Irk less, engage more: How brands can do business on WhatsApp

Marketers are always finding new ways to go where the customer is, and all roads lead to WhatsApp in the age of cheap data and smartphones.

The social messaging platform WhatsApp has emerged as a growing space for brands to reach and communicate with consumers. With over 400 million active users in India, it is the biggest messaging platform in the country. 

Marketers have begun to use it to reach out to consumers for various reasons whether to keep them updated about their service or to re-communicate, after the post-purchase cycle.

That being said, it's also a platform used primarily for personal communication. Can it be a great channel for brands to talk to consumers? Can they exploit the platform's full potential without being intrusive to the users? Experts share their two cents.

An engagement tool

WhatsApp can be a great re-engagement tool for consumers, says Ram Deshpande, Senior Vice President & Head of Marketing at Lendingkart Technologies. “We use it as a primary channel for re-engagement. For a business loan, our application submission to disbursal is a zero-touch digital process. This can be done via WhatsApp if the customer so wishes. Our target customers are small businesses across the country. Over the last couple of years, our customers have shown a higher inclination to communicate over WhatsApp. We have responded accordingly.”

Even Meta is quite upbeat about the opportunities WhatsApp presents to businesses. Ravi Garg, Director - of Business Messaging, India ⋅ Meta, said, “In a survey in 2022, over 70% of online adults in India said they prefer messaging rather than emails or calls.  (Source: Kantar online survey commissioned by Meta -  April 2022 ). We’re seeing a lot of momentum, with WhatsApp transforming interactions between people and businesses. WhatsApp is now open for businesses of all sizes in India. And Messaging represents a big opportunity for businesses to drastically improve their customer service, commerce, and more. We see WhatsApp as the future of how people and businesses will communicate and get business done – and with more than that. We think with business messaging, we have another role to play in the next phase of the country's digital transformation.”

The issue of privacy

Since WhatsApp is primarily a personal messaging platform, brands run a risk of irking users with spams or unsolicited conversations. Companies have been taking notes to work their way around these impediments.

Vishwajeet Sinha, Head of Brand Comms and Media, Meesho believes that brands should adopt a more personal and conversational approach to avoid getting blocked or reported. "Whatsapp is a high-frequency app with high-time spent. It's also a high-attention medium. Brands can utilize it to make users discover their offerings and drive commerce. Even if personalisation is limited due to its tech limitations, brands should use WhatsApp with a more personal and conversational approach and not use it as a broadcast platform.” 

“Emoji and meme-based language to communicate your message is a great way the brands should adopt than regular text-message-based approach. After all, visual communication is better than plain boring text and users already use emojis and memes to express themselves”, he added.

Deshpande also stresses the importance of taking permission from the consumers: “Be it a small kirana store or a big brand, with WhatsApp, both have the same reach and digital presence on a consumer's phone. When a customer applies for a loan with Lendingkart, proper permissions are taken to engage with the customer on WhatsApp – this is crucial for the brand to separate itself from spammers. Even while placing orders online, customers are required to allow the brand to send them updates on their orders with permission. This is one of the reasons that businesses can see resilient ROI and engagement from their customers.” 

In the same vein, Garg says that WhatsApp has a customer-choice approach, where the user has full control over who they want to engage with. “We require businesses to get opt-in from customers before initiating a conversation with them, and this can be obtained in a number of ways. For example, on their website, in a store or even directly over WhatsApp. We understand that there may be times when a person receives a message that they don’t like or want from a business, or in a frequency that doesn’t work for them – that means different things for everyone, which is why we’re focused on putting people in control over their experience.”

“The user can block a business at any time and provide a reason why. This helps us understand what conversations people are finding valuable and paving a way for us to give feedback to the business on their chats. We’ve recently added the ability for businesses to create a simple way for customers to opt out of receiving certain types of messages right within the chat. For example, several brands like Swiggy and Tata Neu have built-in options right within the chat – like a ‘START’ or ‘STOP’ button – to make it easy for people to control the communication they receive from the brand. Tapping this button will notify the business that you’d like to remove your WhatsApp number from receiving updates from them on a certain topic.”

Business on WhatsApp

Apart from reach, brands have also benefited from certain business tools that WhatsApp provides, like the payment option, chatbots and third-party tools that distribute and track messages. "With payments also being made available on WhatsApp, usage of WhatsApp for business is only increasing”, Deshpande said.

“We have seen a higher conversion and interactivity in comparison to traditional messaging platforms such as emails/SMS. Primary reason for this is the higher adoption of the channel in a customer’s everyday life. I have personally seen MSMEs use WhatsApp and increase their business potential, especially during and after the pandemic. This sounds simple, but in its true sense, this is the digitization that we speak of. Like WeChat did in China, it is quite possible that a business transaction will not only originate but will also be completed on WhatsApp. The buyer and seller both don’t have to leave the platform," he added.

Gard added, “We charge businesses for the conversations they have with their customers. Still early days but we’re already seeing strong demand. Recently launched the first ever QR ticketing use-case with BMRCL integrated with payments on WhatsApp. The chatbot is integrated with UPI powered payments on WhatsApp and will allow about 0.5 mn Namma Metro commuters to purchase tickets and recharge their metro travel pass right within WhatsApp.” He shared a few more example of e-commerce and BFSI companies where they’ve integrated the platform into their business journey. 

The future of the platform

While it is quite evident that the platform is creating an impact on businesses and users, what more can we expect from the platform and the businesses using it as an important platform for their communications? 

Sinha said, “I feel this channel has a huge potential in the future for brands to truly become a person (literally like a person) where they can hold personal conversations with users. However, it is currently limited due to tech constraints. With the advent of AI-based conversational search engines, I feel that is going to become real very soon.”

On a similar note, Deshpande added, "WhatsApp is a part of the superset of communications – while we are using it for advertising and marketing today, the scope to use WhatsApp is huge. With features such as payments, business profiles, shopping buttons, carts, and banking – it will become the choice of platform that businesses will leverage to scale their reach and distribution.”

“Currently, it is also easier on the pocket to communicate via WhatsApp. If the cost dynamics do not change significantly, WhatsApp can make a huge difference in marketing communications. Care also must be taken so that customers do not get fed up with impersonal communication. Creative minds must apply their ideas in a fresh manner to ensure that WhatsApp doesn’t turn into another SMS app”, he added.

WhatsApp is also testing a new feature to add Newsletter for users to stay updated on news right from local officials to news organisations as per their choice. Stating the same on WABetaInfo, the company announced, “Newsletters will be a one-to-many tool for broadcasting information and they look like a new way to easily receive useful updates from people and groups like local officials, sports teams, or other organizations. Thanks to Newsletters, users will finally be able to choose who they want to hear from and follow broadcasters of their choice right within WhatsApp.”