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As the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, businesses are constantly searching for innovative ways to connect with their customers and stand out from the competition. WhatsApp Business has gained considerable popularity in recent years among the growing list of platforms.
WhatsApp Business is a messaging application tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. With over 2 billion active users worldwide, WhatsApp is the world’s most widely used messaging app. Since its introduction in 2018, WhatsApp Business has become a powerful tool for businesses to enhance their digital marketing strategies and establish a more direct connection with their customers.
In this article, we’ll delve into the essential features of WhatsApp Business, discuss why it’s a critical tool for your business, and explore how it can help you realize your digital marketing potential to the fullest.
WhatsApp is The Most Used Social Media in Malaysia.
As of 2023, WhatsApp has emerged as Malaysia’s leading social media platform, with an impressive user base of 23.93 million. This number represents a significant increase compared to the previous year, signaling the platform’s growing popularity among Malaysians. There are now 26.80 million social media users in the country, with a near-equal distribution between male and female users at 51.4% and 48.6%, respectively.
According to a recent report by Datareportal, social media users in Malaysia utilize the platform for a variety of purposes, including staying in touch with friends and family (54.6%), followed by passing leisure time (52.7%), reading news stories (42.6%), and discovering new content (39.8%), among others. This diverse range of activities highlights the versatility of WhatsApp as a social media platform and its potential to connect businesses with their target audience.
Given these figures, it’s clear that WhatsApp represents a powerful messaging tool for businesses to engage with their audience and build meaningful relationships with their customers in Malaysia. By leveraging the platform’s features and functionalities, businesses can share relevant and personalized content, offer customer support, and conduct transactions directly through the app. As such, businesses should start including WhatsApp in their social media strategy and utilize it to reach their audience and achieve their marketing goals.
How To Use WhatsApp Business To Improve Brand Perception
Significantly improve your brand perception by creating a professional business profile with your logo, contact information, and a brief description of your products or services. This information is visible to all customers who interact with your business on WhatsApp, which can help you to stand out and create a strong brand image. Never undermine the power of branding, establishing your business in a widespread used social media platform such as WhatsApp–favoured for its power in fostering connection & real-time interaction–shows a palpable and human side of your business.
Showcase your unique value proposition and differentiate yourself from competitors. WhatsApp Business offers numerous benefits that can give businesses a competitive edge in today’s digital marketplace. Creating a professional business profile with your logo, contact information, and a brief description of your products or services on WhatsApp can help you to stand out and create a strong brand image. You can follow these steps to get started with WhatsApp Business:
- Download WhatsApp Business app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
- Register your business account with your phone number.
- Set up your business profile by adding your business name, logo, description, and contact details.
- Create a catalog of your products or services.
- Use WhatsApp Business API to automate your messages and manage customer interactions.
- Promote your WhatsApp Business account on your website, social media pages, and other marketing channels.
- Respond promptly to customer inquiries and provide excellent customer service.
- Use WhatsApp Business analytics to track your performance and improve your strategy.
By leveraging its features, you can enhance customer engagement, increase conversion rates, and improve brand perception. As more and more customers prefer to communicate via messaging apps, WhatsApp Business provides a powerful platform for businesses to connect with their customers and build long-lasting relationships.
Essential (& Free!) Key Features Of WhatsApp Business
One of the critical advantages of WhatsApp Business is its wide range of features that empower businesses to build solid and meaningful connections with their customers. From automated messages to customizable profiles, WhatsApp Business provides various tools that help companies to communicate more efficiently and effectively with their customers.
WhatsApp Business Catalog
Additionally, WhatsApp Business Catalog is a powerful tool for e-commerce and F&B businesses that allows them to showcase their products and services to potential customers in an organized and efficient manner. By creating a catalog on WhatsApp Business, businesses can provide customers with a comprehensive list of their products or services, along with detailed descriptions, prices, and images. Making it easier for customers to browse and choose products.
You can display your products, images, and descriptions (yes, this is all in WhatsApp), where users can browse through the item and directly add to cart! You can provide a personalized shopping experience and offerings to specific customer preferences or interests by creating customized catalogs for different customer segments. Simply share the catalog link with your customers through WhatsApp chat or social media platforms to promote your products and services without high advertising costs.
Once your customer is happy, they can visit their cart to ‘Place Order,’ which will then notify the business through WhatsApp chat of the order summary. Neat and simple. With WhatsApp Business, communication is done more efficiently and effectively, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Whether sending quick replies or providing personalized support, WhatsApp Business helps provide seamless connection with customers. By leveraging these features, the overall customer experience can be improved and establish business as trusted and reliable partners.
Personalized Marketing Elevates Customer Engagement
One of the primary benefits of WhatsApp Business is that it allows businesses to engage with their customers more personally. According to a survey by Facebook, 68% of people say that messaging is the easiest way to connect with a business. And with WhatsApp Business, communication with customers happen in real-time, providing instant support and assistance.
With WhatsApp Business, businesses can communicate with their customers directly and in real-time, which can help to build stronger relationships and foster greater customer loyalty. According to Clickatell, WhatsApp Business elevates the customer experience by increasing open and response rates.
The average open rate in WhatsApp is an impressive 98%, compared with 22% for email campaigns. By personalizing interactions with customers, businesses can demonstrate that they value their customers and are willing to go above and beyond to meet their needs.
Affordable & Cost-Effective Customer Service Platform For Businesses
WhatsApp Business is a cost-effective marketing tool to reach your target audience than traditional advertising methods such as print or TV. Aside from being super affordable, according to an article by Sprout Social, customer support personnel are 50% more likely to interact with customers using messaging platforms than traditional methods.
Customer support personnel noted that messaging allows them to multitask, making them more efficient and productive while engaging with customers. As a result, using WhatsApp for customer support can lead to higher satisfaction rates and improved customer experiences.
Businesses can also customize their WhatsApp messages by replacing placeholders in templates with their company’s information. To personalize messages further, they can include dynamic variables using a double curly bracket numeric system – {{#}}. WhatsApp Business greeting message templates can effortlessly generate brand loyalty while reducing customer service efforts.
So, if you want to take your social media marketing strategy to the next level, don’t hesitate to integrate WhatsApp Business into your approach. Its cost-effective and personalized marketing solutions can help you stand out in a crowded market and achieve your business goals. Start exploring the benefits of WhatsApp Business today and see how it can help you grow your business.
About Kode Digital
We’re a digital marketing agency based in Malaysia with clients worldwide. We provide expertise in all things digital- from social media marketing, search engine optimization, graphic design, and website development-you name it, we have it.
As a Meta Business Partner, Kode Digital has access to exclusive tools and resources that can help our clients get the most out of Meta’s platforms. Our team stays up-to-date on the latest Meta marketing trends and best practices.
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