DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, October 08, 2023 - Are you using WhatsApp for your business yet? If you are reading this then chances are that you are. If not, you're missing out on a powerful communication tool that can help you connect with customers and grow your business. WhatsApp has over 2 billion active users worldwide, and is one of the most popular messaging apps around. While most people associate it with personal use, there's more to it than meets the eye. In January 2018, WhatsApp introduced the WhatsApp Business app. It was developed especially for businesses with features that would help them engage with their customers and sell better.

To date, over 50 million businesses worldwide use the WhatsApp Business app. In this article, we'll explore five expert tips for maximizing your business potential on WhatsApp Business.

1. Set up your business profile correctly
Your WhatsApp Business profile is often the first point of contact customers will have with your business, so it's essential to set it up correctly. Complete your profile with a profile photo, business address, and working hours. Make sure your profile photo is clear, high-quality, and reflects your brand. Incomplete profiles or incorrectly scaled profile pictures are always a turnoff for customers — it gives them a sense that you are not serious about your business or its image.

Take the time to complete your profile and set it up right. Make an impression from the moment someone interacts with your WhatsApp account.

2. Use auto replies
One of our favorite features on WhatsApp Business is auto replies. Auto replies are a powerful feature of WhatsApp Business that can help you save time and improve customer satisfaction. You can use them to quickly acknowledge customer inquiries, respond to messages after work hours, and setup other operational messages that are suitable for your business. A simple "Thank you for contacting us, we have received your message and will get back to you very shortly" will go a long way in easing a customer's experience with your business.

Also, don't be robotic. Set up auto replies that reflect your brand's tone and voice, and make sure they're customized to the specific message. Where possible, try and be casual yet professional. Customers like to know they are interacting with something human rather than a robot.

Keep your messages short and clear
When communicating with customers on WhatsApp, it's important to keep your messages short and clear. Customers expect a quick and almost rapid fire style interaction with businesses on WhatsApp — unlike on emails for example. Using concise language and avoiding technical terms and jargon will also ensure that your message is easily understood by your customers.

Customers don't want to read long, complicated messages when a short and sweet message will suffice. So, keep it simple and to the point — don't turn your WhatsApp messages into a substitute for emails.

Use the catalogue feature to showcase your products or services
Whether you are a small business or a large service based organisation, you probably need to showcase your products and services. You want to make it easy for customers to find these products and services as well wherever a customer interaction occurs. Well, thankfully, WhatsApp Business offers a catalogue feature that allows you to showcase your products and services to potential customers. This feature is especially useful for businesses in the ecommerce or social commerce space. It allows you to list your products and provide customers with essential information, such as price, size, and color etc. You should also add images and descriptions to make your products stand out.

Take the time to setup your products properly with rich images and text descriptions. Make it as easy as possible for a customer to shop for your products through your WhatsApp catalogue.

Integrate with the WhatsApp Business API and leverage better business tools
As powerful as WhatsApp Business is, it comes with its limitations. For a growing business that wants more features, chatbots, multi-agent or multi-user setups, WhatsApp Business falls short. However, it's not the end of the road. Enter, WhatsApp Business API.

The WhatsApp Business API allows you to integrate productivity and chat tools on top of the solid WhatsApp communication platform. Apps like Moja, Intercom and the likes add extra rich features and workflows to help you provide better and stronger sales and support through WhatsApp.

Using the API, you can send messages to customers in a more personalized way, using templates and other tools to make your messages more engaging. You can also integrate directly with your other business tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, accounting application or support desk to manage your customer interactions and keep track of all your sales, marketing and support efforts.

Closing thoughts
WhatsApp Business is already the bloodline of millions of businesses around the world. It is an excellent tool for businesses of all sizes, and by using these five expert tips, you can maximize your business potential on WhatsApp. With its powerful features and widespread popularity, WhatsApp can help any business connect with customers and grow. Just start with these expert tips.

Beem offers an omni-channel communication platform that brings together USSD, Airtime, Mobile Payments, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook & Instagram channels to engage, verify, authenticate, notify or pay customers. Leverage our deep domain expertise, flexible platform and connectivity with mobile networks across the world to communicate with ease.

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