Jitendra Raulo
Types of WhatsApp Business Solutions
WhatsApp , one of the most used messaging platform, also provides business solutions like WhatsApp Business Platform and the WhatsApp Business App. According to Statista, WhatsApp will have over 3 billion unique active users globally, adding 1 billion active users after Feb 2022.
So there is no doubt about WhatsApp becoming the most used and popular messaging app, and this fact alone represents an unavoidable opportunity for most B2B and B2C businesses. So let’s dive into what are the types of business solutions provided by WhatsApp.
This article is for businesses that use WhatsApp Business Platform.
Whatsapp Business Platform
WhatsApp Business Platform is meant to be used by big businesses and corporations to enable them engaging with their customers around the world directly and seamlessly. WhatsApp Business Platform can be integrated with their existing applications, CRM and workflows. This platform enables seamless global customer communication, allowing businesses to interact with their customers directly through their own systems
WhatsApp Business App
WhatsApp Business App, on the other hand, caters to small businesses by allowing them to engage with their customers one-on-one via a WhatsApp mobile app, making it easier to manage customer interactions and build strong relationships
What Are WhatsApp Message Templates
At a Glance WhatsApp message templates refer to the pre-written and pre-approved text messages that can be used in order to communicate with the customers of the business in a structured, professional, and uniform manner. These templates make it very easy to relay messages especially to mass customers and organizations, and at the same time they provide the correct information that is allowed by the policies and rules of WhatsApp.
Pre- approved Templates: The common messages that are transformed into templates need to have their content approved by Whatsapp to ascertain that they accustom to all the laid down regulations and requirements. Once these formats are set, simple messages with some content data like appointment reminders, delivery details solutions to some issues, and payment statuses can be sent.
Some Use Cases
Appointment Reminders: Intelligent notification system for the clients to minimize cancellation and reservation cancellation rate and raise customers’ satisfaction rate.
Delivery Information: Ensure timely delivery of products to customers and let them know how their deliveries are being processed through messages so that they can trust that their delivery services are being handled professionally.
Issue Resolution: Automate common issue-resolution messages and responses to customers so that businesses can respond efficiently to common complaints/critic with pre-approved responses.
Payment Updates: Inform clients regarding the payment statuses, confirmation, any issue concerning the transactions, which would avoid hitches in the financial aspect.
Various marketing studies reveal that message open rates for WhatsApp business messages is as high as 90% and it is much higher than email open rates. This shows that businesses can be in a better position to engage with their clients.
Importance and Benefits of WhatsApp Message Templates
One of the defining elements of these solutions is the WhatsApp message templates. These are the pre-approved and formatted messages that are already permitted to be sent by businesses for conveying essential information to their clients, like appointment reminders, delivery confirmation, issue solving, and payment confirmation.
To this end, the following are the reasons as to why the use of WhatsApp message templates cannot be ignored.
- Standardized Professional Communication, Consistency is Key: Templates ensure professional and consistent messaging for most used business messages like appointment reminders, delivery confirmations, and payment confirmations. Businesses understand that communication consistency is the key, and consistent templates ensure that the brand has a voice that is consistent across every touchpoint the customer has with the brand.It goes a long way in creating this understanding and making sure that all customers are treated in the same consistent manner by providing them with quality communication.
- Avoiding Repetitive Tasks, Improved Effieciency:Pre-approved templates save businesses valuable time by eliminating the need to create some repetitive messages from scratch. Replying to many customers or clients may be repetitive especially when the same message is sent to several users, this makes the use of WhatsApp message templates effective for businesses. Such automation helps teams to prioritize more significant work to achieve overall efficient results.
- Â Timely Information Relay: Templates deliver the right information to customers at the right time, keeping them informed and engaged.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction: Timely and consistent communication through templates leads to higher customer satisfaction.
- Options for Personalization: Despite incorporating the specified options in a mechanized format, WhatsApp message templates enable brand personalization. Information included in the messages can be name of the customer, details about the order, and any other customized information that is supposed to be sent.
- Lower Rejection Rate: The pre-approved templates aim at providing recommendations that would not be rejected by WhatsApp. This ensures that communication takes place effectively and without much interference as is often the case in broadcasting.
-  Compliance with WhatsApp Standards ensures No Bans: Approved templates ensure businesses stay within WhatsApp’s guidelines for business communication. By adapting with the application’s policies utilizing pre-approved templates guarantees that compliance issues such as account blocking or message delivery failure will not be experienced. This compliance is vital since it helps in ensuring the quality of the communication channel and safeguarding the business reputation.
- Increased Productivity: Saving time on crafting messages allows businesses to focus on other tasks, boosting overall work productivity.
Thus, it is clear that the use of the WhatsApp message templates can be very beneficial to businesses. Using the WhatsApp message templates not only helps companies to save time and optimize customers’ interactions, but also allows maintaining the quality of communication with the target audience, thus allowing them to increase their work productivity and improve the satisfaction of their clients which in turn makes it an invaluable tool in business communication
Types of WhatsApp Message Templates with Use-Cases
Marketing Templates
Marketing templates are created with one purpose in mind, and that is to make sales and promote the products a company is selling. It provides Businesses with the opportunity to design and create messages most optimized to attract the customer’s attention and compelling them to take the desired action. These templates are especially suitable for promoting products through sales promotions, new product release and special deals.
Generate Awareness: Employ marketing strategy so that you can announce your new products and services to your existing clients.
Boost Sales: Use compelling text messages to market products as a way of making the target customers buy the products.
Retarget Unresponsive Contacts: Re-engaging with the customers that have not replied to previous messages.
Utility Templates
These templates enable businesses to pass important information and changes regarding transactions, accounts and services. They are generally initiated by user activity and are essential for promoting clear, organized and efficient communication.
Order Confirmation: Communicate with customers to let them know the status of their orders.
Shipping Updates: Reaching out to clients, especially on matters concerning their shipment, should be efficiently done on timely basis.
Account Alerts: To inform customers about the important activities or changes in their respective accounts.
Authentication Templates
OTPs, also known as one-time passwords, are used for identifying users with the help of authentication templates. These messages help to protect users’ accounts and services by allowing them to login with temporary codes valid for a certain amount of time.
Account Verification: Authentic users within account creation or sign-ins.
Password Reset: Enable users to securely reset passwords.
Transaction Confirmation: Strong authentication should be required before making high-value transactions or changing important data.
The Components of any WhatsApp Message Template
Now let’s understand what are the components used in a WhatsApp message template so that you can create a custom one with your own message and tone.
There are basically 4 major components in a WhatsApp message template.
Header
The header is the first component within the WhatsApp message template and its function is to attract the attention of the viewer. This is the most important component as it is the first thing your customer see.
Helpful Tip: The headers should be highly engaging and only include important information in a compelling manner to grab attention.
There are 3 formats:
Text: The aim is to write up to 60 characters – this is the headline of the advert.
Example: “Important Update!”
Media: A graphics, photograph, file, clip, or logo that can help in expressing the intended message graphically.
Example: An attractive image for an upcoming product release.
Location: Provide location details to the customer with precision.
Example: The exact location of your store for your customers to find easily
Body
This is the part of the message that usually contains the details and is where most of the message information is available. It can include text, symbol such as emoticons, and variables as personalization is also possible in this case.
Helpful Tip: The body should contain text content that is organized like bullet points or short paragraphs having breaks. In short, make your body part short, personalized and to-the-point.
Main Content: Summarize the content of the message and stay on point by stating only the key facts.
Example: “Hi {{name}}, this is your order #{{order_number}} with {{delivery_date}}.”
Formatting and Variables: Enhance it with more personalized content embedded into the message to reflect the recipient, the order number, and the date.
Footer
The footer is a secondary and not obligatory part of the message, which summarizes the message and may contain a call to action or other information.
Helpful Tip:Try to round off your whose message by a attention-grabbing call to action. You can also include a message to convey the urgency or emotionally compel them to take action.
Short Concluding Text: A final line of the message, or call to action or conclusion.
Example: “That’s right, thank you for shopping with us.”
Example: “Time is ticking. Grab this deal before it runs out.”
Buttons
Buttons are the most exciting but optional components like footer. Buttons are interactive web-elements that compel readers to take specific actions given by you. Buttons increase the chance of engagements and especially helpful in promotional messages.
Source: Meta for Developers
Helpful Tip: You have the option to choose a combination of up to 10 buttons in total or a single one. But remember that only 2 buttons will be visible directly and all others will be visible when your customers click on ‘See All Options’
Here are the different button types available for use on WhatsApp Business API:
| Button Types | Use |
| Phone Number | Your customers can just tap to call the number(given by you) directly from their device. |
| URL Button | Redirects your customers to a specific webpage. It can be any page mentioned by you. |
| Quick Reply | Get swift replies from both potential or existing customers. |
| Copy Code | Enables your customers to copy a specific coupon or code instantly so that they can use them easily. |
| Flow Buttons | WhatsApp Flows guide your customers based on their answers to pre-defined forms. |
You can use any message on buttons to entice your customers raising a sense of urgency or need like “Limited Time Offer”.
Now you might have figured out that WhatsApp Business Message Templates have all the things and customizations available for you to enhance customer experience, streamline conversations and flows, and speed up your sales.
Call to Action: Links the user to do an action like going to a particular website or dialing a number.
Examples: “Check out our website” or “Contact our helpdesk. ”
Quick Reply: Enables the recipients to reply with automatic messages that have been input in advance.
Example: “Yes,” “No,” or “More Info.”
Copy Code: Allows users to copy a certain code like a discount coupon code.
Example: ”Coupon Code: SAVE20”
Flow Buttons: Lead the recipients through flow-chart like process on the basis of their response to the messages.
Example: “End of Survey” or “Modify Preferences. ”
By understanding and utilizing the different types of WhatsApp message templates and their components, businesses can create engaging, effective, and compliant messages that enhance customer communication and drive positive outcomes.
Conclusion
Some of the significant topics covered in the series of WhatsApp message templates include:
WhatsApp message templates are very important as they simplify communication procedures, increase consumer interest, and ensure that they are following the guidelines of the WhatsApp business policies. Thus, they allow enhancing timely and correct information with the help of the templates, and hence enhancing overall customer satisfaction and the businesses’ relations with their audiences.
A 2022 survey by Twilio found that 67% of customers prefer businesses to communicate with them via messaging apps like WhatsApp. This suggests that businesses using message templates for communication can improve customer satisfaction.
Raising Awareness on Use of Templates for Better Business Communications:
WhatsApp message template is a good idea for any company evolving its communication strategy for several reasons. By using these templates, a business is in a position to send automated messages at right time, which is very appropriate for follow-up communications, and at the same time, enrich the overall experience of the customer. The advantages of using WhatsApp message templates go far beyond the efficiency of sending messages and reaching with higher customers engagement rates, better serving customers, and amplified brand recognition.
Conclusion on the Future of Use of WhatsApp for Business Communication:
As per 2023 Business Insider report, global market for business messaging via apps like WhatsApp will reach over $70 billion in just 5 years that is 2028.
The future of WhatsApp Business communication is promising and remains an active space for growth as technology continues to evolve and user expectations keep on improving in the future. With corporations leaning on digital platforms to engage with the consumers, WhatsApp message templates will be indispensable in ensuring that consumers receive effective, captivating, and customized messages. The use of these templates and constant updates on the features and recommended practices will therefore help businesses remain relevant in the current dynamic competitive environments and meet the ever rising expectations of customers.
This is where automating your WhatsApp marketing using a WhatsApp Automation Platform such as iNextCRM with integrated WhatsApp Business API comes in handy. It is easy to use for creating, requesting approval and managing the WhatsApp message templates for your account.
You only require signing in to the iNextCRM account, and start creating your templates. But be it any type, all your templates require the approval of the WhatsApp team before they can be used.
