A staggering half of businesses aren’t using WhatsApp! Furthermore, 72 percent of business users on WhatsApp don’t use the messaging app for group chats with business colleagues, using it predominantly for one-to-one communication.

These were the findings of a study carried out by online marketing specialists Digimax. Despite being the world’s leading messaging service in the world, why are a significant proportion of businesses failing to take advantage of the informal messaging app?

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Opportunities of WhatsApp for Businesses

WhatsApp provides a wealth of opportunities for small businesses to not only market their products and services, but to communicate and engage with customer efficiently and effectively.

Digimax’s study found that 90 percent of WhatsApp messages are opened in three seconds. This presents opportunities for small businesses as they can provide real-time customer service and support, instead of having to go through slower methods of communication.

A recent update on WhatsApp, which allows users to post photos, videos and GIF images that are only visible to contacts for 24 hours, enables small businesses to engage with customers in a fast and efficient way.

Talking of the benefits WhatsApp brings to the business community, Shaz Memon, creative director at Digimax, commented, “WhatsApp enables immediate, free and convenient communication and is ideal for work-related discussions.

“One of the best reasons for using the instant messaging app is that most of your customers are probably already using it — more than 50 billion messages are sent through WhatsApp every single day.”

Digimax’s research also found that 38 percent of business clients like the fact that WhatsApp is free to use. Businesses can therefore take advantage of communicating with clients and colleagues in a cost-effective way.

If you’re not already benefiting from this free and instant messaging app now used by more than 1.2 billion globally, it may be time to embark on the WhatsApp journey as part of your small business’s communications solutions.

WhatsApp Business was just launched with the goal of giving small business owners an easy to use tool for connecting with their customers.

WhatsApp Business is a dedicated Android app for small businesses so they can create a business profile to convey a more professional presence and experience. Users will be able to separate their business and personal communication with an official company address.

Unlike the rest of the world, WhatsApp doesn’t enjoy the same popularity in the US. So for small businesses here, it might not be the platform of choice, but Facebook is making it available for free. So for no upfront cost, you can start using it to communicate with customers and other businesses that do use it.

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WhatsApp Business App Features

You don’t have to download a new application to start using WhatsApp Business. Once you fill out your profile, it will be listed as a business account, which will become a “Confirmed Account” once WhatsApp verifies your information.

After the account is established, business owners can use tools like smart messaging, quick replies, greeting messages and away messages. With these features, you can quickly communicate with your customers to let them know you are open for business or busy.

You still have the same control over your messages, so you can report spam and block any number, including businesses.

The application also provides messaging statistics, including the number of messages that have been read. And if you don’t happen to have your smartphone with you, WhatsApp Web will let you send and receive messages on your PC.

Monetizing WhatsApp

Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2104. At the time it was charging $1 for an annual subscription, which was dropped in 2016. With 1.3 billion users, Facebook has been slow to monetize WhatsApp, but the account for businesses is an indicator it my be inching closer to making this happen.

WhatsApp’s Chief Operating Officer Matt Idema told the Wall Street Journal, when it first announced the Business App, “We do intend on charging businesses in the future. We don’t have the details of monetization figured out.”

Until it does monetize the service, you can use WhatsApp Business to connect with your customers for free.

WhatsApp Business is now available in the US, the UK, Indonesia, Italy and Mexico on Google Play. It will be rolling out in the coming weeks to other parts of the world.

WhatsApp Business enables you to have a business presence on WhatsApp, communicate more efficiently with your customers, and help you grow your business.

If you have separate business and personal phone numbers, you can have both WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Messenger installed on the same phone, and register them with different numbers.

In addition to the features available in WhatsApp Messenger, WhatsApp Business includes:

• BUSINESS PROFILE: Create a profile for your business to help your customers find valuable information — like your website, location, or contact information.

• BUSINESS MESSAGING TOOLS: Be more responsive to your customers by using Away messages to indicate that you're away.

• LANDLINE/FIXED NUMBER SUPPORT: You can use WhatsApp Business with a landline (or fixed) phone number and your customers can message you on that number. During verification, select the “Call me” option to receive the code over a phone call.

• RUN BOTH WHATSAPP MESSENGER AND WHATSAPP BUSINESS: You can use both WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Messenger on the same phone, but each app must have its own unique phone number.

• WHATSAPP WEB: You can more efficiently respond to your customers right from your computer's browser.

WhatsApp Business is built on top of WhatsApp Messenger and includes all the features that you rely on, such as the ability to send multimedia, free calls*, free international messaging*, group chat, offline messages, and much more.

*Data charges may apply. Contact your provider for details.

Note: once you restore your chat backup from WhatsApp Messenger to WhatsApp Business, you will no longer be able to restore it back to WhatsApp Messenger. If you would like to go back, we recommend that you copy the WhatsApp Messenger backup on your phone to your computer before you start using WhatsApp Business.