Why do customers prefer instant messaging? The growth of WhatsApp Business Platform

If you want to generate more relevant conversations in your business, you are in the right place. In this article, you will find the definition of instant messaging system and why consumers prefer it.

Like any good story, let’s talk about messaging from the beginning and introduce some concepts.

The history of messaging

Before Instant Messaging (IM), there were emails and old chat rooms that precede the current transmissions of text and multimedia content shared through the Internet in real-time.
Due to the explosion of social networks and the growing emergence of different applications for mobile devices, instant messaging has displaced the oldest form of online communication: text messaging (SMS) managed by operators.

This traditional form of communication has faded into the background now that instant messaging has been established itself as the first and cheapest form of online communication.

It’s been just over the last decade that electronic messaging systems have radically changed the way we keep in touch and communicate.

We can see it in our day-to-day routine: we use messaging apps to talk to our family and friends. So, when we need to connect with a business, it makes sense that we want the same convenient experience.

In this regard, the WhatsApp Business Platform is excellent. This tool allows companies to interact with customers in a personalized way, without giving up the controls and data analysis that business technology requires.

With this version, it is possible to foster existing relationships with customers and extend the reach to new audiences through the same channel.

What are the reasons behind the growth of messaging?

According to a survey, 53% of respondents preferred to communicate with customer service via text message. The popularity of messaging accelerates more and more, which is the main reason for the growth of messaging.

Moreover, the influence of new generations on the market also positively affects the reach and evolution of messaging, since it makes them the main audience for companies.

he use of messaging for government communications through WhatsApp API chatbots has also made an impact. In fact, during the pandemic, governments from different countries have turned to this tool to create chatbots that inform about health precautions.

And it is that, an event impossible to separate from the growth of messaging is the arrival of Covid-19.

The recent pandemic has contributed to the implementation of the Internet for everything. And with it, there has been an increase in the use of WhatsApp since it has helped to overcome social distancing. The global impact of the pandemic has vastly accelerated messaging trends for people and businesses.

In the range of options, there are many communication channels for users to choose when they seek to connect with a company, but studies point to one channel that stands among the others.

According to a poll, 68% of the users surveyed (Motivations and Mindsets in Messaging, Sentient Decision Science, 2018) considered that WhatsApp is the easiest method to contact a company. What this tells us is that commercial messages are displacing traditional communication channels.

Whatsapp Business Platform has made it possible for businesses to stay connected with their customers through its many features.

So if people must spend time apart, WhatsApp will continue to provide a simple, reliable, and secure way to communicate.

Want to know more? Let´s talk via WhatsApp!

What can you do with all the messaging potential in Whatsapp Business Platform?

Guess what? There is a world waiting for you behind the classic green icon of the most famous chat application in history!

WhatsApp Business Platform is your gateway to new tools that attract new customers and retain existing ones. Thanks to communication automation strategies, your company will save valuable time and resources.

The features of this business solution are specially designed for scalable communication with customers. Let’s review some points to make the most of the WhatsApp Business Platform’s messaging potential.

WhatsApp Business Platform to increase the business value of messaging and conversations

We mentioned it before: thanks to the new technologies available, the possibility of increasing the engagement of your company and offering a personalized customer experience has become a reality.
Unlike the way people and businesses used to communicate in the past, WhatsApp Business Platform seeks to connect them using enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Added to the latter are the ticketing platforms and solutions of the so-called ´call centers´.

Little by little, the vision of call centers is changing and beginning to be called “Contact Centers” (contact centers). Within this framework, service agents can migrate to chat customer support.

The potential uses are clear: a specialized agent can handle more conversations per hour via chat than phone calls. Even more, the users have a better experience sending messages, allowing them to start connections without waiting long hours.

Notably, businesses can also choose to add the chatbot feature through a business service provider like WOZTELL.

Watch over every stage of the customer journey and increase your sales

As a multi functional platform, it would be pointless for WhatsApp Business Platform to focus only on customer expectations without thinking about benefits that support operational objectives.

An ideal messaging platform like WhatsApp Business Platform offers businesses a higher return on investment (ROI) by improving the entire customer journey, but how is this achieved?

Why do customers prefer messaging? The growth of WhatsApp Business Platform
  • Extending brand awareness to a popular engagement channel.
  • Enabling more natural and practical communications with customers.
  • Meeting expectations.
  • Providing good customer service to open up opportunities for re-engagement after purchases.
Paying attention to the customer journey creates more sales opportunities and drives higher satisfaction and retention of your customers, which increases the efficiency of your company.

Take care of your reputation using opt-in strategies on WhatsApp Business Platform

WhatsApp has clear guidelines that messages have to apply to, and precisely some of its requirements apply to the opt-in processes. This is the first step in order to begin messaging someone.

What is opt-in?

It is the authorization users give to receive messages from a company through WhatsApp. These authorizations are a WhatsApp prerequisite for a company to be able to send proactive messages to users of the platform.
The acquisition of consent is crucial.
People are more diligent about sharing their information with businesses nowadays, so implementing a bad messaging strategy that mishandles customer data can damage reputations.

47% of smartphone users use ad blockers, and 35% use browser extensions to protect their privacy.

With WhatsApp Business Platform, you can take care of your reputation by obtaining the consent from your customers to maintain conversations based on data protection. The built-in transparency of this platform gives customers confidence knowing that their communication preferences are being respected.

How to make the most of messaging

As we are going to see, thanks to WhatsApp Business, companies can simplify multiple operations and access a series of tools that will allow them to optimize them.

Let’s look at some tips to get into messaging.

Provide more human messages

With WhatsApp Business Platform you can create predefined messages.

The platform offers you the possibility of creating messages with your own personal style of language. You can use them from the first greeting to the closing of a sale. By doing so, you can build a much more honest relationship with each user.

Why do customers prefer messaging? The growth of WhatsApp Business Platform

Chatbots with personality

One way to make the most of WhatsApp Business Platform is configuring automatic messages that answer on the spot. To do this, you can build a chatbot to become the intelligent digital image of your company and thus obtain total control of your communication with customers.

Each chatbot action goes according to the brand’s personality, so nothing should be left to chance. This will generate greater trust among customers and shape the company ID.

Crear links de WhatsApp

One of the most interesting features offered by WhatsApp Business Platform is the creation of direct links to open a conversation so that customers can contact the company without having to save the phone number.

This is by locating a wa.me link or by using a QR code to direct users to open a WhatsApp conversation.

Lo puedes conseguir al colocar un enlace wa.me o usando un código QR que dirige a los usuarios a abrir una conversación de WhatsApp.

Take it from us

Nearly 80% of consumers say that speed, convenience, expert help, and friendly service are the most important elements in creating customer experiences that build lasting and meaningful connections.

With WhatsApp Business Platform, you can customize instant messaging, automation flows and bots in a platform such as WOZTELL (and for free cool ). By doing so, you will create memorable customer experiences.

Get your free WhatsApp Business API number to take your conversations to the next level.