There is no question that social media plays a huge role in our lives today. Most of us use technology to connect with friends, stay informed, and gain insight into the world around us. One of the most popular platforms among adults is WhatsApp. Although originally designed for messaging and sharing short videos, the app has grown to become so much more.
On one hand, the popularity of WhatsApp shows how effectively you can harness the power of social media to engage and retain your audience. With millions of monthly active users, you have the opportunity to reach an audience that would otherwise be hard to reach.
On the other hand, WhatsApp is a relatively untapped platform when compared with email marketing. To truly utilize the power of this giant among social media platforms, you need to understand how to work with WhatsApp and combine it with email marketing.
Why Should You Work With WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is one of the most popular apps globally. It is available in over 200 countries and has over 1.200 million daily active users. Additionally, WhatsApp is one of the few apps where you can actually make money through in-app purchases.
But, perhaps the biggest reason to work with WhatsApp is that they provide a ready-made audience that can be engaged with and retained. By integrating your email marketing with WhatsApp, you can have conversations with potential and current customers through two different means. On one hand, you can send notifications about product specials, upcoming events, or new features.
On the other hand, you can send promotional messages to entice users to opt-in for your email list.
If you are a business owner or marketer, working with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool like Salesforce, you can have all of your marketing automation and customer communications — including email marketing and WhatsApp — in one place.
So, while there are definitely many reasons why you should work with WhatsApp, let’s explore the top 5.
1. Massive Audience
Considering the global audience of WhatsApp, the potential to reach a large audience is huge. In 2019, WhatsApp had over 1.2 billion monthly active users. This equates to over 16% of the entire world’s population.
If you have an eCommerce store or blog, you can integrate with WhatsApp to have live chats with potential and existing customers. Or, you can use the app to send automated emails when someone clicks a link in your email or social media posts.
2. Rich In Features
WhatsApp is a widely-used app that has been around for over a decade. So, it comes as no surprise that it has gained support for all sorts of features. As a business owner or marketer, you can harness the power of these features to engage with your audience.
The platform supports video chatting, group chats, voice chats and shared documents. With so much support for video chatting, you can have online store tours, product demos, and Q&As with customers. Likewise, for larger businesses, you can create in-house learning courses or offer an online booking form through WhatsApp.
2. Easy To Integrate
Unlike some other apps, integrating with WhatsApp is extremely simple. The platform supports many different integrations with other apps. For example, you can connect WhatsApp with MailChimp, HubSpot, and Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud. So, no matter what type of business you have, you are sure to find an integration that works for you.
There are also many different versions of WhatsApp, in case one doesn’t work for you. Luckily, the ecosystem for working with WhatsApp is constantly evolving to fit different needs. If you run a business, you can take advantage of this by experimenting with different apps and their integrations to see which one works best for you.
3. High User Retention
Another unique selling point of WhatsApp is that users tend to stay engaged with the app for long periods of time. The user engagement rate for WhatsApp is extremely high. In fact, the average user spends 53 minutes per day on the app. So, if you are looking for an app that users will return to over and over again, WhatsApp is a good choice.
With such high user engagement and retention, businesses can have a lasting impact on customers through the app. If you run a business, you can encourage your customers to spend more time with you through the various features available on WhatsApp. You can use the app to keep your customers up-to-date with news about your company, special deals, and more.
4. Interactive Chats
One of the things that make WhatsApp so special is that conversations can be highly interactive. If you have an eCommerce store, you can include buttons such as ‘Add to cart’ and ‘Buy now’ to have customers engage with your content through simple clicks.
For larger businesses or brand managers, you can use these features to have conversations with potential and existing customers. For example, you can have live chats with customers during peak hours or when your business is experiencing high traffic. This allows you to engage with your audience while they are still capable of having a good conversation.
5. Affiliate & Publisher Programs
Last but not least, we have affiliate and publisher programs. If you are an affiliate marketer or a content-creator who wants to monetize your content, you can become a publisher on WhatsApp. Like other apps, you can integrate with Google Adsense to have ads shown alongside your posts. Alternatively, you can create your own Google Affiliate Account to have your content shown alongside Google ads.
The great thing about these programs is that you can operate your business in complete anonymity. You don’t need to worry about tracking clicks or sales since the app keeps all of this information secure.
In 2020, a business can legally operate under the umbrella of digital marketing and grow their business with little to no oversight. In many countries, including the U.S., establishing a business entity as an individual or sole trader is relatively easy and straightforward. It is only when the business begins to grow that things get a little complicated. As an entrepreneur or marketer, it’s important to understand as soon as possible how taxation and legal matters will affect your business.
How to Work With WhatsApp
So, let’s explore how to work with WhatsApp. As a business owner or marketer, it’s important to understand the basics before you get started. Although the platform is very user-friendly, it is best to take the time to learn a little bit about how conversations work.
In order to be able to work with WhatsApp, you will need a Business account. Without one, you won’t be able to create a group or do many of the things mentioned above. Once you have your Business account, you can download the app on your phone. From there, you can click the button that looks like a speech bubble with an arrow coming out of it. This will then take you to the Settings page, where you can click the button that looks like a phone number. From here, you can click Continue to continue to the main dashboard. On this page, you will see many different tabs that you can click to connect your business with various platforms and people.
The first thing you need to do is click the black icon with the three dots in the top-left corner. This will take you to the menu where you can choose to Integrate with WhatsApp. When choosing this option, you will be presented with a series of web banners where you can provide your email address. Once you have entered this information, you can click Continue.
On the next page, you will see a dashboard where you can manage your groups. On this page, you will also be able to edit the group description and add members. Once you have added all of the members, you can click Create group.
Now that you have your group, it’s time to start using it. To do this, click the black button with three dots in the top-left corner. From here, you can click Add member. Once you do this, you will be able to see all of the members in your group. You can click the button next to any of these names to have a message sent to that person. When you click this button, you will see a pop-up telling you that the person you are trying to contact is unavailable or does not have an email address. If you want to have a message sent to that person, you can click the button with the plus mark to the left of the name. This will allow you to add that person to your group. Alternatively, you can click the button with the circle and the word ‘Member’ to the right of the person’s name to make them a moderator of your group.