With over a billion daily users, obviously some people have been trying to use WhatsApp as a business platform. It has been tedious though, as it has been a personal platform that has not really been geared for business. We hope this article ‘Time to do business on WhatsApp? – Some useful tips’-will help those who would like to use the real business platform that has now been launched and get themselves set up. Bear in mind that as hosting and social media marketing experts we can do all these things for you, but you may find the process interesting anyway.

Step 1) – You set up a WhatsApp account – from the Google ‘playstore’ – Android users only – then link a phone number to your account. This can’t be the same number as your personal account. You will get an sms with a 6 digit code which you we will load to verify your business.

Step 2) – Create a business name and profile – Remember you can’t change this business name once you have entered it. You follow by setting u a profile. You do this by tapping the menu icon and going to ‘Settings.’ Some advice – make a profile work for you! Tell people how you help them and why they should use you – then what you do …and make sure all your contact info is right! Then tap ‘Save’ and you’re ready to start doing business!

Step 3) – Create automatic responses – There are, as would be expected from WhatsApp, some real funky and useful features – You can go to ‘Business settings’ to set up automatic responses to frequently asked questions for example. This is so great for communication with customers. You can set up messages, away notices or greetings – even menus and orders – it’s brilliant!

Step 4) – Create conversation labels – You can even have labels to organize your messages with current customers. Using your own custom labels lets you move conversations along your ‘Sales funnel’ and have a process in place for your social media team to manage conversations on the platform.

Great news is that Facebook are setting up the ability for you to promote your WhatsApp business channel when you boost a post, but that’s another conversation for another article – watch this space! We hope this article, from ‘PS Digital’ one of South Africa’s premier hosting and digital marketing businesses, on ‘Time to do business on WhatsApp? – Some useful tips’ has been helpful and we invite you to contact us to learn more. We can help you to succeed on social media by creating a synchronised, measurable strategy that continually boosts your online presence!