How to use WhatsApp automation for your business

Overview

With over 2.5 billion active users and a diverse base spread across the globe, WhatsApp is increasingly being utilized as a central platform in modern organizations’ omni-channel approaches. In fact, 68% of WhatsApp users say that using the app is the easiest way to contact a brand – the utilization of automation tools can make that communication even easier. AI-powered systems and automated messaging serve to enhance engagement efforts, helping businesses interact with users in a more personalized manner, while also extending availability beyond normal working hours.

Whether you’re aiming to woo potential customers, strengthen your relationship with existing ones, or send timely notifications regarding specific activities, WhatsApp automation can be leveraged to ensure that every engagement opportunity is swiftly capitalized upon.

Join us as we take an in-depth look at what WhatsApp automation is, the benefits that it can offer to your business, and how it can be leveraged in real-world scenarios.

What is WhatsApp automation?

WhatsApp automation refers to the use of automated tools to manage communications on the WhatsApp platform. It empowers businesses to streamline their messaging processes and reduce the need for manual intervention. This automation can include various functionalities, such as sending scheduled messages, responding to customer inquiries, and tracking analytics. By leveraging WhatsApp automation, brands can ensure timely communication, which is especially beneficial for customer service and marketing efforts.

Benefits of WhatsApp automation in business

Implementing automation into your WhatsApp approach can provide your business with a plethora of benefits including improved response times, reduced manual workloads, and around-the-clock availability. You’ll need to evaluate your company’s unique pain points and objectives to determine how WhatsApp automation can best serve your specific needs.

Improve response time

Automated responses are often implemented to acknowledge receipt of a message, provide initial information, or answer frequently asked questions (FAQs). This immediate engagement verifies that users receive prompt attention, reducing the waiting time typically associated with manual responses. In fact, a staggering 90% of organizations report quicker resolution times after the implementation of virtual assistants into their customer support blueprints.

Utilizing automation within WhatsApp also allows for the scheduling of proactive messages that can preemptively address potential customer queries. For example, before a major event, automated messages can be sent out to inform customers about key details. Follow-up messages can be scheduled to go out at strategic times as well, like after a purchase or service interaction, helping to address post-interaction questions.

Optimize employee workload/productivity

WhatsApp automation can reduce manual workloads and improve productivity by automating routine tasks, allowing live agents to focus on more complex activities. For instance, automated systems can handle initial customer inquiries, send out routine updates, and manage appointment scheduling.

Additionally, WhatsApp automation integrates with other business systems, streamlining processes and reducing redundancy. For example, connecting WhatsApp with customer relationship management (CRM) software allows automated tools to update customer records and generate reports without manual input. This ensures that employees always possess up-to-date information, facilitating better decision-making and more effective communication. 

Offer 24/7 support

Unlike human employees who are limited by working hours, automated systems can operate continuously without fatigue. This verifies that customers receive immediate responses regardless of the time of day. Auto responses can provide information and guide users through common processes, ensuring that customer needs are addressed promptly, even outside of normal hours of operation.

Studies have shown that approximately 64% of internet users consider around-the-clock availability a key feature of chatbots, while 29% of all bot interactions take place outside of regular business hours.

Even more, automated software can queue inquiries efficiently, ensuring that no message is overlooked. By systematically organizing incoming messages and sending out predefined responses, these systems help maintain order and prioritize follow-ups.

Enhance customer engagement

Automated messaging systems can send personalized greetings and notifications to customers, making them feel valued and informed. For instance, a customer who has just made a purchase might receive an immediate thank-you message along with details about their order status. Similarly, automated alerts about new offerings keep individuals engaged with a brand without requiring manual intervention.

Furthermore, WhatsApp automation can facilitate interactive customer experiences (CXs) through features like feedback requests and interactive content. Automated technology can periodically check in with individuals to gather their opinions on products and services, ask for reviews, or invite them to participate in contests. These interactions not only provide valuable insights for companies, but also make customers feel more involved. 

How to automate WhatsApp messaging

Automation features vary between the WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp API. While WhatsApp Business App offers basic automation features, WhatsApp API is packed with several advanced automation capabilities. WhatsApp bots can be easily integrated into the app using WhatsApp API, making it exceedingly simple for customers to reach out to businesses.

Automation with WhatsApp API

With WhatsApp API, companies are not only provided with access to the automation stack of the WhatsApp Business app but also enjoy advanced capabilities like automating an entire message flow using bots.

1. Automate an entire message flow: WhatsApp API can assist organizations in setting up a custom message flow that spans the length of a typical conversation and covers different conversation stages. Suitable for routine inquiries, custom message flows can reduce the response time and answer most FAQs in a human-like manner.

2. Automate sales process with WhatsApp bots: With WhatsApp bots, complete sales flows can be automated without human intervention. Bots can be programmed to ask about customers’ intent, display product catalogs, and even enable instant check-out. With a WhatsApp bot in place, businesses have a salesperson available 24/7 to assist customers.

3. Automate proactive notification: Using WhatsApp API, companies can even proactively message individuals by setting up preemptive message templates. 

This feature can be employed after customers opt-in to receive such communication. Once individuals have agreed to receive messages, organizations can leverage this tool to automatically share updates related to an order, service request, or payment. This reduces the need for a customer to ask follow-up questions like “Where’s my order” or “What’s my order status,” while lessening the burden of these repeated queries on support agents.

It’s important to note that every message template must be first approved by WhatsApp and that message templates support only text, image, and PDFs.

4. Automate promotional messages: Companies can easily automate promotional discounts and offers by utilizing WhatsApp API. They simply must provide their software with the details of their promotion, such as potential savings and the length of the sale, and designate specific segments they’d like to distribute messages to, and their WhatsApp automation tools can send them out in bulk. This can serve to drive active customers to make additional purchases sooner than they would have otherwise while encouraging dormant customers to re-engage with a brand.

5. Automate IVR call deflection: Interactive voice response (IVR) call deflection is unique to WhatsApp API. Businesses can utilize this tool to direct phone calls to WhatsApp and lessen the load on representatives. Organizations can assign a number in their IVR system that can be set to ask the user if they prefer to continue the conversation on WhatsApp. If the user opts in, they’re automatically taken to WhatsApp to continue the conversation, either with a live agent or a bot. This feature is proven to reduce the wait time for customers seeking fast resolutions.

Automation in WhatsApp Business App

1. Automated greeting message: Using the automated greeting message feature, companies can trigger a response to customer messages as soon as they’re sent. This not only expedites the first interaction, but also assures customers that they’re heard. Companies can set this message from the business tool section in the WhatsApp Business App.

2. Automated away message: Automated away messages can be designated to trigger when someone reaches out after office hours. This ensures customers that their query has been received and notifies them of when they can expect a response.

Setting automated greetings or away messages in WhatsApp is a relatively straightforward process when utilizing the WhatsApp Business App.

• Open the WhatsApp Business App

• Once the app is open, click the three dots at the top right corner

• Tap ‘business tools,’ then click ‘greeting/away message’

• Toggle the option to ‘send a greeting/away message’

• The default greeting or away message will then appear. You can adjust the message to fit your brand voice or specific requirements

• You can choose if you want to share your message with all users, contacts not in your existing contact list, or other specific users based on designated criteria

• While setting greeting/away messages, you can select the ‘schedule message’ option to dictate whether to always send messages, send them only during a specific period, or send them when individuals engage beyond normal business hours

3. Quick replies to answer FAQs: The quick replies feature enables organizations to save and reuse recurring messages. Teams can assign a unique tag to the messages and access them by typing “/” followed by a keyword. By sending saved messages, companies can not only respond to questions faster but also preserve valuable resources.

WhatsApp automation business use cases

The use of automation in WhatsApp lends itself to a variety of different uses depending on how your business plans to utilize it. These tools can be leveraged to send proactive alerts and reminders, automatically greet new customers, respond to individual inquiries, and more.

Payment reminders

A company might use WhatsApp automation to remind customers of upcoming payments by scheduling it to automatically send reminders at specific intervals. 

For instance, a subscription-based service might program its system to send notifications one week before a payment is due, one day before the due date, and on the due date itself. Each message can include essential details such as the amount due, payment methods, and a direct link to complete the payment. This ensures that customers remain well-informed, helping reduce missed payments and improve cash flow for the business.

Automatic welcome messages

WhatsApp automation can also be used to send automated welcome messages to new customers immediately after their initial interaction with a company. 

An e-commerce platform may set up its software to automatically send a personalized welcome message as soon as a customer completes their registration. The message could include a friendly greeting, a thank you note, and key information about their account or next steps. For instance, "Hi [customer name], welcome to [business name]! Thank you for signing up. We're excited to have you with us. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!" This instantaneous, warm engagement helps set a positive tone for the customer relationship right from the onset.

Quick replies to simple inquiries

Imagine a chain restaurant that programs automated responses to common inquiries such as operating hours, reservation availability, and menu options. When a potential customer sends a message inquiring about the restaurant's hours, the automated software can instantly reply with the current opening and closing times, along with a friendly message inviting the individual to visit. Similarly, if a customer asks about menu options or dietary accommodations, automation tools can provide a link to the restaurant's online menu or a brief overview of available dishes.

Increase conversion rates with “abandoned cart” reminders

Organizations can leverage WhatsApp automation to increase conversion rates with abandoned cart reminders.

Using automation in this manner can help detect and manage occurrences when a customer adds items to their cart but doesn’t complete the checkout process. The software can then send a personalized message to the customer's WhatsApp number, prompting them to complete their order. Messages might include a direct link to the customer's cart, making it easy for them to finalize their order. 

The average cart abandonment rate is a surprising 70.19%, suggesting that employing re-engagement efforts through WhatsApp has the potential to significantly increase revenue.

Automatic update messages

Suppose a car rental company utilizes WhatsApp automation to send automatic updates to customers regarding their rental reservations. 

Upon confirmation of a booking, the automated software can instantly send a personalized message to an individual, confirming reservation details such as pickup location, rental duration, and vehicle information. This initial message serves as reassurance to the customer, providing them with all necessary information and ensuring a smooth start to their rental experience.

While automatic updates don’t improve customer satisfaction on their own, they can feed into other business communication channels and customer interactions to drive a more “real-time” feeling to address issues or workflows. This might be a great option for small businesses with fewer employees who want to send automated appointment reminders or auto-replies to business requests.

Make the most of automation in your business with Freshchat!

Our clients rave about Freshchat due its wealth of features, polyglot capacity, and straightforward integration with the WhatsApp platform.

Standout tools like journeys can send targeted, proactive messages to users, tailored to wherever they’re at in the sales funnel, while our chatbots’ small-talk capabilities serve to humanize interactions, rather than simply providing cookie-cutter responses. Additionally, if our bots can’t sufficiently resolve an issue, conversations can easily be transferred to a live agent with retained context.