Don’t say no!
For a seller, the most intuitive way of reaching out to prospective buyers is to be where they are, so that they can see, hear, interact and communicate instantly.
This is not a new marketing strategy. Just very obvious and easy to implement through WhatsApp chat these days.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world today with around 2 billion users who use it for both personal and business purposes.
So how can you not be selling on the social messaging platform that the whole world is embracing?
Why WhatsApp?
- The popular app is free, easy to use and has the highest penetration among users worldwide. These factors make it easy for any seller to reach out and connect with a large audience through chats, images and videos.
- It is easy to use allowing text, images and video. It therefore lends itself comfortably to advertising, providing customer service, support and even selling products/ services.
- WhatsApp messages can be shared very easily. Every text, image or video can be instantly shared by the user with their friends and family. Such rapid propagation can only be beneficial for the merchant!
- It has a comfortable conversational style of communication that helps establish a rapport with prospective clients. Perfect for offering assistance and customer support to shoppers while they are completing a transaction.
- WhatsApp’s personalized communication and interactions with potential buyers help build trust and relationships that are more likely to convert in the near term.
- User data privacy is secured by WhatsApp thanks to end-to-end encryption. This feature makes it safe for customers or businesses to communicate with each other.
- Single Checkout Link is a powerful introduction by Shopmatic that completely transforms selling on chat. Now there is no need for a retailer or business selling through WhatsApp or other chat channels to message back and forth with customers for information on each product, shipping details and payment details. The Single Checkout Link allows this to be done with one linked message by the merchant, and therefore closing the sale easily. It’s like giving superpowers to your sales!
- Moreover, WhatsApp is free of cost and can be a great start for those wishing to start a business on limited resources.
- WhatsApp users can communicate with one another either one-on-one or through group chats (upto 256 members). Apart from this, one can also do Broadcast messaging which basically allows you to send the message across to anyone who has your number saved in their phones’ address book.
Broadcast Messaging vs Chat Groups
Broadcast Messaging
The Broadcast messaging tool on WhatsApp comes in handy when you are sending an identical message to multiple recipients. You could perhaps be advertising a product or sending across interesting information regarding an upcoming sale or event to a bunch of prospective clients through this tool.
The advantage of this tool is that you are able to send out the message to all participants in one shot. This helps you, the sender saves time. Moreover, the message will appear in your recipient’s chat as a private message and his response can only be read by the sender.
Yes, Broadcasting messages over WhatsApp is simple but use it with caution because you certainly do not want any prospective customer to get overwhelmed and annoyed by your many messages and block you. Choose the communication wisely and make sure that what you are sending across is relevant and makes sense.
For e.g. Rather than sending the same messages to your entire contact list, it would be a smart move to categorize your prospective customers according to their transaction history or even their stage of interest and interaction regarding your product. Make a few such groups and send them relevant and interesting content over broadcast messages. This has proved to be an effective and impactful strategy to generate interest and increase sales.
Group Chats
There is also the alternative of communicating with a group of people through group chats. This also helps save time by addressing many recipients at the same time. All participants receive the message and are able to communicate and read each other’s responses and reactions at the same time.
Such simultaneous communication however could be a disadvantage if confidentiality is a concern. All participants of the group may or may not know each other and hence when you create a group, privacy issues can crop up in terms of their contact information being exposed!
WhatsApp Business Accounts
Such an account is not mandatory but very useful and free. Recommended for small businesses to facilitate impactful communication and optimize sales.
All it needs is a separate registration and phone number, but the benefits of keeping your personal and business communication separate make it worthwhile.
Having WhatsApp Business Accounts can be very useful for small retailers and businesses, especially those that don’t have an online presence or a website. The business app comes with a series of enhanced features that can aid your professional image and perform more efficiently.
Some Useful Features
The app can create a Business Profile for you with information like business description, location, etc.
It also has a Catalogue feature that can showcase your goods.
There is also a Quick Response feature in the app that helps you automate, sort, and plan instant responses to customer queries and messages (a bit like the FAQ facility).
The Labeling function helps with organization by segregating various groups according to your specific requirements.
Moreover, the use of the business account number would help reduce your load by allowing others in the organisation to also respond to messages on behalf of your business. The app also allows you to create a messaging schedule for sending out content to your contacts- privately or in groups. This helps in getting more organized and improves your operational efficiency and productivity.
Be it chatting with the prospective customer or sharing relevant and helpful information and even offering customer support, it’s easy and fast. It enables you to personally connect with the customer. Notifications about shipping and payment matters can also be communicated through this channel.
Shopmatic has made this even more uniquely special by introducing a powerful Single Checkout Link that allows merchants to share a single product from the Shopmatic app to Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, or any other social channels. Multiple buyers can tap and open the checkout link and place orders.
In Summary
- To reach out to new audiences and grow the brand and business, the merchant needs to be creative and constantly look out for new ways to interact and communicate with prospective buyers.
- One easy and effective strategy is to embrace meeting prospective customers through channels that they frequent like WhatsApp and then reach out and establish direct communication with them.
- Through this easy conversational tool, the merchant can help customers during the purchase phase and even provide support and service to enhance the customer experience.
- Such personalized service can help increase customer loyalty and drive revenue growth over the longer term.
So there you have it!
For long term benefits in customer relationship building, embrace selling on WhatsApp and other chat channels.
“Make a customer, not a sale”. ~ Katherine Barchetti
