It is amazing how so many people, entrepreneurs particularly, do not know about WhatsApp Business. It is somehow similar to the ordinary WhatsApp you know at first glance. However, it has several additional features that are meant to enhance business communications. Let’s explore the use of WhatsApp Business for your business. I will pay special attention to valuable features such as the catalogue feature. By the end of this article, you should be inspired enough to have a WhatsApp Business account for your business.
How Significant Is WhatsApp Business?
WhatsApp Business is used by over 3 million enterprises globally. There are over 5 million active WhatsApp Business accounts. Some studies have shown that there is a significant improvement in engagement when WhatsApp Business is being used. WhatsApp Business gives a marked impression of credibility, especially for a business enterprise.
Installation
Getting and installing WhatsApp Business is very simple and straightforward. You get it from the app stores just like you do the usual WhatsApp. It’s a separate app so it will use its own unique number and there will be no conflicts with the other WhatsApp. Once you download it you install it the usual way you do – just remember it is strategic to use a contact number that you use for the business in setting up the account.
Brief Rundown Of The WhatsApp Business Features
On the basic profile, you can enter your type of business, operating hours, email address and URL for your business website.
The WhatsApp Business account has the following messaging tools namely, Away Message, Greeting Message, Quick Replies, Labels and Short Link. The first two entail automated messages that someone gets if they contact you when you are away or when welcoming new clients respectively. Quick replies enable you to reuse frequent messages whereas labels help you to organize your chats based on the different statuses of clients e.g. new customers, owing customers, pending customers and so on. The short link is shareable across any platforms thus enabling anyone to hit your WhatsApp inbox directly just clicking on the link.
The other features you are familiar with them from the usual WhatsApp that you know. Things like New Group, New Broadcast, WhatsApp Web, Starred Messages, and so on. The most interesting feature of WhatsApp Business is the Catalogue feature under Business Tools.
The Catalogue Feature
When you click on the three dots on the upper right corner you will see where it is written Business Tools. Click on that and on the second line you will see where it is written Catalogue. The Catalogue feature is all about showing your products and services.
Once you are there you will see where it gives you the option to add new items. When you click on add items or the plus sign you will see where you can enter the item’s name and also the price. If you click on the more fields you will see more fields namely, description, link and item code. By the way, you can add images at the top for the respective item – normally it is best to have several shots of the item from different angles. Once you are done saving all the details you click on Save at the far top right corner. Once you have entered all your items the Catalogue doorway will now be part of your profile and people can click on it.
Why You Should Leverage On The Catalogue Feature
With the way the catalogue feature is put together and the other additional features of WhatsApp Business, you can do business without a website. Mind you, I am not saying you should not have a website for the business – you should! All I am saying is that the catalogue feature makes your clients and prospective clients’ interactions with your WhatsApp Business account more engaging. It also saves on space and data usage. Remember that since you are a business people might be regularly asking for pictures of your products or services. Having to send them over and over again is not only boring but leads to more data and storage space being used. With the catalogue, people can simply access the images they want on your catalogue – a catalogue you would have created only once.
Especially given that most people have easy and cheap access to WhatsApp in general you must leverage on that. Download WhatsApp Business today and enjoy the convenience of cost-effective business management.
In closing, I would like to highlight the importance of making sure the data is secure. Of course WhatsApp Business boasts of end to end encryption – it does not cover all the bases though. Any backups of WhatsApp Business data that you make or are automatically made are not protected by that encryption. Let us also not forget that one can simply copy and paste or forward messages. As much as WhatsApp Business is great for business use it warily.
