Technology Blog “How To” : How to use WhatsApp for your business.
WhatsApp is the largest mobile messenger app in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users & it’s a platform where businesses are beginning to jump on. WhatsApp is innovating itself to become a one stop shop where users will be able to shop, order and purchase through the messenger app itself.
WhatsApp is so popular that the government created a COVID-19 WhatsApp channel to answer enquiries. Bupa & other large companies have joined this platform through WhatsApp’s business platform.
The good news for business owners is that WhatsApp Business is free. No, we are not joking. WhatsApp Business is absolutely free. The only thing you have to pay for is a separate mobile line that Expert Telecommunication will gladly provide otherwise, you can use your own mobile number but bare in mind, it will be changed into a business line.
The bad news is that if you were looking at the extra functions of the WhatsApp business API such as shopping or payment, this function is chargeable and is not affordable yet for the small to medium businesses. This is because the WhatsApp API has to be applied through a third party company.
Getting started on WhatsApp is not difficult. All you have to do is to put an image of the WhatsApp logo on your website and link it to your WhatsApp number using this code:
https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=61yournumberhere
An example can be found on Bupa’s contact us page.
One of the benefits of using WhatsApp other than messaging your customers is the ability to send shoutouts or messages to your customers when you have a promotion. You already have a direct line to communicate with your customer and its more powerful than an EDM.
In short, if you are already using WhatsApp for your private messages, it will be easy for you to use WhatsApp Business. However, if you have not used it before, there are other Live Chat platforms that you can use for your business which we will cover in our next write up.
