WhatsApp's new features to boost small businesses ahead of festive season

At the first WhatsApp Business Summit in India, the company announced several features and updates that will help businesses across the country build a presence, create in-chat experiences for their customers and drive performance ahead of the upcoming festive season. 

Speaking at the summit, Sandhya Devanathan, VP, Meta in India, said “The ubiquity and ease of WhatsApp places it at the center of India's transformation, helping businesses fuel compelling ideas and new models of growth. These features and programs, which we are announcing today, demonstrate our commitment to helping businesses maximise their value per dollar while providing exceptional customer experiences on WhatsApp.”

Bringing Meta Verified for All Small Business on WhatsApp

Millions of small businesses use the WhatsApp Business app in India, and they want to stand out and build credibility with their customers. Now, Meta Verified is available to all eligible small businesses in India using the app. With Meta Verified, businesses that choose to subscribe and demonstrate their authenticity will receive a verified badge, impersonation protection, account support, and premium features that help amplify their brand online and make it more efficient to chat with customers. The same badge will appear on their app's channels and business pages, making it easy to share on social media and websites. 

Customised Messages on WhatsApp Business App

The app rolled out the ability for small businesses using the platform to send customissed messages to their customers – like appointment reminders, birthday greetings or even updates on a holiday sale all in a faster and more efficient way. This new feature, available for a fee, gives businesses the ability to send personal messages with a customer’s name and customisable call-to-action buttons and will also enable them to schedule the day and time the messages are sent. 

 WhatsApp Bharat Yatra

While small businesses know why they need the platform to grow and scale, most of them can derive even higher value by learning how to maximise the true potential of the app. The platform will be launching the 'WhatsApp Business Yatra' in India, travelling to various tier 2 & 3 cities in India to provide on-ground, in-person training to small businesses. Believing that small businesses, with the right digital skills, can supercharge India’s digital economy, and therefore, as part of this initiative, it will also  train small businesses in setting up their  business accounts, creating catalogs, educating them on how to set up ads that click to WhatsApp, and much more and  build a resource center on our website, which will act as a quick-access tutorial center for these businesses.

Best practices for businesses

People don’t want their app to become overloaded like other channels, making them miss out on important messages from people and businesses they care about and want to hear from. That’s why the platform is focusing on helping businesses foster meaningful and valuable connections with people. Whether a business is creating a custom Flow or running a messaging campaign for a holiday sale, there are several things to keep in mind to help them be successful.

• Send messages customers want and seek customers’ permission for each type of message being sent, whether it’s a timely update on a delivery or a coupon for a holiday sale.

• Being thoughtful about when and what messages are being sent to customers - Make sure the subject line or preview text clearly indicates the message's relevance and be thoughtful about when it’s being sent, evenings might not be the time when your customers want to hear from you.

• Use the stats to know what’s working and what’s not - The platform provides businesses with basic information like read rates so they can see what’s working and what’s not. This can help determine the right frequency for messaging customers to avoid overload. 

• Listen to the customers - Customers will be the first to say that there can be too much of a good thing. So even when they’re choosing to hear from businesses about a sale or promotion they might not want to hear about it multiple times a day or week. That’s why the platform is continuing to build tools right into the app so people can provide feedback on the types of messages they want to receive and how often they want to receive them.

As the festive season embarks in India, the latest updates on the app, will empower businesses to elevate their sales and accelerate growth. By leveraging these solutions, businesses can capitalise on the festive rush and unlock new opportunities for success.