Features your company need from a WhatsApp Business account in Singapore

The rise of messaging apps has become extremely prevalent in today’s day and age. In 2021, an estimate of 3.09 billion mobile phone users accessed over-the-top messaging apps to communicate. This figure is projected to grow to 3.51 billion users in 2025.

Apart from personal use, organisations are also starting to realise the business advantages that WhatsApp can bring. At the end of 2019, an estimated 5.25 million companies were leveraging the WhatsApp Business App. For organisations who are now just only jumping onto the bandwagon and are new to WhatsApp Business, it is important to first understand the features offered and how to use them. Here are some WhatsApp Business features you should be aware of before starting your very own WhatsApp Business account.

Singtel leverages WhatsApp Business to drive Customer Experience 3.0. Read how other customer-centric businesses can learn from it.

WhatsApp chatbot

WhatsApp chatbots are software programs that run on the WhatsApp platform. Companies can develop their bots within the app and customers can communicate with the bot as they would with a real person. This then begets the question – how do these chatbots benefit organisations? For one, it operates 24/7, which potentially drives sales and creates more satisfied customers. Secondly, it promotes greater efficiency when it comes to two-way communication. Not only can customers start conversations with businesses, it also allows their queries to be answered immediately. Last but not least, it gives marketers more time for strategic, decision-making tasks as the WhatsApp chatbot can perform much of the repetitive work. In addition, the chatbots can be personalised to reflect the company’s brand and offer attractive discounts for frequent users.

Create a WhatsApp chatbot easily for your business with SleekFlow using our our step-by-step tutorial.

Catalogs and collections

For e-commerce businesses whose main focus revolves around the products sold, the WhatsApp Business catalog and collections feature comes in handy. The catalog feature makes it easy for both you to showcase your products and customers to browse through them. It eliminates the need of having to send individual items and their pricing to customers. All products and items are now conveniently grouped on the business’ WhatsApp page, providing a more seamless and less disruptive shopping experience as customers are not redirected elsewhere, such as a website to get more information on certain products. 

Studio MU/YU, an artisanal woodcraft brand selling handcrafted jewellery, bags and lifestyle products, is one of the Singaporean brands that have jumped onto the bandwagon of using the WhatsApp Business catalog. Another Singaporean brand includes FrankSkincare, a 100% organic luxury skincare brand whose products are packed with genuine benefits and contain no harmful chemicals.  

To further enhance this feature, WhatsApp Business introduced ‘collections’ in October 2021. Collections categorise products so that customers no longer have to endlessly scroll to look for a product they are interested in. Businesses can modify their collection to keep their information updated and relevant. 

WhatsApp Broadcast

Much like a WhatsApp group, the WhatsApp Broadcast for business feature allows businesses to send regular messages to their list of recipients. The difference lies in that customers have no access to each other even if they are in the same broadcast list and they receive messages from the company as they would in an individual chat. This empowers a more private and secure experience. A maximum of 256 contacts can be added to a Broadcast List WhatsApp. The main benefit of WhatsApp Broadcast is its convenience and efficiency. With regards to sales and promotions that businesses want their customers to know about, they can simply alert all their target recipients at once.

Read our complete guide on WhatsApp broadcast to step up your chat commerce game today.

Automatic greeting messages

While this may seem minor, it plays a significant role in brand personality and top-of-mind recall. With a business account, you can send automatic greeting messages, allowing companies to create a personalised greeting that reflects their brand and voice. It is the first message customers will receive when they start a WhatsApp chat with businesses. The feature is crucial in chat commerce as customers often expect a prompt business response, and delayed replies resulting in lost opportunities. Also, an automated greeting message helps leave a great first impression and extend a positive experience that forms a stronger association with your brand.

How Sybil Sleep Tech, a mattress and pillow retailer, automates its chat marketing campaigns

Sending automated messages is one of the features that small and medium-sized enterprises such as Sybil Sleep Tech like the most as it helps minimise human intervention.

Sybil Sleep Tech is now using SleekFlow to formulate their chat strategy according to their own needs, such as sending follow-up messages to those who have not read the first campaign message at a specific time and sending onboarding messages to welcome new customers. It has saved 20% of the time needed to handle messages.

Click here to learn more about how Sybil Sleep Tech leverages the WhatsApp Business in their operation!

Above are just some of the many key functions that businesses should know about before setting up their WhatsApp Business account to get the best experience. In our highly digitalised landscape today, having one business messaging platform is not enough. As customers are now using various chat platforms, companies should seize this opportunity and target their customers through these channels. This is where a streamlined omnichannel communications platform, such as SleekFlow, comes in useful. With SleekFlow, businesses can manage different chat apps in one single place for a unified customer experience to sell support and reach customers better. 

Looking to drive conversions and leads through chat platforms? SleekFlow helps merge all your customer’s favourite chat apps into a single, easy-to-use platform and scale your business. Learn how to maximise your business' outreach today with WhatsApp chatbot, Business Catalog, and Broadcast for Business.