With over 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, WhatsApp, the widely used instant messaging software, has always been the dominant player in the field. Most businesses have chosen WhatsApp to be the primary tool to communicate with customers. However, if you want to further expand your business, LINE will be an essential communication tool for you to enter new markets, especially those in Asia.
First launched in Japan, LINE is currently a dominant player in Taiwan and Thailand, with more than 90% of web users. In Taiwan, there is a total of 23 million population and the number of LINE active users has exceeded 21 million. This shows that LINE has been widely used by the public in Taiwan.
What is a LINE business account?
A LINE business account enables users to deliver bulk messages more quickly. For corporate users, they can separate their business accounts from private accounts to protect their privacy and separate their work and life. In addition, the LINE business account also provides support to cross-platform, multi-person synchronization, and other functions. You can also link your LINE business account to Messaging API to enhance your customer services.
Even if you are not a LINE user, you probably know their cartoon characters or have seen their lively stickers. However, you may feel confused with the differences between their products such as LINE@Life Circle, LINE Official Account, LINE Business Connect and LINE Customer Connect. In 2019, LINE decided to integrate its business services and created a new LINE business account in March 2020. All LINE users can now create a LINE business account to contact customers and conduct marketing campaigns. It allows corporates, small and medium-sized enterprises or even independent freelancers to promote their brand on LINE in a more effective way.
Currently, many enterprises are using LINE business accounts to promote their activities and interact with customers. LINE is an application that caters to users’ needs in various aspects and it is what it has great market potential in Taiwan and overseas.
How do I create a LINE account for my business?
Step 1:
Go to the LINE business account page, click “Create a LINE Official Account for free”.
Step 2:
Choose “Log in with LINE account”
If you do not have a LINE account or your enterprise would like to use a new account to apply for the LINE business account, you should click “Create an account”, and register with your email.
Step 3:
After logging in with the general account, you should click “Back to services” and you will be sent to the login page of the LINE Business account. You may fill in the application form with the personal information required.
Step 4:
After filling in your information, click “Confirm”.
Step 5:
You will be transferred to the confirmation page and you may check whether the information you filled in is correct. If yes, click “Confirm” again. You will see the below layout and it means your LINE official account application has been successful.
The 3 types of LINE official accounts
There are three types of LINE official accounts, including unverified accounts (grey shield), verified accounts (blue shield), and premium accounts (green shield). It is clarified that the shield identification has no correlation with the scope or level of services provided by LINE. The basic features of these accounts are the same. A distinct difference between the shields is that the account will receive an account badge after the LINE review process, which will appear in searches within the LINE App:
An account ID composes a string of numbers and letters that will be generated randomly by the LINE system after you created an account. The ID may look like some garbled text, but in fact, you can generate your own ID and choose the content by yourself.
Not only does a Premium ID make your account get searched and identified easier, but also reinforces brand certification and professionalism. For instance, customers are more willing to join the stores with a Premium ID when they are searching for shops of the same nature. This may also provide more chances for the enterprises to contact their potential customers. An important note is that you must purchase a Premium ID if you want to upgrade your LINE account to verified or premium accounts. The followings are the charge details for the Premium ID:
Is LINE for business free?
Creating a new LINE business account is free. However, if you want to send thousands of messages per month, you may consider subscribing to one of the available plans. In addition to the different prices, the number of messages limited to each plan is also different. The following are the charges of each plan:
(Refer to the subscription plan price list of the LINE business account, the price may change over time so it is recommended to check the updated prices of your region on LINE.)
You may choose the plan flexibly based on your needs or the performance of your company and this may help you to control your marketing budget accurately and effectively. As the manager of the enterprise, you must spend the money in the right place and make budget and choices wisely.
How to change my subscription plan?
1. Go to the LINE business account login page
2. Click “Setting”, choose “Promotional Plan” in “Accounting part”
3. After “Logging in to the payment method”, You may switch your original chosen plan to another.
What you need to know about creating a LINE business account
Please note that one telephone number is only for creating one account. The old version of the LINE account can be registered through a Facebook account so that you can use either a telephone number or an email address to create a LINE account easily. However, LINE stopped allowing users to register the registration with a Facebook account in March 2021, and the LINE PC accounts registered with telephone numbers were also terminated from service. In other words, a telephone number is essential for creating a LINE account on mobile devices while you just need an email to register for it on a computer.
LINE X SleekFlow Key Features
Auto-reply
The customer base of the enterprise will be wider when its business scale becomes larger. How can an enterprise handle thousands of customer inquiries with limited human resources? You may turn on the automatic response function on your LINE business account and it will help you respond to customers 24/7. The automatic response function answers customers correctly by identifying the keywords in the question and customers’ context. Besides, you can switch between the AI and real person in LINE's dialogue box freely. For the simple and direct question, you can leave it to AI to reply to customers automatically. However, if you find some complex or personalized questions, you can switch to manual chat for instant response.
Send messages to broadcast lists
When the number of your friends exceeds 100, you can set up friend filter conditions and build audience groups to classify your customers. You can select or exclude the broadcast lists when sending mass messages. Rather than sending messages randomly, this function helps you provide information to the interested group accurately and improve marketing effectiveness.
Check out how people use the broadcast lists function on other platforms!
If you link LINE to SleekFlow, you may manage your LINE business account systematically by adding tags in accordance with customer names, birthdays, ages, and other criteria. It may help you by classifying customers into different broadcast lists and sending them marketing messages regularly.
Multiple logins for one account
It would be a plight if only one person handles all customers’ inquiries. The LINE business account allows multiple logins for one account and so multiple persons can manage conversations and respond to customers’ inquiries at the same time. It also helps avoid “missing reply” to customers during peak time and enables enterprises to utilize human resources effectively.
After linking with SleekFlow, your team members may log in to the LINE business account by SleekFlow at the same time. The manager can assign different positions and jobs to each employee to achieve a better division of labor and provide better customer services.
Check out how can the multiple logins function help your business on other platforms!
Graphic message
The graphic message is a unique message format of LINE. You can create a large image to draw customers’ attention by simple settings. All the offers, products and the details of the activities can be presented by one message and it will increase the clicks rate.
Multi-page message
Multi-page message is a sliding message format that can contain up to 9 images each time. Each image can attach with a corresponding link to transfer customers to the website page. It helps to increase sales and solves the problem of too much information disgusting customers.
Successful cases of using LINE business account
Skyscanner uses LINE’s signature function to provide graphic messages of lucky draw and offers to customers randomly from the 1st to the 10th of each month. This promotion method makes customers look forward to Skyscanner’s messages every month and retain customers successfully.
Color C'ode, a well-known chain dessert shop, has used the LINE auto-reply function to retain its customers. Miss Kelly became the most important virtual customer service officer of the enterprise by using the LINE auto-reply function to handle common customer inquiries such as product information, reservations, and delivery progress 24/7.
Connect LINE to SleekFlow
It is understood that enterprises are spending most of their time handling WhatsApp messages. However, you should also be alert to other communication software. How can you ensure not miss any customer inquiries on LINE? If you link LINE to SleekFlow, you can switch between different communication software in one platform and handle both WhatsApp and LINE messages!
Unlock the exclusive LINE features with SleekFlow?
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