WhatsApp for Business

Benefits of using WhatsApp over Email or SMS

Email open rates are typically low for most businesses, averaging around 10 per cent. This means that a large portion of customers who could be interested in your product or service may never see your email announcements or offers.

Additionally, the limited word count and structure of SMS can make it difficult to create personalised content that would encourage customers to visit your store and make a purchase.

• 10x increase in ROI over email, in-app push notifications, and SMS messages
• 57% clickthrough rate with WhatsApp
• 1.7x more likely that customers will purchase when using WhatsApp

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One of the great things about WhatsApp Business API is that it allows you to automate some of your communication.

For example, you can set up automated messages to welcome new customers or send automatic reminders for appointments or events.

This can save you a lot of time and allow you to stay in touch with your customers without manually sending out each message.

Difference between WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp has developed two ways for small and large businesses to interact with customers.

1. WhatsApp Business App caters for small businesses with a one device limit; in contrast, WhatsApp Business App caters for larger organisations with a team of 2 people or more.
2. Setting up the WhatsApp Business app is as simple as downloading the app from the Google play store; however, to set up WhatsApp business API, one has to use a provider like Brrng in Kenya.
3. You can only send a message at a time to your WhatsApp business APP, but on the WhatsApp Business API, you can send a message to over 1,000 opted-in users.

Potential use cases in Africa.

Social E-commerce

Conventional e-commerce models typically involve a website as the primary interface between customers and businesses.

However, this doesn't need to be the case anymore. With conversational commerce, customers can now enjoy personal guidance and assistance with their concerns and product choices.

This end-to-end conversational commerce experience helps customers feel valued and heard, which in turn can help drive additional revenue.

Education

With chatbots that are automated through WhatsApp, the cost of education is reduced, and expensive resources are freed up to create new content and learning paths.

Organisations can use videos, pictures, and text to create a novel learning environment that engages and interests students with tools they are already familiar with.

Money

Banking halls may be a thing of the past, but customers still want to be able to access and control their money.

WhatsApp provides a more efficient and effective way to do this by allowing customers to perform their KYC, submit requested documents and details, and then apply for a new loan, deposit, withdraw or request a statement.

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