Dear Entrepreneur,
As a small or medium business owner, it is important that you employ various marketing strategies to ensure success in your business. Generating sales is the lifeblood of your business and without it, your business quickly dies. Although there are several options open to you, WhatsApp is a great tool to use as part of your marketing strategy. WhatsApp is a cross-platform app that has a large user base. This app allows users to communicate with each other without needing to pay for SMS. The question then is, can WhatsApp be used to drive sales? In this article, we will discuss some simple tips on how you can use WhatsApp to drive sales and grow your business.
Why Use Whatsapp?
WhatsApp is a conversational platform that has become a resounding succcess story with up to 10 billion active users monthly. On Whatsapp you get to develop personal relationships with your customers/clients and it can also serve as an affordable marketing tool to drive sales. The following are some tips for utilising WhatsApp as a marketing tool:
Customer Relationship Building
You can use WhatsApp to stay in touch with your customers and build relationships. This can be done by creating a business profile on WhatsApp. You will be required to upload a profile photo and create a description of your company, including the services you provide and what distinguishes them, as well as any other information that will help potential clients get to know you better. It is important to include your contact information (phone number, email address), as well as an easy-to-find link to your website or social media profiles, where interested users can learn more about what you do and how to hire you.
Ensure that you add your customers to your WhatsApp contact list. This will allow you to easily stay in touch with them and build strong relationships. You can also send them important updates about your products or services, as well as special offers and discounts.
Promotions
Through the ‘Broadcast’ feature and ‘Status’ feature, you can let your customers know about the products and services that you are offering. You can plan an attractive promotional campaign to offer different discount schemes or freebies and establish your brand identity in the market. WhatsApp will allow you to send messages to a large number of customers at once. This will primarily help customers connect with your brand and help build brand recognition.
Personalized Messages
You can use WhatsApp to send personal messages. Personalizing your messages will help you gain the attention of your target audience and keep them engaged on WhatsApp. This is a great way to build relationships with your customers. You can add a personal touch to your messages by adding a photo or image that represents who you are, such as an emoji. These personalized messages will help in providing updates on sales, sending reminders about upcoming events and when answering customers’ questions.
Market/Consumer Research
You can use WhatsApp to carry out quick research about your products or services. Through the relationship you build with customer, you can also get feedbacks on areas of your business where you need to adjust or improve. Ultimately, you can channel the information received to change some offerings or to develop and promote specific products and services.
Online Store/Catalog
For small businesses that do not have a website yet, you can use WhatsApp to create an online store or catalog to showcase your products or services. This WhatsApp feature allows you to add up to 500 items to your catalog. Your prospective customers can then browse through your catalog and show interest or buy from you. You can use this catalog to display items that are on sale or discounted items. You can also create links to items in your catalog which you can share to your customers. Enabling the Cart feature within your catalog can help customers complete purchases within the app.
Engaging Content
You can also use WhatsApp to create engaging contents for your target audience. Within the content, ensure you use lead magnets and irresistible offers to sell your product services. The more engagements you have, the more conversions for you and ultimately, more sales.
Communication With Your Team
Aside using WhatsApp to engage with customers, it is a great avenue to pass messages quickly to your team members. Your team members can be engaged to interact with customers as well as promote the business.
Want To Get Started?
In order to achieve all the above, you need to take the first step to download the WhatsApp Business App for free. You will then set up your business profile as well as your catalog. Use your other social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook to drive traffic to your WhatsApp and build your contact list through lead magnets. After doing all of these, regularly create engaging (educative or entertaining) content and provide value to your audience. Providing value is as important as creating irresistible offers. And most importantly, your customer service must be topnotch.
Parting Thoughts
WhatsApp can be a great tool for your business. It is important to note that WhatsApp should not a replacement for your website or email marketing campaigns. It is simply another way to reach out and interact with your customers. It helps you to follow up with your customers and ensures that you get high conversion rates in your business. If you’re looking for some inspiration on how to use WhatsApp, the best way is by trying it yourself and seeing what works best for your business.
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