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What is Whatsapp for Business and how can it help your small business?
You may have heard about Whatsapp for Business, but wondered how exactly it differs from normal Whatsapp. In a nutshell, Whatsapp for Business was developed for small business owners who require additional functionality to help them run their communication more effectively on Whatsapp. It was initially launched on Android only but as of March 2019, is also available on iOS (Apple lovers rejoice!)
It has more advanced functionality than the Whatsapp we have come to known and love. The majority of the tools focus on helping small business owners to automate, sort and quickly respond to messages.
In order to help marketers understand the additional functionality which Whatsapp for Business has, D.O. Digital has created a YouTube video called Getting Started on Whatsapp for Business for anyone who would like an overview of exactly what Whatsapp for Business does. Getting confused between Whatsapp and Whatsapp for Business? We break down the differences in less than three minutes!
For anyone wanting a far more in depth explanation of the functionality, we have a longer video called Whatsapp for Business vs. Whatsapp which is a very comprehensive explanation of the two apps. Please note that this was released when Whatsapp for Business was Android only.
In the video, we explain the additional Whatsapp functionality called “Business Settings” which includes the following features:
- Profile Settings (Location, Opening times, website, email address)
- Statistics (Sent, delivered, read and received)
- Short Link (sharable shortlink which prepopulates a message to your business’ Whatsapp)
- Messaging Settings (allows you to set an away message, greeting message and quick replies)
- Labels (label your leads) e.g. "Prospective"; "Paid"; "Unpaid"
- Catalog (not shown in screenshots as this is a recent release)
These can be seen below:
PROFILE SETTINGS ON WHATSAPP FOR BUSINESS
The Whatsapp profile section allows you to set:
- Business Type/Industry (What kind of business you are)
- Location (where your business is)
- Open Hours
- Email Address
- Website URL
STATISTICS ON WHATSAPP FOR BUSINESS
In this section you can see how many messages were:
- Sent
- Delivered
- Read
- Received
SHORT LINK ON WHATSAPP FOR BUSINESS
Whatsapp's short link helps you to share the fact that your business is on Whatsapp for Business - e.g. on your website and on social media. It also prepopulates a message of your choice.
MESSAGING TOOLS
There are three kinds of messaging tools:
1. AWAY MESSAGES
2. GREETING MESSAGE
3. QUICK REPLIES
HANDY TIPS FOR WHATSAPP FOR BUSINESS
1. HOW TO USE BOTH APPS
You can't have Whatsapp and Whatsapp for Business linked to one number, so you either need to get a new SIM card and run them off two seperate numbers (on one phone) or use two phones - one for Whatsapp for Business and one for personal Whatsapp
2. DON'T FORGET ABOUT WHATSAPP STATUSES
Whatsapp Statuses help you to get visibility and keep your business top of mind - for free! Statuses let you share text, photos, video's AND animated gifs. They last for 24 hours (just like Instagram Stories)
3. WHATAPP CATALOG
Catalogs are a mobile storefront for businesses to showcase and share their goods so people can easily browse and discover something they would like to buy. Previously businesses had to send product photos one at a time and repeatedly provide information — now customers can see their full catalog right within WhatsApp. This makes business owners look more professional and keeps customers engaged in the chat without having to visit a website. Watch our video to show you exactly how Whatsapp for Business' catalogs feature works.
4. WHATSAPP
Whatsapp for Business not for you? Why not check out this video which explains my best tips tricks and hacks for 'normal' Whatsapp.
5. DARK MODE
Dark mode for Whatsapp is finally live! What exactly is it? Well, Whatsapp has joined Instagram and Twitter in being compatible on dark mode on both iOS AND Android - which means less strain on your eyes and better overall user experience. Note that while Facebook Messenger app already has dark mode, 'normal' Facebook does not yet - however it is scheduled to be coming soon! Watch me show you how to enable Whatsapp dark mode on your iPhone, so that you too can spare your eyes ;)
Whatsapp was famously acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for an estimated US$19.3 billion. According to Statista, approximately 65 Billion messages are sent per day using the platform. No wonder then that Whatsapp is capitalising on its success and has developed a platform specifically intended for business use. Have you used Whatsapp for Business for helping you and your business? We would love to hear about it!
D.O. Digital's FREE Social Media Marketing Course is the first of its kind in South Africa. It aims to make learning social media marketing and digital marketing easy, so that all of us can #dodigitalbetter
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