With over two billion users worldwide, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps on the market. Convenient, quick, and personalized communications are what make it a preferred channel for customers in over 180 countries. Businesses that adopt WhatsApp into their communication mix gain an opportunity to build a personal and long-term relationship with their customer base. The channel’s rich messaging features such as the ability to share media, links, and location make it a convenient tool for businesses to reach customers where they are and have engaging interactions. Our in-house Future Messaging expert, David Creasey-Benjamin, breaks down five reasons why WhatsApp Business API should be the channel of choice for businesses.
WhatsApp’s policy requires businesses to get customer opt-in to receive messages from them. Once opted-in, businesses can initiate conversations with customers that are relevant, timely, and expected. This ensures that customers have a personalized experience and can respond when it is convenient for them.
This is just one example of how a business, across any industry, can leverage the channel to deliver end-to-end experiences. Customers can engage with a business from various touchpoints to initiate a conversation including by email, a website, QR codes, ads, or direct links. Businesses can leverage the channel to allow enquiries, book or manage appointments, enable payments, gather feedback, and more – all in one journey, without the customer ever having to leave the channel or repeatedly provide context.
The WhatsApp Business API makes it easier for businesses to build a brand presence among their customers by adding a green checkmark badge that confirms brand authenticity. The profile also lists key contact information like business name, address, and other information making it easier for customers to find a company and initiate or resume the interaction. This is key to building customer trust and the more the customer trusts the brand, the more likely are they to become your brand ambassadors.
1. Rich, timely, and personalized communications
One of the best features of the WhatsApp Business API is the ability to send and receive rich media content such as images, videos, files, links, and location. From sharing travel itineraries to product catalogues, brochures, and newsletters, rich media helps businesses engage better with customers. The channel also comes with great conversational features like quick replies and list menus that allow customers to respond to messages in just a few taps. Tapping is always better than typing! WhatsApp’s policy requires businesses to get customer opt-in to receive messages from them. Once opted-in, businesses can initiate conversations with customers that are relevant, timely, and expected. This ensures that customers have a personalized experience and can respond when it is convenient for them.2. Efficient customer service
Customers appreciate and are loyal to businesses that resolve their inquiries quickly and conveniently without having to repeat themselves at each instance. The WhatsApp Business API allows businesses to support their customers with any queries they may have using the templates provided by WhatsApp or send free-form text based on the context of the query. Business can further automate processes by embedding rule-based, NLP, and hybrid chatbots to address high volume, frequently ask questions from customers. The chat can seamlessly be transferred to a human agent when customers prefer to speak to one, or for more complex or urgent queries. This not only ensures faster issue resolution but helps contact centers manage their volumes better. Adding the option to be directed to WhatsApp from a voice call, can help customers get answers to their questions faster. By sharing audio, video, images, files, links, or locations customers can provide more context to the support agents. Get the experience right and customers come back to the messaging channel rather than calling, driving up digital adoption. Contact centers can deploy chatbots and support agents to handle multiple inquiries simultaneously using the channel as opposed to managing one call or email at a time, reducing operational costs, and saving considerable amounts of time.3. Enabling end-to-end customer journeys
A leading automotive company in India uses the WhatsApp Business API to create end-to-end customer journeys. Customers can connect with the company to enquire about their fleet of cars, book test drives and service appointment post-purchase and schedule pick-ups and drop-offs to and from the showroom. Having introduced the channel only two years ago, the company now has over 40% of their customers enquiring about new cars only on WhatsApp and have now over 100,000 customers interacting with them. This is just one example of how a business, across any industry, can leverage the channel to deliver end-to-end experiences. Customers can engage with a business from various touchpoints to initiate a conversation including by email, a website, QR codes, ads, or direct links. Businesses can leverage the channel to allow enquiries, book or manage appointments, enable payments, gather feedback, and more – all in one journey, without the customer ever having to leave the channel or repeatedly provide context.4. Safe, secure, and reliable conversations
Another key feature of the WhatsApp Business API is its end-to-end encryption ensuring that all customer interactions are completely secure and private. With rising cyber security risks and data leaks, this feature is a significant value-add for businesses and customers and helps to build trust. Through the WhatsApp Business API, businesses can track if the customer has received and read their messages using the delivery and read receipts. This provides businesses the option to have an intelligent fallback mechanism using WhatsApp in combination with other channels to improve customer contact rates for mission-critical communications such as flight delays, or healthcare appointments.5. Branded and verified presence
The WhatsApp Business API makes it easier for businesses to build a brand presence among their customers by adding a green checkmark badge that confirms brand authenticity. The profile also lists key contact information like business name, address, and other information making it easier for customers to find a company and initiate or resume the interaction. This is key to building customer trust and the more the customer trusts the brand, the more likely are they to become your brand ambassadors.Getting started
Businesses can get onboard with WhatsApp Business API with the help of solution providers and verified WhatsApp partners like ourselves, who can enable this process in a few simple steps. The above, are only some of the reasons why businesses should consider the WhatsApp Business API. To further make the customer journeys seamless, businesses must think of CPaaS solutions that provide end-to-end orchestration and intelligent conversational automation that can enhance their customer interactions. Businesses must invest in a CPaaS solution or a platform like Webex Connect that offers these capabilities and more, on a centralized cloud-based platform that is secure, scalable, and is future-proof. Webex Connect’s advanced integration capabilities and low-code flow builder enables businesses of all sizes to design, deploy, and “manage personalized journeys from within the channel without having to rip or replace the existing systems or applications. Explore more about WhatsApp Business API with us. Get in touch with our Future Messaging team today or book a demo here.About The Author
David Creasey-Benjamin Future Messaging Evangelist Cisco
Affectionally known as DCB, David Creasey-Benjamin, is a Future Messaging Evangelist, championing customers and the need for businesses to meet them where they are.
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