WhatsApp is about as ubiquitous as messaging systems get – it allows users to communicate when signal strength is a bit naff – and even if you don’t have a signal, you can still write messages and the app will keep trying to send as/when it gets a connection.
If you’re a WhatsApp user yourself, or if you’re planning on jumping on it as a result of this post (yay), one of the most important things to know are around the symbols the tool uses to let you know useful information about your message.
What do the symbols on WhatsApp mean?
You’ll see them pop up after each message and they have a really useful meaning. Here’s each one and what it corresponds to –
| Symbol | What does it mean? |
|---|---|
| Your message is queued and trying to be sent | |
| Your message has been successfully sent | |
| Your message has been successfully delivered to the recipients handset | |
| Your message has been read by the recipient |
Now we’ve talked about that, it brings us to the question I’m posing in the title to this post.
Should you be using WhatsApp for your business?
WhatsApp Business is an Android app which is free to download, and was built with the small business owner in mind. With the app, businesses can interact with customers easily by using tools to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages.
While previously only available for the Android mobile operating system, it is now additionally available for iOS devices too (well, iPhone at least) and is free to download and use.
It runs alongside the ‘normal’ WhatsApp app on your device (so you don’t need to pick one over the other). When you’re sending messages you simply open up the app that represents the right profile (you or your business).
Facebook bought WhatsApp in February 2014 for about $19 billion
WhatsApp now claims over 1 billion daily users, so there’s a really good chance that your customers are already WhatsApp users. This is why it could be such an asset for your business. The separate app allows you to maintain a separate profile for your business, without it getting muddled with your business brand.
And, of course, it means you don’t have to give out your mobile number publicly.
Features of WhatsApp Business
Broadcast message
Send a broadcast message out to multiple recipients, from ‘your business’. Note that the broadcast message will only go to those with your registered number in their address book/contacts.
Ensure your customers add your details to their contacts
As mentioned above there are some actions which will only be available to people who have your details stored, and also, just to make it super-easy for them to contact you – when they click on link to message you, or when they start a new chat, they’ll have the option to add you.
Change your WhatsApp status
Whether it’s letting people know what’s going on or making a little impromptu announcement, your status can be useful to send a little note out there to the WhatsAppSphere.
Set up your business details
You can set the name that people will see when you write to them, a little ‘about information’ and your phone number
Your business profile can be confirmed
To add that layer of credibility, and so the recipient can be confident that they’re talking to ‘right’ brand, your profile should be confirmed. This consists of having a code sent through to the number you choose, you enter that into your WhatsApp Buinsess app and boom – you’re all set.
You can fill out your profile with your address, category, description, opening hours, email address and website (there’s other stuff in there too).
When you view someone’s profile on WhatsApp, if they have a business account, it will show as either –
- Verified – shown with a green checkmark badge () in the profile. This is to represent that it’s an authentic brand (so, think big names)
- Confirmed – shown with a grey checkmark badge () in the profile. This is to represent that WhatsApp has confirmed that the phone numbers match for this business
- Business account – shown with a grey question mark () in the profile. This is to represent that the profile is using WhatsApp Business, but hasn’t been verified or confirmed
Confirm your WhatsApp Business profile
How do I make a clickable link for someone to send me a WhatsApp message direct from my website?
If you want people to be able to send you a message just be clicking a link on your site, you need to use the format – https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=[your phone number] – where [your phone number] is replaced with your WhatsApp registered number. I’ve registered our main office number with our WhatsApp Busines profile, so our link would be https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=441914066382
This leads with the country code for the UK (44), dropping the leading 0 (from 0191) which results is 441914066382
Try WhatsApp Business for yourself
Give it a go. We’ve got the following button setup so when you click it, you’ll start a conversation with the Hypestar WhatsApp Business profile. Tap it and have a chat with us…
