With over more than 2 billion active users across 180 countries, WhatsApp has emerged as a leader in the area of messaging. From a simple messaging platform to connect friends and family, WhatsApp has evolved into a potential medium for businesses to engage with clients. For this simple reason, businesses are exploring avenues to expand customer outreach using WhatsApp.
“As per a YouGov survey, 33% users preferred WhatsApp as they didn’t need to wait for long to get their queries answered as they used to while raising tickets on the business’ website.”
WhatsApp and its Relevance for Market
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging application across the world. There’s no doubt that a significant number of people are spending a lot of their time using WhatsApp.
“An average WhatsApp user spends 19.4 hours or roughly 38 minutes/ day using WhatsApp.”
It is one of the only applications widely famous among users of all age groups.
So why is WhatsApp a preferred choice for customers to interact with businesses? Let’s understand.
1. Accessibility
An agnostic platform, WhatsApp can be installed on almost every device from Apple, Android, Windows etc.
2. Unlimited Messaging
An unprecedented opportunity for real-time engagement with anyone, anywhere across the world, at any time.
3. Affordability
A free to download application which has made once very expensive international calls cheaper. With the global nature of modern living Whatsapp is a popular choice for people to get in touch.
4. Group Messaging
The value of WhatsApp group messaging option enables communities and businesses to keep a track on activities. It not only saves time but reduces effort when reaching a broader audience in a shorter time span.
5. Business Benefits
39% of users prefer WhatsApp as a channel for Customer Service, while 23% use it to receive promotional offers on WhatsApp. The chart below indicates users preference for Whatsapp for various reasons:
“As per a report by Mailchimp, Emails & SMS, despite their popularity, have open rates of 21.33%. Click-through rates are even less, with just 2-5% of people clicking on the links provided in the mail.”
However, in contrast to emails & SMS, WhatsApp open rate is 98%, meaning that out of every 100 messages sent 98 messages are read. This is because of WhatsApp’s popularity as a messenger application, with over 2.2 billion global users worldwide.
Businesses have built-up on this massive popularity of WhatsApp with WhatsApp chatbots. Many businesses are turning to WhatsApp Chatbot to provide 24x7x365 customer service. In essence, WhatsApp Chatbot keeps your businesses running all the time. It’s a great way of answering repetitive queries without the need for agent intervention.
What is WhatsApp Chatbot?
WhatsApp chatbot is a programme or software which is used on the WhatsApp platform for conversational marketing and client solutions. The chatbot is powered by a defined set of rules, designed to engage in conversation with humans over chat.
“In 2020, 67% of people relied on Chatbot support for customer care on WhatsApp. Even WHO used WhatsApp Chatbot to disperse critical information & solutions related to Covid-19 worldwide.”
A WhatsApp chatbot is simply a software program which runs on the encrypted WhatsApp platform and allows your customers to communicate with your business through the ease and familiarity of WhatsApp messages.
Advantages of WhatsApp Chatbot
An intelligence report by Business Insider reports that sectors such as healthcare, banking & retail will save $11 Bn due to Chatbot automation as it’ll reduce administrative burden.
Here are a few advantages of WhatsApp chatbot integration which prove it to be the future of WhatsApp marketing:
1. Automated Replies
The chatbot integration with whatsapp enables instant customer engagement. The Ai-driven bot can address repetitive queries and resolve them without intervention from a human agent. Apart from keeping customers engaged, it reduces wait times and enhances customer experience.
2. Enhanced Customer Service
The WhatsApp business bot is integrable with CRM, ERP, and other business systems enabling seamless communication between the two parties. With a WhatsApp chatbot, enterprises can improve upon customer service by:
- Sending reminders, alerts, and notifications
- Responding to customer’s complaints and queries in real-time
- Helping customers to explore products
- Gathering customer feedback and more
3. Optimum Ease of Access
Chatbot integration with WhatsApp eliminates the need for customers to download a separate application or visit any other official website. Customers have to simply via a chatbot for WhatsApp just as they chat with any other contact on the app. If the chatbot, in any case fails to resolve a customer query, it can be diverted to a human resource to resolve.
4. Improved Advertising Opportunities
A lot of businesses especially post the pandemic rely upon WhatsApp chatbots to redefine their customer experience and promote their products and services.The WhatsApp chatbot platform helps businesses in offering personalized recommendations to customers by analyzing their historical data and previous purchases. With WhatsApp chatbot integration, companies can automate their repetitive marketing tasks, thus helping the sales and marketing teams to focus more on lead generation.
5. Expanded Outreach
The WhatsApp chatbot integration can scale customer engagement like never before. It offers an opportunity for businesses to connect with billions of potential customers on their preferred messaging app even without a live agent. With personalized conversations and 24*7 availability, businesses can offer instant services and that too at reduced costs.
What is WhatsApp CRM Integration?
Whether you are running a small business or have established a niche for yourself in the market, WhatsApp integration with CRM is something that can benefit all organizations cutting across their size and market reach.
A WhatsApp CRM integration enables you to send messages to your prospects and customers directly via your CRM. It ensures two-way communication with your customers. The additional feature of various multimedia attachments in your conversations can make query resolution more personalized and efficient.
Benefits of WhatsApp CRM Integration
The combination of WhatsApp and CRM can help organizations leverage the data already contained in their CRM and reap more benefits, like:
1. Seamless communications
The WhatsApp CRM integration allows agents to label customers enabling them to understand the stage at which customer is in the interaction journey, giving agents the space to tailor communications accordingly.
2. Improved Internal Communications
The integration enhances seamless communication with prospects and customers, breaks down departmental silos, and improves communication within your company.
3. Ease in Collecting Customer Feedback
Automated links sent after completion of an order can request customer feedback without any hassle. Taking action on the feedback collected can leave an impression that customers are being heard and improve retention rates.
4. Enhanced Lead Conversions
Automated links sent after completion of an order can request customer feedback without any hassle. Taking action on the feedback collected can leave an impression that customers are being heard and improve retention rates.
4. Improved Customer Support
Customers do not have to frustrate themselves about the status of their queries and follow up multiple times. Quick and timely updates on tickets, their status, and resolution keep customers informed throughout.
Watch Demo Video: Learn to Leverage WhatsApp for Customer Service with Conversational AI
How to Use CRM with WhatsApp Integration?
With WhatsApp and CRM integration, you can consolidate your efforts and deliver outstanding customer service through a single channel. This integration also helps drive sales and achieve a higher customer retention rate. CRM integration with Whatsapp is most commonly used for customer care. Customers can get responses to their queries 24X7 enabling organizations to:
1. Resolves customer queries faster and in a more personalized manner.
2. Establishing instant connection with customers.
3. Offering customers a choice to communicate on a channel they prefer.
Using an integrated WhatsApp and CRM system is quite simple. All you need is a registered WhatsApp account and integrate it with your CRM. Anytime you receive a message from WhatsApp, the same would land in the CRMs sales pipeline. Thus, from the CRM, agents can start chatting with prospects and address their queries.
5 Things to Consider Before Opting for WhatsApp CRM Integration
There’s no doubt that WhatsApp CRM integration can make your agents work more efficiently, provide better customer service, boost customer retention, drive loyalty and help your business grow. There are, however, specific points you need to be mindful of before jumping right into it.
1. Registering WhatsApp API numbers
An API account is different from the standard WhatsApp personal or business account. The critical difference between an API account and the regular one is that the former can be created using mobile and registered landline numbers. Ensure you get a valid phone number for creating this WhatsApp API account.
2. Messaging Restrictions
Sending messages to customers and connections is only possible if the other person has agreed to opt-in. For this reason, WhatsApp API asks for first receiving this opt-in permission from the customer in question. So before integrating your CRM with this chat tool, ensure you are familiar with this condition.
3. Compliance with Data Privacy Laws
To protect sensitive user information, it’s crucial that you adhere to WhatsApp business policies. To sum up, they include:
- No sharing of customer details with others.
- No request for financial, personal, or health-related details.
- You take complete responsibility for collecting & using the customer data.
- Information collected is used for only customer support purposes.
4. CRMs offering WhatsApp integrations
It would help if you considered the compatibility of your CRM for WhatsApp integration. Many CRMs in the market today offer WhatsApp integration. Though CRMs vary, the benefits of integrating them with WhatsApp are mainly similar.
5. WhatsApp Business
Another prerequisite for integrating your choice of CRM with WhatsApp is the WhatsApp Business API. Access to the WhatsApp Business API requires applying to WhatsApp themselves for an API account and then getting approved. The best way to apply for access is via a WhatsApp business service provider (BSP). You may apply directly through WhatsApp’s parent company, the Facebook developer’s page. The process is, however, long and tedious.
What Distinguishes a Whatsapp Chatbot from Other Platforms?
The primary factor which gives WhatsApp chat bot an edge over other platforms is its familiarity. Since people are already using the messaging app widely, customers are not faced with the hassle of familiarizing themselves with a new platform. Here are some of the reasons why WhatsApp Chatbot platform should be your choice of business:
1. Multi-action Engagement
WhatsApp chatbot allows users to take actions depending upon the conversational flow. Right from browsing to making purchases to raising tickets, users have access to multiple touchpoints through the chatbot for their business. This allows companies to attract and retain customers through the power of conversational marketing and engagement.
2. Ease of Delivery
WhatsApp chatbot can be utilized for a better product delivery experience too. It can eliminate the hassle of searching for an address. This is an added advantage to eCommerce businesses. Customers can share their location on the chat making the delivery process easier and faster.
3. Multimedia Attachments
Businesses can leverage WhatsApp chatbots to answer customer queries in a more engaging manner via different multimedia attachments like audio, video, images, text, documents, location, contact information etc. This could be one way of making conversations personalized as well.
4. Lead Generation
The simplicity of starting a conversation on WhatsApp compared to other platforms makes lead generation that much easier as well. Once a conversation begins on WhatsApp, the business receives the customer’s name and phone number immediately, allowing for personalized communication that sees strangers converted to customers. Using a WhatsApp Business API, businesses can create a verified profile which then automates the process of reaching potential new customers.
Wrap up
If you’re looking to serve your customers in the most efficient ways, WhatsApp chatbots can be an incredible asset to your ecommerce business. Apart from personalizing their experiences and offering round the clock support, it can also reduce the immense pressure on your customer support team, so that they can better assist your customers on more complex queries than on repetitive FAQs. One of the greatest advantages of WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business chatbots is that it can help build a stable and long-term relationship with your customers without them having to seek you out on different channels. Upon the development of a user-friendly chatbot, businesses can enjoy the benefits of a loyal audience base and higher engagement offered by WhatsApp.
