According to Statista data, as of January 2022, in the monthly active (MAU) ranking of all social media in the world, Facebook ranks first, followed by Youtube, andWhatsApp is firmly in the top three with 2 billion monthly active users, and has become the king of global instant messaging.。
From a single WhatsApp application, then WhatsApp Business was launched for small and medium-sized enterprises, to the WhatsApp Business API that later served more medium and large enterprises, and then to the WhatsApp Cloud API that was opened to the outside world in May. Based on this king of instant messaging, a huge ecological empire has grown up unconsciously. In today’s article, SocialEpoch will give you a detailed explanation of the WhatsApp ecosystem and a look at the highlights of overseas social marketing that you can’t miss.
#01 Why WhatsApp？
Overseas, although WhatsApp has not yet achieved global popularity, it is already a social application favored by people in more than 180 countries, with an open rate of 99% and a reply rate of 40%.
Not only that, WhatsApp is free to download and use; end-to-end encryption technology ensures the security of user data and information; information forms include but are not limited to text, voice, video, pictures, links, etc.; it is also registered and used based on phone numbers, and accounts are naturally bound to mobile phone numbers... More and more people like to use WhatsApp to complete social interactions.
The "market theory of people and goods" tells us that where the customers are, marketing needs to appear there. Starting from the merchant side, one-on-one social interaction reconstructs the communication form between customers and enterprises, helping to establish a good interactive relationship with users and gain trust and favor. Starting from the consumer side, everyone also tends to communicate with merchants in such a simple and direct way to obtain products and services faster and more conveniently.
Customers are willing to use WhatsApp to communicate with merchants, and merchants tend to use WhatsApp to connect and serve customers. The back and forth has naturally created a two-way rush in the social era.
#02 WhatsApp product ecosystem
WhatsApp’s leading value in the global social marketing market lies in its reliance on Facebook and its increasingly spectacular product ecosystem. From the initial single WhatsApp application to the WhatsApp Cloud API that was opened to the public last month, it is time for WhatsApp’s business blueprint to be worthy of everyone’s attention.
The eldest son: WhatsApp Messenger opens up a world of overseas instant messaging
WhatsApp Messenger (commonly referred to as WhatsApp) was released in 2009. Its initial function was to display the status of each user's contacts. However, in its subsequent development, its instant messaging function became famous and quickly rose to success with its simplicity and lightness.
WhatsApp has many advantages: 1. Simple and lightweight. WhatsApp so far only has three functional interfaces: conversations, updates and calls. For users who face massive amounts of content every day, less is more, simplicity means lightness, and simplicity means efficiency. 2. Registration based on phone number, that is to say, the two are naturally bound. The phone number can be used to quickly lock the WA account. When the phone number is used as the unique personal ID, each user can be accurately searched and locked; 3. Content transmission forms are rich and diverse, including one-on-one chats and group chats, as well as functions such as read receipts and strangers sending messages to create groups.
It can be said that such functional features enable WhatsApp to meet the needs of instant messaging between individual users and firmly occupy the world of overseas instant messaging. But because of this, and because WhatsApp has no back-end interface, it is obviously insufficient in business applications, so the second one, WhatsApp Business, came into being.
Second child: WhatsApp Business’s lucky star for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs)
WhatsApp Business was released in 2018. It is also free to download and use. It has almost the same functional interface as WhatsApp and breaks through many of the limitations of WhatsApp's own commercial capabilities. It can achieve many commercial capabilities for small and medium-sized enterprises: 1. WhatsApp Business can be logged in and used on one mobile phone and four other devices; 2. Stores can be created, and payment functions are also enabled in India and Brazil; 3. Product albums can be added, automatic replies can be set, working hours can be configured, etc.
However, like WhatsApp, Business also has no back-end interface. Once the business of the company expands and the products and personnel begin to become complicated, it will be unable to cope with it. And this seems to have laid the foundation for the birth of Laosan (WhatsApp Business API).
Lao San: WhatsApp Business API builds a bridge for efficient communication between medium and large enterprises and users
In the second year after Business was released, WhatsApp Business API was also officially launched. Compared with the eldest and second eldest, the third eldest brother has undergone huge changes. The most obvious one is that the WhatsApp Business API is a program interface, not an APP, and it requires payment. It has the following characteristics: 1. It can be connected with the enterprise's self-built or third-party digital system (such as CRM), and thousands of chat robots can be created to communicate with customers; 2. It can set transaction reminders, transaction push and other services for the enterprise; 3. The chat robot can realize automatic reply;
4. Multiple agents can use the same account to reduce the bad user experience caused by migration and account change; 5. It can send a variety of media information, attachments, links, etc.; 6. It can be connected with third-party systems to achieve traceability and classification in information regulation and consolidate the digital capabilities of enterprises.
The emergence of WhatsApp Business API has established an efficient communication bridge for large and medium-sized enterprises. With it, enterprises can interact and communicate safely and conveniently with all users around the world, which has revolutionized the instant messaging connectivity of enterprises.
Of course, the WhatsApp Business API is not perfect. It requires payment through some officially designated Business Solution Providers (BSPs), and the application time is relatively long, which is not very friendly to small and medium-sized enterprises. So, the fourth child also made a grand appearance.
Fourth child: WhatsApp Cloud API’s newly born baby, the cloud interface is faster and more direct
The fourth member of the family, the WhatsApp Cloud API, which was officially released in May, can be regarded as the Cloud version of the WhatsApp Business API. The functions of the two are close, but the former can be applied directly to the Meta official, and it is now free (application address:developers.facebook.com）。
The current common opinion on how to choose between the two is: for large enterprises, especially in the financial and technology industries, WhatsApp Business API is more suitable because it is an on-premises deployment and has additional features such as security performance enhancement and identity change; while for small and medium-sized enterprises, WhatsApp Cloud API is a more economical and applicable choice.
With the four components of WhatsApp Messenger/WhatsApp Business/WhatsApp Business API/WhatsApp Cloud API, WhatsApp has also formed a powerful ecological empire. With the continuous expansion of the official payment area, the service scenarios based on WhatsApp will become more and more abundant and the service forms will become more and more complete. Both merchants and users will become increasingly inseparable from this overseas “emerging field”.
Looking back at the entire WhatsApp product ecosystem from the domestic WeChat mature service scene, this final battle for WhatsApp marketing must be a contest that becomes increasingly refined, digital, and intelligent. The company's front-end service capabilities from the perspective of customer management and sales collaboration will become the basis for overseas merchants to compete with each other in terms of owned-channel operations and traffic conversion in the future. Of course, this also creates differentiated opportunities for SocialEpochWhatsApp SCRMowned-channel operations.
#03 WhatsApp SCRM, a must-have for WhatsApp marketing
Whether it is 2B or 2C, whether it is online or offline or online and offline collaboration, whether it is one-on-one interaction among owned channel members or batch conversion of group chat services,The entire WhatsApp marketing is inseparable from user-centered interactive services and insights into user portraits and user preferences based on the service interaction process.。
Interactive services are 1.With such 1, every WhatsApp merchant can boost conversions and premiums for every customer. One-on-one contact allows customers to have a sense of importance being served, direct communication allows customers to avoid getting stuck at one level after another, community communication allows everyone to gain a sense of belonging with the same goals, and timely social interaction caters to the information transmission habits of users in this era, and also allows companies to deepen user emotions and trust.
Insight judgment is 0.With each customer data, the company can establish a customer database based on all user information to protect the customer data assets of the company; then analyze and review the data to discover the needs that customers have not yet expressed verbally; and then use digital marketing to empower business operations and gain more long-term value.
With the foreshadowing of the previous 1, there will be countless wonderful combinations of 0 that will burst out later.
- Automatic replies, smart replies, and one-click translation are 1, laying the foundation for customers to receive timely and efficient feedback;
- Intelligent group chat, multi-person collaboration, and user journey are 1. Ensure customer experience by empowering service personnel, especially the service experience of super users and owned channel members.
- Data reporting, agent management, and data desensitization are the following zeros. With such follow-up, business operations will have more real feedback and records;
- Chat backup, user portraits, and CDP customer data platforms are the next ones. For enterprises, the value of customers lies not only in the products mentioned in conversational chats, but also in the silent tendencies expressed by their actions.
The original intention of WhatsApp SCRMowned-channel operations is to review and re-imagine domestic mature social marketing services, so as to achieve in-depth empowerment of overseas WhatsApp marketing and empower cross-border enterprises to do well in every current 1 and N zeros behind the harvest.
Click on the text to see why cross-border enterprises need Social CRM more
Click this text to view the detailed functions of WA SCRMowned-channel operations treasure
In the future, we will always pay attention to the increasingly diversified WhatsApp marketing methods overseas, and WhatsApp SCRM will become more and more exciting.
#04The drama of WhatsApp marketing has just begun
At present, the official release of WhatsApp Cloud API is not yet a full month; the WhatsApp payment function has only been opened in India and Brazil; Amazon acquired GlowRoad and entered social e-commerce only two months ago. In the overseas marketing kingdom, the drama of WhatsApp social marketing and social e-commerce has just begun.
Interestingly, on the other side overseas, more and more people are beginning to study owned channel traffic, which is a "cultural invasion" of domestic owned-channel marketing into overseas marketing methods.
Whether it is the "dimension reduction attack" of the global expansion of the domestic owned channel model in the future, or the continuous improvement of ecological services of WhatsApp, or the reconstruction and exploration of the e-commerce and retail "people and goods field" by corporate merchants, or the continuous demands of overseas users for the entire WhatsApp service boundary, in this huge traffic pool with 2 billion (the data is still growing) monthly active users, every party is eyeing it.
For consumers who have been nurtured in the domestic WeChatowned channel environment and are also engaged in global expansion, they believe that the natural owned channel genes will give them a better grasp of this overseas hot spot.
