Introduction
If you’re looking for a new way to engage your customers, look no further than WhatsApp. This messaging app is the reigning king of social media, with 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide. As a retailer, you can use it to drive engagement with your brand and even growth for your business.
How social media has changed customer engagement.
In the past, customer service was a much more personal experience. You would call up your insurance provider or bank, and a person on the other end of the phone would help you with whatever issue you were having. Nowadays, social media has made it easier for brands to provide customer support by making their products more accessible to customers than ever before. In fact, customers are more likely to share their experiences with a brand via social media than they are through traditional methods like phone calls or face-to-face interactions (HubSpot).
Social media also makes it easier for businesses to listen in on customer feedback so that they can improve upon their products and services as time goes on. Businesses can use this feedback from both positive and negative reviews in order to improve themselves without having multiple phone lines open 24/7 just so people can complain about something small during regular business hours (HubSpot).
Why WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is a top-tier social media platform, with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide and a high level of engagement. It’s also free and highly effective for customer service.
In fact, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular tools for customer service in retail: it was used by 43% of top retailers in 2017.
How messaging is different from other social channels.
Have you ever wondered why WhatsApp has become so popular? You could argue that it’s due to its simplicity, or the fact that it’s free, or the fact that it works across different platforms. But there are other reasons too. People love messaging because of the way it makes them feel.
Messaging is personal, intimate and immediate; these are three ways in which it differs from other social channels like Facebook or Twitter.
- Personal – When someone takes the time to message you on WhatsApp they’re saying “I want to talk with you.” It’s not an automated message (like a push notification) or an impersonal post that they’ve written in advance (like a tweet). And because messages are limited in size – unlike Facebook posts – you get more detail about what someone is thinking at any given moment: “Hi” vs “Hey! How did your flight go?” vs “@you I saw the coolest thing!”
- Intimate – The intimacy of messaging can be heightened when using endearments (e.g., ‘honey’ instead of ‘dear’), by showing emotion through punctuation marks such as exclamation points or question marks (e.g., exclaiming something exciting!), by using emojis & stickers which convey humor & tone better than words alone would do
How to use social messaging to drive business growth.
With WhatsApp, you can send out a range of marketing messages to your customers. This includes information about new products or deals, as well as customer service news.
You can also use the app to send out information about your product or service. This might be something simple like an FAQs document that answers questions about how it works and how it’s used. It could also take the form of an image or video demonstrating how to use it properly.
Your brand could benefit from sending out its own news updates via WhatsApp too – for example, announcing new hires within the company or sharing exciting developments happening behind closed doors (you never know when someone might want to apply). You may even consider sending newsletters through the social messaging app’s chat function rather than via email – this way they arrive instantly without being lost in spam filters!
WhatsApp is uniquely powerful because of its huge user base.
WhatsApp is uniquely powerful because of its huge user base. The app has over 1.5 billion users, making it the most popular messaging app in the world. It’s also the most popular messaging app in the UK and US, with about 100 million monthly active users in both countries combined (Facebook Messenger comes a close second).
The importance of timeliness in customer engagement.
Customer engagement is all about responsiveness. First impressions are important, but timeliness is the key to building trust and loyalty with your customers.
The best way to engage with your customers is by being transparent, authentic and empathetic. In an age where fake news abounds in the media, authenticity goes a long way toward building relationships with your audience. The same is true for social media: if you want to build trust among your followers and potential customers, be yourself!
If you’re looking for ways to drive customer engagement on social media platforms like WhatsApp or Instagram—or any other platform where people interact with brands—you could do worse than following these basic rules:
- Be responsive
- Be timely 3) Be personal 4) Be transparent 5 ) Be trustworthy 6 ) Be consistent 7 ) Empathize 8 ) Authentic 9 ).
You can use WhatsApp as part of your overall social media strategy to drive growth for your brand.
You can use WhatsApp as part of your overall social media strategy to drive growth for your brand. For example:
- To drive customer loyalty, add value by providing helpful content that is relevant to your target audience. This could be training videos or industry news updates. You can also use this platform to do something more personal like asking them about their favorite products and offering them exclusive discounts on those items.
- To drive customer retention, use this channel as a way to keep in touch with loyal customers who have purchased from you before so they don’t feel like they are forgotten about after the sale has been made. You could send out polls or surveys asking how they are enjoying the product and what else they would like from you in the future (and then actually listen!). It’s important that these messages come across as genuine though so make sure that when sending out any form of automated message (like an automated survey), include some kind of personalization within it such as ‘Hey John! We ran into each other at the store last week — hope all is well!’ You can also use this platform as another way to provide value by helping customers get involved with community projects such as fundraising drives or charity events if that fits into your brand mission statement
Conclusion
WhatsApp is a powerful tool when it comes to driving engagement with your retail brand. It can enhance customer experiences, encourage conversations and even help build stronger relationships on the back of shared interests and values.
In this guide, we’ve outlined all the ways WhatsApp is uniquely positioned to improve both your customers’ experience and your business growth—and how you can start taking advantage of it right now.
