The world is gradually making a shift to a digital world. It won’t be wrong to say that today we are living in a digital world. From our basic needs to luxuries can now be fulfilled digitally.
Businesses are slowly taking a shift towards digital platforms to cater to their different requirements and serving to their clients. And the winner of all digital platforms for various business processes turns out to be Whatsapp.
Are you struggling to send bulk WhatsApp messages? don’t worry in this article we will be discussing how to send bulk messages on WhatsApp. Before getting started let’s get to know why WhatsApp is the best option to use and how to promote your brand or products/services using Whatsapp by using digital marketing
Role of WhatsApp in the Digital Marketing
Whatsapp undoubtedly has become the most prominent messaging app for people. Be it direct messages, group messages, or broadcasts; Whatsapp is the one stop solution for all.
The below given statistics have enough power to make you believe the power of Whatsapp as not just a personal messenger, but as a powerful digital tool for businesses.
- As of 2021, Whatsapp has over 2 billion active users and the number is growing with every passing day. (Source: backlinko.com)
- If we believe in data, a shocking 100 billion messages are exchanged every day using Whatsapp, isn’t it huge! (Source: livemint)
- Whatsapp has marked its presence in over 180 countries out of 195 countries and is strategically the most popular messaging application in all but 25 of these countries. Indeed a true example of globalization. (Source: Verint.com)
- An average user spends approximately 40 minutes a day on Whatsapp. The chances of your messages being read are surely very high. (Source: backlinko.com)
- Going back to 2020, Whatsapp had already crossed 459 million users in India and the number was still growing. This pocket messenger, because of its ease of usage, is largely used by people of different age groups ranging from 16 years to 60 years. (Source: Indiatoday)
To draw a conclusion using these statistics, Indians are actively using Whatsapp and your entire user base is on Whatsapp. Not only that, it is found that people are most responsive to Whatsapp messages. So in short, Whatsapp is your go to digital platform for your business purposes.
How To Use Whatsapp For Digital Marketing?
Using Whatsapp; can no doubt give a boon to the business. But the big question is as to how we can deploy Whatsapp for our business purposes?
There are various ways we can deploy Whatsapp for our businesses:
- By automating webinar confirmation messages: Say for instance, if someone registers for a zoom session, you can send them an automated confirmation through WhatsApp and can consistently send reminders.
- Sending acknowledgment through Facebook lead ads: if you are doing Facebook lead generation advertisements you can immediately send an acknowledgment to whosoever fills the form and you can immediately receive enquiries from them.
- Payment reminders and successful payment notifications: you can use WhatsApp to automate payment reminders and unsuccessful/successful payment notifications.
- Whatsapp Bots
- Whatsapp e-com store
- You can send bulk messages on WhatsApp: One of the prominent techniques used by marketers to promote their businesses on Whatsapp. You can update your existing clients about your latest ventures or any upcoming activity. You can send promotional messages to your leads and there is so much more you can do through bulk messaging, which we will be covered further in this article.
Besides this, there is much more that you can do using Whatsapp to add value to your business and bring it to the digital platform.
Whatsapp Bulk Messaging
Bulk messaging is a good start to start using Whatsapp for your business. But, you cannot randomly send bulk messages on WhatsApp. There is a lot you need to know before using this facility of Whatsapp.
The Benefits of Bulk Messaging
Bulk messaging can highly elevate the way you do business and connect you with your customers
- Enhanced customer engagement: Reaching your prospects could not be easier and better than using Whatsapp Bulk messaging services. It can greatly enhance your customer engagement.
- Helps to position your brand: By reaching a larger customer base, your path of creating your brand becomes easier.
- Team sharing: Helps the team to stay on the same platform and share more innovative ideas to reach out to customers.
- Easy to share information: Bulk messaging makes it easier to reach out to your customers during promotions, events, etc.
Things You Should Know Before You Start To Send Bulk Messages On Whatsapp
Before deploying anything new to upheave your business, you should have good knowledge about what and how it needs to be done. Half-baked knowledge can harm your business rather than do any good. A few things are must to keep in mind before sending out bulk Whatsapp messages. Bulk WhatsApp messages can be sent using 2 ways:
- Using Unofficial Tools: These are the unofficial tools that mimic the Whatsapp Web.
- Using Whatsapp Official API: These APIs are officially provided by Whatsapp opening the doors for businesses to use Whatsapp marketing solutions.
Both the above methods can be used to send bulk WhatsApp messages and both these techniques have their own pros and cons.
Unofficial API Pros And Cons
Unofficial API Pros;
- It doesn’t require getting any Whatsapp approval
- There is no need to get the message template approved before sending the messages.
- Apt for both business or personal usage
Unofficial API Cons
- These APIs are not approved by Whatsapp, and your number can anytime be blocked. Therefore they are not a permanent solution for those who are really serious about growing their business using Whatsapp
- Whatsapp keeps changing its code with every new functionality, so these APIs can stop working anytime. In short, they are not trustworthy.
- They need WiFi all the time.
- You can’t do more than 500 messages in a day otherwise you will be blocked.
- You can’t trust these tools.
Official API Pros and Cons
Official API Pros;
- They are reliable
- Multiple Device Access
- Broadcast up to 100,000 messages per day
- Customer Segmentation/Tagging
- Niche Targeting
- Advanced Automation and Chatbots
- Rich Media Template Messages – PDF, Image, Video, Audio, Etc
- Advanced Analytics – Reporting and Tracking
Official API Cons;
- You need to get Business API approval
- You need to get your Templates pre-approved
- You can’t use it for personal use
- Messages are paid.
We have already learned about the pros and cons of both official and unofficial APIs. But unofficial APIs are a big no-no. Here is why we say so!
- Need to connect to WiFi all the time.
- You can’t do more than 500 messages in a day otherwise you will be blocked
- You can’t trust these tools
When we already know that Official APIs are what we are looking for, let’s move on to setting up official APIs.
Official APIs
Before starting on setting up an official API, let’s get a brief overview of what an API is. API is an application programming interface that acts as a mediator between the end user and the system. And the official Whatsapp APIs are approved by Whatsapp and you need to apply for them and get approval from Whatsapp.
- But why can’t you use a personal WhatsApp or business WhatsApp and need an official API?
Here is your answer;
Though personal Whatsapp and business Whatsapp are free, there are various limitations to them. If you really want to use Whatsapp to extreme limits to scale your business, the official Whatsapp API is what you will need. Here is a complete chart depicting why we can’t use a personal WhatsApp or business WhatsApp and need an official API for scaling our business using Whatsapp.
Setting Up The Official API
An official API will need 5 to 7 days of time to set up as it will require you to do some paperwork. But the result will be a faster growing business if you are really serious about it. To set up your Official API you need some prerequisites.
Steps to Follow for Setting Up Official API
Step 1
First Is That You Need To Have A Business Manager: The business manager is nothing but a platform by Facebook, which allows you to manage various ads, people, and Facebook pages in one place. Having a Facebook business manager comes for free. Creating an account there is pretty simple, all you need to do is to go to https://business.facebook.com/
Click on Create Account
1. Fill in the details in the pop-up
2. Your business name (it should match the public name of your business as it will be visible across your Facebook pages, no special characters are allowed here)
3. Your name
4. Your business email id (very important here to use a business email address)
- Click Next
- Enter your business details
- Click Submit
And here you are creating your business manager account.
Step 2
Verification of Facebook Business Manager: When you are done with your Facebook business manager, you have to get your verification done. It is the most crucial step here and you really need to pay a lot of attention here. For verification, you will need some paperwork, which can itself take about 3 to 5 working days.
So let’s do it step by step;
1. Go to https://business.facebook.com/
2. Go to the account you just created in step 1
3. On the left navigation, click on the ‘Business Settings’ option.
4. From the ‘Business Settings’ page, go to ‘Security Center’
5. Click on the ‘Start Verification’ button.
6. Fill in your correct business details. Do enter your correct details because there can be chances for your verification to get rejected if your details are not entered correctly.
7. And it will take 3 to 5 days for Facebook to verify your details.
Step 3
Then You Need to Get Your New Whatsapp Number: This is not rocket science and you can apply for a new Sim from any operator or for that reason your landline number or IVR number. But better advised to have a new 10 digit number. The reason for a new number is that after setting up a number for the Whatsapp API you cannot go back to a personal Whatsapp, even if you disable your Whatsapp API.
Step 4
Your Next Step Will Be to Sign Up for a Whatsapp Marketing Tool: Once your business manager is ready and you have a new number, go ahead and contact a reliable Whatsapp marketing tool like WATI to help you with the further process.
And to apply at Wati.io you can follow the given link: APPLY FOR WATI.IO
With an easy-to-use customer engagement platform built on WhatsApp Business API, WATI lets businesses conduct personalized discussions with customers at scale. For example, using WATI’s API, you can pragmatically deliver tailored notifications from your system.
A seamless team inbox with smart routing, scripted responses, data tagging, and analytics may also help SMEs support their clients.
Low-code workflow builders and chatbots can automate many of these encounters. Allowing businesses to have smarter, more engaging discussions with their consumers means more time for them to do what they enjoy.
WATI allows you to send bulk messages on WhatsApp to your prospects and your clients. It is an automated software that is programmed over Official WhatsApp Business APIs. It is designed in a way that you can directly and easily send bulk WhatsApp Messages from a PC/Laptop
To sum up the features of WATI, we here have a list of some of its benefits for you:
- CRM integration
- Shared Team Inbox
- Bulk Broadcast and personalized messages
- Custom notification
- Native integration like Shopify, Woocommerce, Hubspot, Google sheets, etc.
- No code chatbots
- Developer friendly
WATI Pricing Plan
Moving on to the economics of this wonderful tool, WATI offers its customers two pricing plans
Monthly Plan
Standard – (Rs. 2900/- per month)
- Basic chatbot builder
- 10 chatbot flows
- 50 Nodes per flow
- Free 1000 conversations per month
- 5 agents for free (Extra Agent – ₹2250/month)
Professional – (Rs. 5800/- per month)
- The major difference between the two is that it has an Advanced chatbot builder. It has a subscribe/unsubscribe option and much more.
- Google Sheets Integration with Flow
- 25 Chatbot Flows,
- 200 Steps (Nodes) Per Flow
- Message Sequence Feature
- Export Chats
- Free 1,000 conversations per month
- Free 5 Agents
If you are restricted with your budget then you can go for a standard plan, but if you are free on your budget, we would advise you to opt for the professional plan.
Annual Plan
If you go for an annual plan, then you get a 20% on both plans.
Then it also offers you a 7 day free trial where you get
- Multi-Agent Inbox & Support Dashboard overview
- Third party integrations with tools like Shopify, Google Sheets, etc.
- CRM & Contact Management tour
- WhatsApp Broadcast
But you will not be able to
- Build Chatbot or Automation Flows
- Set up your own WhatsApp number
- Make New Templates
Sending Bulk WhatsApp Messages Using WATI
Let’s dig more into how to send Bulk WhatsApp Messages using WATI.
After getting access to bulk WhatsApp messaging services from WATI by providing them with the required details, sending bulk messages is very easy.
Steps to Follow for Sending Bulk WhatsApp Messages
Here is a step by step guide on using WATI for sending bulk messages;
Step 1
Go to the WATI dashboard and click on the Broadcast tab.
Step 2
On the top right you will see ‘New Broadcast’, click on it.
Step 3
Now is the time to add your Broadcast Name, Message template, and Broadcast time when you have to send the message and click on Next.
Step 4
Now upload the list of the contacts or choose the list of your contacts and click on ‘Add Broadcast’
Step 5
When you are done it’s time to do some analysis and track WhatsApp Broadcast status
Using this facility you can track how many of your contacts have read your message, and how many have replied to it and you can also check their replies on ‘Team Inbox’.
It’s not over here!
Whatsapp Chatbots Are What You Will Need Next!
When your prospects show interest in your business, it is very important to have a continuous presence for them. It is not possible to be available for all the messages and requests 24×7, even after you employ a big customer care service.
To utilize the power of Whatsapp further to provide the ultimate customer experience, Whatsapp chatbots were introduced.
The chatbots came into the picture in 2018, when Facebook launched Whatsapp Business API.
Whatsapp Chatbots come with multiple benefits that can give a great boost to businesses, and to all those who deploy them correctly.
Some of the benefits of Whatsapp Chatbots are:
- Availability even during non-working hours.
- Saves tremendous costs by reducing the cost of hiring agents
- Multiple Chats can be handled simultaneously.
- They are very efficient and fast.
Since Whatsapp Chatbots are the first interactive face of your business, it is very important to have a good conversation design for it.
What is a conversation design for chatbots and what points should be taken care of while designing them?
Conversation design refers to creating all the conversations that your customers can have with the Whatsapp Bot.
Some points that you can keep in mind while creating the conversation designs are:
- Have multiple chatbot Flows: Your conversations can go in any direction with your customers. Hence your chatbots should be efficient enough to answer the queries following the chat directions.
- Make use of a good fallback. Whatsapp chatbots are not humans, and there could be times when the chatbot will have no answer. Wisely devise conversations for this time. For example, during these times, you can take the customers to the main menu.
- Make your chatbots sound like support and not a salesperson.
- Keep your text small and effective.
- Include Call to Action in the closing statement.
How to Use Whatsapp Chatbots Using WATI
With WATI you can access no code chatbot facility, which means that even if you have no coding knowledge, you can easily create Whatsapp Chatbots using WATI.
1. Keyword Action: In the keyword action section, you can specify the keywords based on which the Bot will reply to the query. These keywords need not exactly match with the query, but the AI picks the most relevant reply matching the keyword.
2. Default Action: it is the place where you define the default behavior of the Whatsapp Bot. For example, the Bot’s behaviour when a question is asked during out of office hours.
3. Reply Material: Reply Material is the section where you will create all your responses based on Keyword Action and Default Action.
Your replies in this section can be;
- Text
- Images
- Documents
- Combination of multiple reply types.
When no agent is available or in other instances, WATI’s WhatsApp chatbot assists businesses in automating their conversation. The WhatsApp bot is completely programmable, and you can teach it to respond in a variety of circumstances and ways, including using stickers and emoticons.
The nicest aspect about this product is that you won’t lose customers or miss sales chances because you or your customer care representatives were absent at any moment. Automatic answers allow you to keep in constant contact with your consumers.
List of Other Top Bulk Whatsapp Messaging Tools
When we have already read about using Whatsapp Bulk Messaging services and Chatbots using WATI, here are a few other tools that allow you to send bulk messages on WhatsApp.
1. DelightChat: It is one of the most famous Whatsapp marketing tools in India. It provides end to end Whatsapp marketing solutions to grow your business. Some of its major features are:
- 2-way messaging,
- shared team inbox,
- bulk automated notifications,
- ROI tracking,
- Shopify integration and a whole lot more
2. Sendwo: it is an official Whatsapp Bulk messaging services provider. It is a desktop based tool where you can send messages using your desktop and Whatsapp account. Some of the features of Sendwo are:
- 24×7 customer support,
- Multiple contact storage,
- Fraud detection
- Customizable sender ID.
3. Veepar: it is another very prominent official Whatsapp Bulk messaging sending tool. It was initially known as WhatHash. It is a WhatsApp business web app with high end CRM features. Some of its features are:
- Set up business pages,
- Build e-commerce stores,
- Run surveys,
- Create reports & dashboards
4. WAAM-it Sender: It is a web-based Whatsapp Bulk Messaging tool built on the official WhatsApp API. It allows you to:
- Send personalized messages to all your contacts using a spreadsheet.
- Include pictures, videos, emojis, and other files in the messages.
- Send up to 5,000 messages free of cost.
- Contact management,
- Setting time delays between the messages you send,
- Bulk invitations to meetings and events,
- Reports & dashboards
- Customizable sender ID
These are a few prominent tools available in the market, but there are various other Whatsapp marketing tools that you can also look for. The final decision of picking up the most powerful Whatsapp Marketing tools has to be yours. Do your comprehensive research and pick the best for your requirements, as it is directly going to affect the way you connect with your customers.
These are a few prominent tools available in the market, but there are various other Whatsapp marketing tools that you can also look for. The final decision of picking up the most powerful Whatsapp Marketing tools has to be yours. Do your comprehensive research and pick the best for your requirements, as it is directly going to affect the way you connect with your customers.
Here, are another top 20 WhatsApp Marketing Tools you can explore and use the best for your business to increase the conversion rate.
Train Yourself Before Beginning Your Journey
We have already discussed various benefits of Whatsapp marketing. With all the statistics given above, there is no doubt that Whatsapp marketing is going to be the future of marketing.
But, before stepping into the world of Whatsapp marketing, it is very important that you should have a thorough knowledge of each and every aspect of Whatsapp marketing. It is only possible if you get an in-depth knowledge of it from experienced and veteran teachers.
You can’t trust all, but trust the best; Digital Scholar provides you with a deep understanding of every aspect of Whatsapp Marketing and clears all your queries and doubts. Step by step and detailed coverage of each topic gives an in-depth understanding of each topic.
The course is wisely divided into different modules and lessons so that the learner can get a good knowledge of every topic step by step without any confusion.
To contact Digital Scholars, and get started with your Whatsapp Marketing Journey, Click Here.
Conclusion
WhatsApp has become a very popular messaging platform, and it is a great way to communicate with large groups of people. This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to send bulk messages on WhatsApp. To learn more about digital marketing and how to use WhatsApp for marketing purposes, join an online digital marketing course offered by Digital Scholar.
Connecting with your customers is an inevitable part of every business. And what could be a better option than Whatsapp in the current digital world. Whatsapp is the most convenient and widespread messenger service that provides ample opportunities for businesses to efficiently connect with their customers. The world is moving fast and so every business has to change the way they work to get ahead of their competitors.
Enroll in the WhatsApp Marketing course to learn all about how to generate leads from WhatsApp marketing and grow your business.
Thanks for reading!
