WhatsApp For Business – Effective Ways To Sell On WhatsApp In Nigeria

For entrepreneurs, WhatsApp for business is a very effective tool. According to a report by The Global State of Digital, at least 85% of the 24 million active social media users in Nigeria are on WhatsApp. Thus, making WhatsApp the most used social media platform in Nigeria. Hence, WhatsApp and WhatsApp for business are very valuable tools for entrepreneurs today.

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Nigeria has been the frontier of pioneering business activities using WhatsApp since 2017. Technology companies are using the Whatsapp API to improve their interaction with customers. Some e-commerce businesses are using WhatsApp for customer support. Chatbot functionality has also been integrating WhatsApp to improve customer engagement.

Many small business owners have reported experiencing more trust from people via WhatsApp than other social media platforms. This is because of the personalised approach that the Whatsapp platform adopts in customer interaction. This has led to an increase in sales from WhatsApp than Instagram and Facebook.

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WhatsApp for business was created for businesses to enable them to elevate customers’ experiences. Asides from enhancing communication, WhatsApp for businesses has added features that improve customer management. As an entrepreneur, WhatsApp for business also offers better credibility to your conversations than the regular WhatsApp.

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How To Set Up WhatsApp For Business

• Download WhatsApp for business from Google play store or IOs store. 
• Sign up using your phone number. Ensure that you use your business phone number, to enable easy verification.
• Create a profile by entering your business information. You can do this by going to Settings > Business Settings > Profile. Ensure you provide accurate information about your business and not your personal information.
• Set up the app to suit your business needs. The WhatsApp for business app offers a smart messaging tool feature, which enables you to save time by enabling customers to get a response when they message you. You will see three available options – Away message, Greeting message, and quick replies. You can set up each of these depending on your requirements.
• Set up automated messages – You can use the Away message when you are not able to respond to customers on time. You can choose to set up Away message when someone messages you outside of business hours or when you are on vacation. A Greeting message can be set up so customers automatically receive it when they message you for the first time or after 14 days of inactivity. Quick replies are useful when you want to set up frequently asked questions, set keywords, or want to exchange pleasantries.

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Effective Ways To Sell On WhatsApp In Nigeria

Now that you have set up Whatsapp for business, it is now time to use the platform effectively. You can use WhatsApp for business in a number of ways. The possibilities are endless. Here are some effective ways to sell using WhatsApp for Business in Nigeria:

Use WhatsApp Status Update

WhatsApp status is one of the most effective ways to market and share your products and services with your contacts without being intrusive. You don’t have to persuade your contacts to check out your updates. All you need do is share texts, photos, and videos via the WhatsApp status update feature. The status update disappears after 24 hours.

With the WhatsApp status update, you can be certain that the majority of your contacts will view products or services, and will contact you when they have the need for it. It is important to frequently update your WhatsApp status. This will ensure your products and services are constantly top of mind for your contacts when they have a need for it.

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Create Group Chats

WhatsApp group chats offer the opportunity for like-minded people to discuss specific issues. You can create group chats that interest your customers but still relate to your business. Use a group name that is generic and not your business name. This way, you can have a broad conversation about the things that interest your customers and, you chip in your business offering. For example, if you own a clothing line, you can create a group that offers tips on how people can up their style game. As the conversation progresses, you can then get them to buy your lovely outfits.

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One-on-one Support

One good reason to use WhatsApp for business is that you can easily offer personalised support to your customers. As customers send you queries, you can respond to them quickly. The platform also allows you to send photos, videos, and other documents to customers and vice-versa. This enables your clients to explain their issues clearer and you can also easily resolve them. WhatsApp users are real-time users, so they expect quick responses to their queries. Therefore, WhatsApp customer support should receive priority in your business processes.

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Label Your Conversations

Labels are useful when you are chatting with a large number of users. By labeling conversations, you can easily track customers. You can set up labels for your users and also for conversations. A good use case for labels is when you have a two-sided marketplace – say, suppliers and customers. You can label a conversation with a supplier as ‘Supplier’ and label a conversation with a customer as ‘New customer’.

Similarly, you can label chats, based on the theme of the conversation. This will enable you to easily keep tabs of your conversation. To add a new label, tap on the menu button on a chat conversation, and then tap on New Label. Enter the text for the label and tap on Save.

Send Out Updates

With WhatsApp for business, you can send out periodic updates related to your business. You can send updates about a new product or service launch to all new and prospective customers. You can also send frequent updates about your products or services, so you are top of mind when they need your solution.

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Create Promotion And Special Offers

With WhatsApp for Business, you can create promotions and offers for your customers, to keep them engaging with your brand. You can creatively make promotions that inspire customers to use your brand and then collaborate with another company to give some form of reward.

For example, Colgate created a campaign where they invited people to send selfies of their smiles to a WhatsApp phone number. This phone number was printed on the toothpaste packaging. To incentivize people, they said that the winners would be styled by the brand ambassador, Sonam Kapoor’s stylist.

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Create Broadcast Lists

You can send messages to a large number of people at once by creating a broadcast list. This helps you save the time it will have taken to send these messages one-by-one. Broadcast lists are currently limited to 256 contacts. When sharing broadcasts, your aim should be to share content that is interesting enough to be reshared. People like content that’s creative, interesting and that tells a story. If they like your content, there are high chances that they will share it.

WhatsApp is a powerful communication tool. It is easy-to-use and cost-effective. WhatsApp marketing is also unique because like a canvas you can creatively decide how to use it to your advantage. It is however important that you are consistent and that you try different formulas to see what works for you.

 Are you using WhatsApp for Business? Please share your experience in the comment section below.

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