsApp business account, the following steps can be followed:

Create a backup of the data from your WhatsApp business account. The backup can be saved on iCloud for iOS users and Google Drive for Android users.

Also, you can choose Dr.Fone WhatsApp Transfer to save your WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business data backup for free.

If you like to use the same phone number to change your WhatsApp business account into a normal WhatsApp account on the same Android or iOS devices. Then just follow the below steps:

Step 1. If you intend to use the same number for your normal WhatsApp account, you need to uninstall the WhatsApp business account. But first, remember to back up the WhatsApp business data.

Step 2. Install WhatsApp application from Google Play Store for Android users and from iOS store if you are an iOS user.

Step 3. Launch the application, you will be asked to enter the phone number, and verification will be done. Here, you need to enter the same number on which your WhatsApp business account runs.

Step 4. When you enter the phone number, you will be informed through a message that this number belongs to a WhatsApp business account, and continuing will register this number on a normal WhatsApp account.

Step 5. Click on continue and then an OTP will be sent on your number. Enter that OTP and click OK.

Step 6. You will be given an option to restore your backup. You can restore the backup you have saved on Google Drive or iCloud.

Step 7. Set the application according to your necessity and your WhatsApp account is ready to use.

Is it Legal to Use WhatsApp For Business?

There seems to be a widespread misunderstanding regarding WhatsApp for businesses. According to many sources, using WhatsApp commercially is illegal because its Terms of Service ban use “for any commercial solicitation or spam purposes.” But this has nothing to do with the business use of WhatsApp. IAAL, and using WhatsApp for customer service or even (solicited) sales chats is perfectly legal.

More and more companies are using the popular WhatsApp messaging service to provide customer service or even sales or acquisition. The benefits are evident: chatting is more efficient than telephone calls, and in addition logs and photos can be collected to provide proof and documentation.

Several sources are reporting however that this is problematic, as the WhatsApp Terms of Service contain provisions against commercial use.

Most of the claims that WhatsApp forbids commercial use is based on this phrase (or an earlier version of it). However, “commercial solicitation” clearly refers to things like cold calling, initiating a conversation with people who did not consent to it. In other words, spam. WhatsApp clearly does not want people to use its service to send unwanted commercial messages.

Context is important with legal clauses: the paragraph talks about harvesting and spamming. It would not be logical to conclude in that context that any use by a business would be a TOS violation.

Technically, it is a TOS violation to take a chat log and store it in a CRM system: that is “collecting” personally identifiable information (the customer name) from the WhatsApp service. However, again given the context it is clear to me that this clause is directed towards indexing or harvesting data, not merely storing a log file for later perusal.

How to Increase WhatsApp Sales

Let’s look at some of the ways WhatsApp can be used to boost your sales:

1. Improve your product visibility

The catalog feature in the WhatsApp Business App serves as a mobile storefront for businesses to showcase their products. This saves businesses the hassle of sending photos one at a time and repeating information.

For each item in its catalog, a business can add information including price, description, images, product name and number. Similar items can be grouped together in one catalog. Alternatively, you can create a separate catalog for each item and upload variants of the same picture.

There are limitations as to the products which can be added. Some of these are obvious (drugs and explosives), others not so much (contact lenses and bandages),

2. Promotions

WhatsApp as a promotional platform has untapped potential. You can send your customers informational or promotional content via the “Broadcast” feature without breaching their privacy as it works like the BCC feature in emails.

And because you need your customers’ consent to send them WhatsApp messages, you can be sure that you’ll only be targeting interested leads.

With the “Status” feature, you can share information about flash sales and promotions. As an updated status is only available to 24 hours to its viewers, this can be used to tap into your customers’ scarcity mindset to increase conversions.

3. QR advertising

WhatsApp offers a “click to chat” feature that lets you start a chat with someone without having their phone number saved. This is convenient for customers who don’t want to store the number of every business they interact with.

You can use the tool to create a link which can then be converted into a QR code.

Alternatively, you can simply display your QR code on billboards or promotional materials. If it piques the customer’s interest, they can start a conversation by scanning the QR code with their smartphone.

4. Facebook “click to WhatsApp” advertising

A “click to WhatsApp” ad can help you attract customers through their preferred messaging app. To drive them to WhatsApp, you can create an ad on Facebook with a “Send Message” button that will open a conversation in WhatsApp when people click on it.

Allowing customers to contact you with the click of a button speeds up the buying process which means more conversions. You can include a default message which customers can edit to start the conversation.

5. Product demonstrations

A product demonstration helps you get your customers excited about your product. It’s also an effective way to address product-related concerns.

Take Hellman’s. While everyday products like mayonnaise don’t exactly require instructions, there are only so many dishes you can make with it.

In an initiative to inspire new uses of the product, Hellman’s launched live cooking demonstrations via WhatsApp for its Brazilian customers.

Once customers signed up online, they were asked to send photos of the contents of their fridge via WhatsApp so that live chefs could provide bespoke tips and recommendations.

This challenge not only resolved cooking dilemmas but boosted customer engagement.

6. Concierge service

The word concierge evokes images of a white-gloved butler attending to the needs of elite hotel guests. But concierge-style customer service isn’t only reserved for the privileged few.

Shopping for items such as lingerie can be an embarrassing affair, especially, if you’re searching for a gift for your partner. To spare customers’ blushes, Agent Provocateur ran a WhatsApp campaign to offer discreet advice and service to its premium customers.

Over two days, WhatsApp users had the opportunity to invite a personal shopper into a group conversation with their partner to discuss what they wanted for Christmas. And in a world of automation, style advisers personally engaged with each couple and answered their questions manually.

7. Order and delivery updates

Auto email confirmations risk getting lost in the clutter of the hundreds of emails your customers are likely bombarded with every day. They may even land in your customers’ spam folders.

The high open rates on WhatsApp guarantee that customers won’t miss crucial order confirmations and status updates.

To incentivize customers to opt in to messages, KLM allows customers to receive booking confirmations, flight information and boarding passes all within WhatsApp.

8. Post-sales support

The customer relationship doesn’t end after they’ve made a purchase. At some point, everyone has bought a product that doesn’t meet their needs or that they don’t know how to use.

If a customer has to jump through hoops to chase a refund or to seek product assistance, they won’t hesitate in cutting you loose.

WhatsApp is a low-effort way to provide post-sales support to your customers without your customers enduring the frustration of long waiting lines or repeating information. In a study by Facebook, 50% of customers who messaged businesses did so throughout their customer journey – to ask about opening hours, to make a purchase or share feedback.

For products that don’t require technical expertise, you can offer video tutorial support. Refund requests can also be processed quickly without the back-and-forth of emails.

9. Customer relationship building

Creating great customer relationships is the holy grail for most businesses. The appeal of WhatsApp is that you’re connecting with your customers on a channel they’re using to communicate with their loved ones.

Coupled with faster, more direct and more personalized service, WhatsApp can bring you closer to your customers, and ultimately greater conversions.

WhatsApp Marketing Strategy

every marketer needs to learn the 5 proven Whatsapp marketing strategies that can help you grow your user base and sales.

5. Create an Engaging Brand Persona for Whatsapp

Whatsapp is a personal and intimate messaging platform where people talk to family members, connect with friends and sometimes flirt as well. Any brand that seeks to get invited into my Whatsapp phone list needs to feel like a friend.

So the first step is to create an engaging brand persona or character that represents your brand with its Whatsapp number. People don’t like to chat with impersonal company representatives. In fact, the truth is that some of the most popular brands and companies have the most visible and lively company cultures.

The person in charge of your Whatsapp channel can have an identity! For instance: the brand Rarepink has a Whatsapp number managed by its customer service managers who are available at all times to engage with customers.

Busy business people find it easy to engage with this person on WhatsApp, exchanging pictures of products they are interested in, asking questions and even agreeing on payment and delivery terms. The brand has been selling a significant proportion of its online sales via Whatsapp after it started sharing its number with customers.

The persona can also be a fictional character designed to create interest and engagement. Absolut Vodka wanted to engage young consumers with the brand for it’s limited edition Absolut Unique in Argentina. So they decided to throw an exclusive launch party but to get in you had to contact the “fictional “ doorman Sven, a guy notoriously hard to please.

The WhatsApp number was released in all the Absolut media and advertising and users started sending messages, songs and even indecent proposals to Sven in order to get in. Once the persona is created, he can be used again and again for different events to bring consumers in. Watch the entire case study here.

2. Offer Great Value to build a phone database

Whatsapp will remain ad free and hence in order to build a base of users, you need to offer them something of value in exchange for their phone number. This can be a promotion, a freebie, a free service or valuable information. 

A great example of this is Delhi Police. Realising the ease and popularity of Whatsapp, they decided to create an  anti-corruption Whatsapp number, placing it on all their traditional print and outdoor messaging. All users had to do was to send in images or videos of policemen not doing their duty or taking bribes. On the launch day, 23000 Whatsapp messages came in, taking the police by surprise and lead to the booking of 6 policemen on charges. As a bonus the police got a database of thousands of citizens’ phones for free.

Another example comes from Unilever’s Mayonnaise brand Hellman’s which wanted to grow the usage of it’s products in new dishes in Brazil. So it offered consumers a Whatsapp line called Whatscook, where they could ask professional chefs questions, get recipes, share videos of cooking, all the time building a database of mobile numbers.

3. Offer Always On Relevant Content for Free

What do you do once you have started building a phone list ? Whatsapp has a 70% engagement rate, higher than Facebook. That means you need to offer users, great content on relevant topics to ensure that they are engaged with you. It’s why, at Found., we work so hard on our free community events and blog.

A great example of this is Dr Amrik Singh, Agriculture scientist in India, who has created a WhatsApp group called Young Progressive Farmers to educate farmers on modern methods of farming for rice which use less water and get higher yield like the information below on weeding.

This method allows at very low cost, a way to reach all the farmers via a WhatsApp group. Note that the limit of a group is 50 members and you can create upto 5 groups for a personal number so as the numbers grow, one has to think of how to resource for managing a large database of WhatsApp users.

Radio Interconomia, a business radio and tv channel, created a whatsapp number to offer users free business news, interesting interviews and stock analysis by top analysts on the channel. The cost of the channel – just $1 for brilliant mass scale 2 way engagement.

4. Deliver Speedy Customer Service

Whatsapp has a 70% opening rate, which means you are almost guaranteed exposure of your message if you customer is on whatsapp with you.

Leveraging this, Banco Santander Bank has created Open Bank, a whatsapp customer service number where you can chat with the bank, post queries, solve issues. In a test pilot done with 17,000 customers, 99% of consumers found the service very useful and 98% said they would continue to use it.

Reliance Brands, which handles luxury brands like Diesel, Kenneth Cole and Zegna in India, offered customers the choice of remaining engaged with the brand via Whatsapp. Consumers lapped it up, finding out about promotions, new launches and getting brand information like pictures and video. In some cases the conversion rate of consumers who were on the brands’ whatsapp list was as high as 80%.

5. Consumer Research

Whatsapp has so far not been used extensively for research but offers an easy to use, inexpensive and quick platform to run some quick research. You can ask consumers about flavours they like, ask them to choose between options the brand is proposing to launch among other things. Also whatsapp is highly relevant for conducting some quick discussion internally within your company.

For instance Delhi Police with their database of  numbers can now start asking people questions about the specific areas in Delhi which they find unsafe or a college campus can conduct a quick snap poll on what new courses need to be introduced. Teachers in many colleges already share notes and quizzes on whatsapp and answer FAQs.

The cost again – $1. The time – minutes, instead of months. Whatsapp is unbeatable once you know how to leverage it well.

Just keep in mind, that spamming unknown people on Whatsapp is unacceptable, unethical and not effective. Instead use the framework of a persona, a great value exchange, content and customer service to generate leads and sales using Whatsapp.

WhatsApp Business Tricks

WhatsApp is definitely not the most obvious marketing channel. You can’t initiate conversations with customers except for sending non-promotional notifications, and even those cost money. You also can’t advertise to users, and you need their phone numbers before you can contact them in the first place.

However, these barriers to entry have an upside: despite WhatsApp’s 1.5+ billion users, only a minority of businesses are actively using the platform for marketing. That means less competition and an audience that’s likely to be less annoyed and more receptive to your campaigns.

Plus, the limitations of WhatsApp marketing will force you to be more innovative with your strategy and try new techniques for engaging users. Here are some of the best ways to face the challenge of launching a WhatsApp marketing campaign.

1. Use WhatsApp Status to reach a broad audience

WhatsApp Status is WhatsApp’s take on the popular Stories format. It currently has over 450 million daily active users, beating out Facebook Stories’ 300 million and Snapchat’s 186 million DAUs.

If you’re not using WhatsApp Status to communicate with your business’s contacts, you’re missing out on one of the biggest channels available. But what type of content should you post?

One option is to build brand awareness and customer loyalty by telling entertaining, human stories about life at your office or an event you’re attending. Think of this as being a continuation of your social media marketing strategy on Facebook and Instagram Stories.

Another is to use your Status more promotionally. For instance, try posting images or videos highlighting flash sales or temporary discounts on your website. Since the content will disappear after 24 hours, this is a great way to create a sense of FOMO and get people excited about your products.

2. Engage users through WhatsApp Groups 

If you want to form a community around your brand on WhatsApp, Groups are your best bet. They allow up to 256 people per group to interact with your business and with each other.

Consider WhatsApp Groups a branded channel where anyone who wants to join can ask questions or discuss your latest products or campaigns. Because they have a maximum size, Groups have an air of exclusivity. You can take advantage of that by spreading the word on your other channels that the first 256 people to join, for example, get access to special discounts and offers.

WhatsApp Groups also have untapped potential for content marketing. Since WhatsApp lets you send links, images, videos, PDFs and more, why not set up a newsletter-style distribution model where people sign up to get sent your latest ebooks, blog articles, and videos? But again, consider WhatsApp rules around promotional messaging, and seek permission from them if you feel you may not be complying.

Give it a shot—you’ll be reaching an audience that’s already shown interest in your content on a channel that’s comfortable and familiar to them.

3. Go for nontraditional campaigns

With WhatsApp, you need users to message you first before you can reach out to them. Since you can’t make the first move, you need to get creative.

WhatsApp marketing is all about motivating users to message you, give you their phone number or join your Groups. That means you have to make it worth their while.

Take online retailer Buyagift, for example. They created a landing page on their website that gave their WhatsApp number out and offered to send valuable coupon codes to anyone who messaged them the word “Start”.

The key learning here is that getting creative and offering real benefits to people who reach out to your business on WhatsApp can generate leads, engagement, and a lot of brand awareness.

WhatsApp Promotion Message

Automated Messages; Just like chatbots, you can set automated messages. We understand that even though your customers are across the world, you as a business owner sometimes still need some sleep, or when you’re in a meeting, it might be difficult to answer as well.

Your customers and leads, on the other hand, are expecting a response straight away. With automated messages, you can do that, or maybe create a welcome message to introduce potential customers to your business.

WhatsApp Marketing Course

We found several courses that we think could help you take your first steps in this area, and maybe even inspire you to delve further!

1. Coursera

Coursera is one of the main digital class sources, whose differential value comes from the fact that they offer authorized certifications from businesses like IBM, Facebook, Google, and universities like Stanford.

We’ll highlight the courses in social media marketing and social media advertising to start with.

You’ll learn the basics for marketing on social media (a concept that includes WhatsApp). What makes these courses stand out  is the fact that they are offered by Facebook itself.

You can take any of these classes for free, although if you do you will not get a certificate when you complete it. Another option is to sign up for a Coursera membership. This membership is recommended for businesses, as the cost is 399 dollars per person per year (but you can access more than 3000 courses).

2. Udemy

Udemy is one of the renowned online academies of our era. Among the companies who have contracted their services you’ll find Lyft, Booking, Adidas, Pinterest, and others.

Udemy offers an immediate alternative to Coursera, with their WhatsApp for Business Mastery Course. In this course you are gonna learn not only the basics, also you will learn How to run WhatsApp Ad campaign using Facebook Ad Manager and setting up Pre-Defined Greeting Messages and Away Messages.

3. Hootsuite

If you’re more inclined to reading, Hootsuite has different articles to start understanding WhatsApp Business, where you can quickly learn how to use WhatsApp to your benefit. 

What stands out from this article is that it compiles the most successful  campaigns that have used this type of marketing strategy. This gives you practical examples  from Absolut Vodka and Hellmann’s.

But the real reason we highlight this article is because it offers a downloadable PDF guide about marketing that you can apply on WhatsApp.

Hootsuite is a leading business in the service of managing multiplatform social media. This means you’ll get quality information about marketing using messaging apps.

4. Simplivlearning

If you actually want to improve your sales kills at a professional level, I would recommend you this course of Simpliv. Here you are gonna learn:

• How to send bulk WhatsApp messages without having to save the numbers in your phone
• How to mention each person’s name in your Bulk WhatsApp Messaging Campaigns (a very powerful marketing strategy)
• How to filter WhatsApp Numbers out of Non-WhatsApp Numbers
• How to extract the phone numbers of members of any WhatsApp Group you belong with just a click
• How to generate WhatsApp Phone numbers

5. Sirena

Sirena is the first CRM for WhatsApp, so they also put out content for businesses who want to get the most out of the messaging app.

With the free Sirena blog, you can take your first steps, as well as continue to improve in the various techniques to increase your sales by improving your customer service on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp Marketing Messages Example

WhatsApp marketing is all about relationships with the audience and delivering value. However, there is space for some creativity in these conditions. Let’s take a once-over of WhatsApp campaigns from all sorts of businesses and get a dose of inspiration for your own brand promotions.

1. Klook – transactional messages

The online travel platform Klook decided to use WhatsApp for customer satisfaction and to increase retention. Thus, the company built its marketing strategy around updates and notifications about bookings.

Klook kept its clientele’s best interests at heart and needed to find the most convenient communication channel. As the company has an enormous audience in the Asia-Pacific region, the choice fell on WhatsApp – the app is widespread in this area.

The travel platform invited its website and app visitors to subscribe to WhatsApp notifications – order updates and reminders. As a result, the opt-in rate for WhatsApp turned out to be 63% higher than for the Klook app’s push notifications. The customer retention rate grew by 40%.

2. Netflix – personal recommendations

The streaming giant, Netflix, knows a little something about keeping its users engaged with the service. The service offers personal recommendations in its mobile application. In 2017, the company decided to extend this practice to WhatsApp.

Netflix launched this campaign in January 2017 in India – WhatsApp’s biggest market. Users, who had both Netflix and WhatsApp installed on their smartphones, saw the offer to stay in touch through WhatsApp messenger. If a person clicked “I’m in,” they started to receive messages about their account and TV program and film suggestions. Half a year after Netflix offered the same opportunity for its users in the UK.

The trick here was to keep interacting with customers even after they’ve canceled their Netflix subscription. New show announcements and reminders triggered recipients to resubscribe to the streaming platform.

3. Agent Provocateur – profound counseling

The upmarket lingerie brand, Agent Provocateur, decided to go a bit further with recommendations to customers. A couple of years ago, the company started its Ménage à Trois campaign dedicated to Christmas.

Agent Provocateur offered couples to start a group chat with the brand assistant on WhatsApp. During the conversation, the company representative gave personal recommendations and facilitated the discussion of what the prospects wanted for Christmas.

31% of these conversations resulted in in-store visits and 61% converted into website traffic. The campaign was so successful that Agent Provocateur decided to make Whatsapp counseling a permanent service for VIP customers.

4. Saffola – real-time help

If you’ve tried any diet, you are probably familiar with the cravings for a slice of pizza or a cookie. The Indian healthcare brand, Saffola, decided to build its campaign around fighting this want for unhealthy food.

To help people combat their harmful eating habits, Saffola crafted a WhatsApp chatbot. A user could send a message to this bot when they felt a longing for some comfort food. In turn, the chatbot tried to distract a person with pre-recorded positive reinforcements, puzzles, and even a rap song. The latter promoted Suffola’s new active slimming drink.

5. Adidas – tackling audiences’ issues

The sportswear brand, Adidas, used WhatsApp as a part of its new shoe promotion campaign. The brand decided to focus on a narrow audience – amateur football players – and help them tackle their specific issue.

Football teams fairly often experience troubles with stuff. Some players may drop out at the last minute before a match, and there might be no replacement. Adidas offered to find a substitute through WhatsApp. All you need to do is send a message to a WhatsApp hotline and share essential information about the match. In return, Adidas will send a top-notch football player to your game.

Although the campaign only lasted for six days and targeted a specific audience, it has delivered impressive results. In particular, Adidas got a lot of buzz in football media, retail websites, blogs, and so on.

WhatsApp Marketing Campaign Examples

To help you plan your first experiment, here are a few of the best WhatsApp tactics that marketers can learn from.

1. Adidas: “100% Unfair Pred”

Adidas has been using WhatsApp since 2015 to answer questions about their products and promote new items to prospects. But recently, they launched a campaign that combined live chats and influencer marketing.

In 2019, after realizing that athletic teams used WhatsApp to send team-wide communications or announcements, Adidas offered to help recreational sports players “rent” a professional athlete — or “predator” — for one of their upcoming games.

In a WhatsApp Group temporarily opened by Adidas, the company shared that they wanted to help one uncoordinated recreational sports team win a single game by “renting” them a professional athlete. From there, recreational athletes and coaches were asked to send WhatsApp messages noting the sport they play, when their next game was, and why they needed to borrow a professional athlete to win.

Days later, Adidas sent a direct message to the winning recreational athlete. The “pred” then showed up to the recreational game dressed in Adidas sportswear.

“We know our audience use it to share fixture info, team selection — and team-mates messaging to find last-minute replacements,” Adidas’ Managing Editor Laura Coveney told Digiday.

“WhatsApp was perfect for the more functional elements of the ‘Rent-a-Pred’ hotline as it allowed consumers to share private information one-to-one with us for review, before being allocated a Predator player near them,” Coveney explained.

2. The Financial Times Shares Free Content

Think an age-old publication known for long-form content can’t succeed on an instant-messaging app? Think again.

In late 2019, the Financial Times, a subscriber-only publication, posted two free daily articles in its WhatsApp Group. According to Digiday, the tactic of sharing content has given them more conversions than other social platforms, more brand awareness, and insight into what topics are important to their potential subscribers.

Interestingly, the publication discovered that although its audience was much smaller, it was more engaged with the content and more likely to subscribe than audiences on other online platforms.

For example, people who clicked a Financial Times link on WhatsApp were 40% more likely to return to the site within three days than those who clicked their links on other channels. The publication also found that traffic gained from WhatsApp was similar to what it received from its average Twitter post.

“People liked the convenience of having [news] come through to their phone, pushed to them where they are, without having to go to our site, on a service they are already signed up to,” said the Times’ Audience Engagement Editor, Alana Coates, in an interview.

3. Absolut Vodka Launch Party Campaign

One of WhatsApp’s earliest success stories came from the Swedish liquor company Absolut Vodka. When marketing the launch of its Absolut Unique vodka product in 2013, Absolut struggled with driving global audiences and was tightly competing with other liquor companies that had many more years of history supporting them.

Unlike many other alcoholic beverage companies, Absolut didn’t have a story of long-running success behind its brand just yet. While some liquor companies could easily market how they’d been using the same recipes for hundreds of years, Absolut was only established in 1979.

Nostalgic content, such as this ad from Jim Beam, allows older brands to tell a story about their successful history, while emotionally connecting with their audiences. This was something that a young company, like Absolut, couldn’t play up as a marketing tactic.

Instead of inventing a story that spoke to audiences of all ages, Absolut decided to leverage WhatsApp’s messaging system to earn credibility and awareness from younger audiences globally.

To mark the Argentinian launch of Absolut Unique, the beverage company promoted a contest where you could win two tickets to a celebration of the new product in Argentina. To enter the tickets, you had to go on WhatsApp and message the account of a doorman named Sven to convince him why you deserved to attend the party.

According to a case study, 600 Argentinian users contacted Sven over the course of three days. The campaign was also widely discussed locally which helped Absolut gain brand awareness even from people who didn’t contact the account.

Although Absolut is now a giant, well-known company, this is a great example of how the brand recognized and leveraged WhatsApp as a platform that could be used to boost local brand awareness and sales in another part of the world.

4. Hellmann’s: “WhatsCook”

Back in 2014, Hellmann’s, a U.S.-based Mayonnaise company, wanted to reach audiences in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay. To do this, they hired a team of professional chefs to help them with a WhatsApp campaign.

According to Cubo, an agency that assisted with this campaign, 13,000 people signed up for the service and the average participant interacted with a chef for 65 minutes.

With the “WhatsCook” campaign, Hellmann’s leveraged industry experts as a way to get in contact with fans. The company already knew that people who bought its mayo wanted to use it. But, they also knew that people might not know many mayonnaise-friendly recipes. With this strategy, the brand engaged with people who love to cook and solved for the customer by showing them how to use Hellmann’s main product in different ways.

5. Yoox Personal Shoppers

During Yoox’s WhatsApp experiment, they made $80,000 off of sales through the app.

This is a great example of how a company leveraged WhatsApp to reach interested prospects, ease them through the buyer’s journey with a highly interactive messaging experience, and successfully make sales without having customers enter a store.

WhatsApp Strategy

Lets look at the 5 creative ways to implement WhatsApp in your business..

1. Using WhatsApp For Internal Team Communication

Whenever we tried to implement any new tool for internal communication at ProfitBooks, we got resistance from the employees. People are reluctant to ‘learn’ new things. Best thing about WhatsApp is that almost everyone uses it and it does not require any training. Another advantage is, I don’t need to explicitly ask the team to check WhatsApp as they are anyway hooked to it.

We have formed groups of Sales & Development team on WhatsApp and share instant messages for which an email is not necessary. Its fast and fun to use.

With WhatsApp Web, it becomes even more easier to type messages using a web browser.

2. Using WhatsApp For Customer Communication

Here is a sales tip – If you do your followups on WhatsApp instead of direct phone calls, you will get 40% more response. No one appreciates phone calls from unknown numbers but we are more likely to respond to personal messages. When we start using WhatsApp for customer communication, we noticed better response and engagement.

This also gives an opportunity to be little informal. For example, you have sent a quotation to your potential customer but haven’t heard from him, what do you do? You either call him or send a followup mail using formal language. Instead of doing this, if you just send a short message on WhatsApp asking about the status, you might get a quick response.

3. Using WhatsApp For Customer Support

WhatsApp could be a great tool for customer support simple because of its wider reach. Your customers would always prefer to send you a message over WhatsApp rather than calling a helpdesk number or raising a ticket.

NowFloats, a website development platform uses WhatsApp for the customer support. Arush Chopra from JustHerbs has been offering skin and product consultations on whatsapp. There are even new business like Wazapper that provide tools & API to setup customer support system using WhatsApp.

However, offering customer support via WhatsApp may not be a good option for all types of businesses. Kritika from cloud telephony company, MyOperator warns that responding to every message on WhatsApp may not be practical for companies that get hundreds of customer calls everyday.

So, choose WhatsApp as a customer support tool only if you have lesser number of customer requests.

4. Using WhatsApp For Marketing & Promotion

Rajat Uppal, national marketing head, Red FM, says, “WhatsApp is the new SMS. We’ve realised that WhatsApp can be a very strong marketing tool. It is a good one-to-one platform for direct communication with our listeners”.

You can use WhatsApp to send images, audio files, short video clips of your products and text messages to users across the world. Unlike SMS or Email, there are less restriction on the format and delivery chances are higher.

This doesn’t mean that you should spam your customers with WhatsApp messages. Ideally you should use WhatsApp to connect with existing loyal customers rather than trying to reach new users. Everyone hates messages coming from unknown numbers.

If you really want to get a good response, you will need to come up with the creative ways to promote your business using WhatsApp. For example, Colgate invited people to send selfies of their smile via WhatsApp, to a phone number displayed on the toothpaste pack. Motivation: a chance to be styled by brand ambassador Sonam Kapoor’s stylist!

5. Creative Usage Of WhatsApp For Business

People have built new businesses using WhatsApp as a platform and some are using it to grow their business in a cost effective manner. Lets look at some creative usage of WhatsApp that might give you few ideas for the next project..

Concierge Service
This Mumbai-based errand-running service Russsh, uses WhatsApp as a booking platform. You can book a cake, flower delivery or courier service using WhatsApp.

Food Ordering Using WhatsApp
Lot of local restaurants are now offering their users an option to order food using a WhatsApp message. Customers can communicate their preference instantly.

Medical Consultation
Family doctors have now started offering consultation on WhatsApp. Of course, it can’t replace an in-person visit but you can always text your doctor and ask about common medical queries. Apart from this, medical stores now accept photos of prescription and delivery the medicines.

Government Services
The Delhi Police last year launched a dedicated helpline powered by WhatsApp: 9910641064. On the launch day, they received more than 23,000 messages and complaints via on this number. The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) is providing Volvo bus helpline service through WhatsApp. The service is available for complaints and suggestions from Volvo bus passengers and information related to the buses.

Is WhatsApp Business Free to Use?

WhatsApp Business is free to download and was built with the small business owner in mind. The app makes it easy to personally connect with your customers, highlight your products and services, and answer their questions throughout their shopping experience. Create a catalog to showcase your products and services and use special tools to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages.

WhatsApp can also help medium and large businesses provide customer support and deliver important notifications to customers.

How Can I Use WhatsApp For Business on Multiple Devices?

The first thing you need to know about accessing one WhatsApp Business account on multiple devices is that it is possible. However, it very much depends on the type of WhatsApp Business account you have.

The only way to use WhatsApp Business on multiple devices is if you have access to the WhatsApp Business API The free WhatsApp Business app, unfortunately, has limitations similar to the WhatsApp Messenger app in this regard.

This means that the same WhatsApp Business account (registered under the same number) can only be used on one single device.

To clarify, you can access a WhatsApp account from WhatsApp web and the mobile app concurrently—but only if it’s the same account. You will not, however, be able to open multiple browsers (or tabs) of the same WhatsApp account on WhatsApp web.

In short, if you’re using the free WhatsApp Business app, there is simply no way to access the same WhatsApp Business account on more than one device.

Multiple Logins on Multiple Devices With the WhatsApp Business API

If you’re a new or small business, using the free WhatsApp Business app and having just one person handle customer service on WhatsApp at any given time may be sufficient—especially if you’re making full use of the WhatsApp marketing and customer service tools available. 

But if you’re a growing enterprise, such limitations may be a hindrance to growth.

The only way to be able to log into the same WhatsApp Business account on two or more devices is if you’re using WhatsApp Business via the WhatsApp Business API.

Getting access requires going through a WhatsApp Business solution Provider (BSP) like WATI, which brings us to our next point.

Using WhatsApp Business on Multiple Devices With WATI

As a BSP, WATI can get you access to the WhatsApp Business API, which opens up a realm of new and exciting customer support and communication possibilities.

WATI is short for WhatsApp Business Account for Team Inbox and Marketing. And as our name suggests, we can help you get set up such that multiple customer support team members can sign in to and use the same WhatsApp Business account using various devices all at once.

The most useful and popular tool we offer is, by and far, the multi-agent team inbox. This is a shared chat space where your customer support staff can access, view, and respond to customer queries all at the same time.

That’s not all. They can also chat among themselves, collaborate together, and better organize themselves by assigning tickets and saving specific chats to favorites for easy access.

Other functions include:

• Add customized parameters to chats/contacts
• Search and filter chats
• Create quick replies
• Etc.

WATI WhatsApp Business Mobile App for Multiple Users

At WATI, we’ve also developed a WhatsApp Business mobile app that allows multiple users to log into the same WhatsApp Business account.

This is created by our very own developers with the purpose of allowing multiple and simultaneous logins and is different from WhatsApp’s own WhatsApp Business app.

Because it’s also run on the WhatsApp Business API, WATI’s WhatsApp Business mobile app allows you to have various team members access the same account at once—regardless of how many agents you have.

The app comes in particularly handy when your agents are away from their computers or on the move and need to respond to a query urgently and/or collaborate with other customer service agents to do so.

What is The Benefit of WhatsApp Business Account?

There are many benefits of WhatsApp business, including:

1. Better time management

Communicating with the customer (in real-time) is the most effective way to save time and improve feedback. When you choose to give your money to a business, the customer wants to feel valued, which is why customer service is the foundation of consumer loyalty.

2. Facilitate your job

If you have an e-commerce business, WhatsApp Business is a great way to make your job easier, especially if you have a certified account. The platform can be an important showcase, given the number of users who can come into contact with your business every day.

3. Keeping employees in contact with one another

Another advantage is the possibility of putting the employees of the same company in contact with one another, especially when they work from different physical locations. Working remotely is made easier, as colleagues can simply share their work with one another and create a network to exchange opinions and comments in real-time.

4. Available directly from your PC

WhatsApp Business can be used directly from your computer, giving you a better view of what’s going on on your mobile phone while maintaining the same functionality. The desktop application is available for both Mac and PC.

5. Multiple Integrations

You can also integrate your Facebook account and email address, offering an additional way to keep your data close at hand. Further, you can use WhatsApp Business (with your company number) and WhatsApp Messenger (with your personal number) from the same phone. Finally, you have the possibility of carrying a single device and having access to two different accounts at the same time.

What Are The Features of WhatsApp Business Account?

Let’s look closer at WhatsApp Business app features that you might enjoy as much as we do:

1. Business Profile

Create a business profile with helpful information for your customers, like your address, business description, email address, and website. Business accounts help brands to gain a user’s loyalty. A business profile gives the company a familiar “face” and identity. To have a “Verified” badge next to your company name, WhatsApp has to confirm that this is a verified business account. 

Steps to add details about your business: Go to WhatsApp Business app – Open Settings > Business settings > Profile.

2. Quick Replies

These are frequent messages to answer common questions. Quick replies let you save and reuse messages you frequently send so you can easily answer common questions in no time. Simply press the “/” on your keyboard to select a quick reply and send.

3. Automatic Greeting Message

WhatsApp for business enables you to create a greeting message that users will receive when they start a dialog with your company or after 14 days of inactivity. By sending an instant message, you welcome and introduce a company to a new potential customer with no delays and waiting time.

Steps to set up a greeting message: Settings > Business settings > Greeting message. From here, you can create a new greeting message or edit an existing one.

4. Setting Away Message 

Away messages are like greeting messages. They send a custom message to people who are trying to connect the company after your working hours. You can write a custom message or send your working hours. You can set up for them to activate at the chosen time.

Steps to set up an away message: Settings > Business settings > Away message > “Activate away message”.

You can also edit your away message from here and schedule when you want to send this message. You can choose from Always send, Custom schedule, or after your work hours.

5. Label Contacts

Businesses can organize their contacts and categorize them with labels for easy access. This way, you can easily search through your contacts and keep them grouped and organized.

Steps to add a label to a new contact: Click the menu button on the client’s chat page > choose a label and then save.

Steps to add a new label: Click the menu button on the client’s chat page > click “ New label” > click save.

7. Catalogs

The other feature that will be beneficial for your business is – Catalogs.

Catalogs allow your company to showcase your goods so people could easily browse and check out products they are interested in and would like to buy. With catalogs, you don’t need to send every item, price, and description one-by-one as you used to do before. Now it is all conveniently grouped on your WhatsApp page, and you don’t have to redirect your customers to the website or elsewhere.

For each item in your catalog, you can add information, including price, description, and product code. This is so much easier for your customers than having to ask you about each item separately or go from WhatsApp to the website.

8. Interactive Business Messages

This type of message allows you to include interactive and more appealing buttons to your messages. These buttons can be of 2 types:

– CTA: by clicking this button, the user would be redirected to a particular webpage or make a call

– Quick reply: allows users to answer with the predefined options without having to type in the answer manually

Interactive buttons are great for the smooth customer journey and customer experience(CX) in general. First of all, it is much more understandable for your users what they should do.

It can be quite confusing for the user. 

Should he reply with the number? Or type in “Make an order”? And if the user types in something else, the bot won’t understand, and the person can drop off the conversation.

Secondly, using quick replies is much more visually appealing and faster for the client. He clicks on the right answer and moves to the next question. No typing = less effort = better customer experience.

And lastly, using CTA buttons, users can conveniently transfer between the platforms.

Let’s say a person wants to book a call with your company.

Before, he had to copy the link, then go to the browser and then paste the link. And now, he only needs to click on the right button, and the bot redirects him to his destination point.

So, interactive buttons in messages are easier, faster, more understandable, and convenient for your clients. They create a smoother journey and better CX, which will lead to higher engagement rates with your company.

Take note that these are paid options. If you plan on using template messages with buttons, you will have to pay for every message you send. Here is the pricing for these messages:  https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing/

9. Facebook Shops Integration

Facebook Shops is a tool that allows you to create customized shopping experiences for your businesses and integrate them seamlessly across the Facebook family of apps. Through your shop, you can showcase the products and services you’re selling and connect with potential customers. It’s an invaluable tool for any growing business.

How to link your WhatsApp Business account to a Facebook Shop

Linking your WhatsApp Business account to your Facebook shop gives you the option to have customers who visit your shop send you a message through the WhatsApp Business app.

To link these accounts, you must:

– Have a phone number registered on the WhatsApp Business app.

Note: Phone numbers registered to WhatsApp Messenger can’t be linked to a shop.

– Be an admin on your Facebook Business Manager account.

– Link your Facebook Page and Catalog in the same Business Manager account.

– Have Manage Page permissions for the Facebook Page and Manage Catalog permissions for the Catalog on Business Manager.

– Link your WhatsApp Business account to your shop

– To start, create a shop in the Facebook Commerce Manager. 

– Then, add your WhatsApp Business number to your shop and set WhatsApp as the Primary Contact Method. 

Once these steps are completed, you can set up your shop so that customers can tap the Message button on your shop pages to start a chat with you in the WhatsApp Business app.

10. WhatsApp Payments in India

“Making payments simple can help bring more businesses into the digital economy, opening up new opportunities for growth,” said WhatsApp on their blog

This feature makes transferring money just as easy as sending a message. This comes in handy during remote times because people can safely send money without exchanging cash in person or going to a local bank.

And don’t worry about the security – WhatsApp payments are designed with a strong set of security and privacy principles, including entering a personal UPI PIN for each payment.

WhatsApp designed a payments feature in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), an India-first, real-time payment system that enables transactions over 160 supported banks.

It’s necessary to have a bank account and debit card in India to send money via WhatsApp. 

How Can I Start Selling on WhatsApp?

WhatsApp may pride itself on having “no ads, no games, no gimmicks,” but you can still use the service to sell your product or business. The question is, how do you use it to help your business?

1. WhatsApp Groups.

Whatsapp groups are a great place to promote your services or products. You can form your own online sellers’ group or join one with an invite link.

Think of it as a networking platform where you can not only post links to your service or product but also exchange business insights. To get started, you can create a group for your business or join like-minded groups of buyers and sellers in your community.

2. WhatsApp Status.

Earlier this year, WhatsApp introduced a new feature called Status. Just like Instagram or Snapchat story, WhatsApp Status allows users to share quick photos or videos that disappear after a period of 24 hours.

Your WhatsApp status automatically gets shared with your contacts hence you can be sure of maximum impressions. You can use this to showcase pictures of your products or quick demo of how your product can benefit the user and interested buyers will start buzzing you.

3. WhatsApp Broadcast.

Want to send a personal message to everyone but don’t want to copy and paste it multiple times? Use WhatsApp Broadcast lists to send messages in bulk. Reach a big number of people with just one feature. To do this, create lists related to specific topics, then blast one-way communications designed to increase engagement, much like you do on Twitter. For example, include links or invitations in your messages.

4. Direct Messaging (DMs).

Using Direct Messages on WhatsApp is one of the coolest business development strategies you can make use of. With direct messaging, you can personally look for a prospective lead or customer and send the person a personalized message about your products and services. Remember it’s not always about you, tread with caution when using this tip so as not to spam or annoy your potential customers.

5. Cold Calling with WhatsApp Call.

Cold calling is the act of making an unsolicited call to someone (prospective customer), in an attempt to sell goods or services. WhatsApp has a call feature that allows you to make calls to anyone for free. This can be a great way to follow up with some of your business leads. WhatsApp Call can also be used for customer support purposes allowing customers to call in for free when they need to speak with someone on your team.

How WhatsApp Makes Money?

WhatsApp makes money through two sources — the first being WhatsApp for Business API and the second Click to WhatsApp ads. The WhatsApp Business App helps businesses serve customers on WhatsApp, with provisions to create product catalogues as well as provide customer support.

While the Business App is free to use, WhatsApp monetizes the service through the WhatsApp for Business API. 

Only a month after the launch of the WhatsApp Business API, big tech companies like Netflix, Uber & Wish & 100 others had already started testing the service.

Read Also: How to Make Money from Youtube in 10 easy steps

WhatsApp makes money by charging registered businesses for slow replies. Businesses are allowed to respond to messages from users for free for up to 24 hours but are charged a fee per message for delayed responses, which varies by country.

WhatsApp’s late response charge not only incentivizes companies to prioritize providing support on WhatsApp, but also makes sure customers give preference to WhatsApp while communicating with businesses because they can expect quick replies.

Once business and customers get used to using WhatsApp as their medium of communication, WhatsApp can charge for messages above a certain threshold, or cut down on the free window.

Apart from charging businesses for slow replies, WhatsApp also makes money through Click to WhatsApp ads, which are not ads shown on Facebook, not WhatsApp, but these ads redirect users from Facebook to WhatsApp.

Since these ads are not shown in the WhatsApp app, attributing the revenue of these ads entirely to WhatsApp would be incorrect, but it is one of the ways in which Facebook leverages WhatsApp to increase revenue.

Going ahead, WhatsApp plans to further monetize the app by introducing ads in the status section and rolling out WhatsApp Payment. 

While WhatsApp pay hasn’t fully launched yet, it has been in the works for quite some time now and is expected to roll out worldwide in 2020. 

Highlighting the potential of being able to make payments through WhatsApp at Facebook’s Q4 2019 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg stated, 

“One example we’ve been working on is WhatsApp Payments. You’ll be able to send money as quickly and easily as sending a photo. We got approval to test this with a million people in India back in 2018, and when so many of the people kept using it week after week, we knew it was going to be big when we get to launch. I’m really excited about this and I expect this to start rolling this out in a number of countries and for us to make a lot of progress here in the next six months.”

Conclusion

WhatsApp is a powerful communication tool. It has become widely popular due to its simplicity. Apart from using it for personal communication, you can use WhatsApp for your business in various ways. Its cost effective and you can get started quickly.