Use WhatsApp Broadcast to Expand Your Business in 2023

With more than  2 billion monthly users worldwide, using WhatsApp Broadcast for business is the new way to communicate with your customers. 

WhatsApp ranks 3rd in terms of popularity and usage and stands to have the most users after Facebook and Youtube. Hence setting up a WhatsApp broadcast vs group is essential for your business.

Now WhatsApp business is replacing emails for most businesses as it is more convenient to use and customers prefer WhatsApp communication over emails. WhatsApp Broadcast for business enables a company to broadcast a message to a large number of customers in a single go.

In this article, we explain the difference between WhatsApp and WhatsApp for business. We talk about WhatsApp broadcast vs group and the different ways to use WhatsApp broadcast for business and the WhatsApp business broadcast limit.

Why do we need WhatsApp for Business?

There are multiple benefits of having WhatsApp for a business account when running a business. These stem from the additional features of a WhatsApp business account.

Having a WhatsApp business account helps improve a business’s customer service. This is achieved by using different chat features such as setting up custom messages when you are unavailable or an auto-generated welcome message whenever a customer messages you on WhatsApp. 

You can also set up labels so you can distinguish between the different categories that you can customize for your business. This can help you create labels for priority orders, and returns, or even to mark who is a regular customer, etc. 

WhatsApp for business also has the feature to have a canned response to frequently asked questions that you can customize for your business. This is known as the quick replies feature.

You also get the option to create a product catalog for your business that can be accessed by customers. Customers can add products to their cart from your WhatsApp catalog itself and place their orders with you.

WhatsApp for Business has 15 times more engagement as compared to other messenger applications such as Facebook messenger, despite it being WhatsApp’s parent company’s official messenger application.

Improved issue resolution and better turnaround times are made possible through WhatsApp for Business which leads to better customer satisfaction which in turn ensures customer retention.

Set up WhatsApp for Business

The first thing a business needs to start broadcasting with WhatsApp is to have a WhatsApp business account. Follow these steps to set up your WhatsApp business account:

• Go to PlayStore or AppStore and download the WhatsApp Business app
• Once downloaded, accept the Terms and Conditions
• Make sure to enter the mobile phone number you use for your business 
• Verify the number
• Add your profile details including your profile picture and description
• Familiarize yourself with WhatsApp business tools and get connecting with your customers.

WhatsApp Broadcast for Business Explained

WhatsApp Broadcast enables a business to send out a message to its broadcast list be it a message, a video, an image, or any other form of media.

Knowing the difference between Whatsapp broadcast vs group is essential to understand the importance of WhatsApp Broadcast for business. 

A group message is sent out to the entire WhatsApp group and that chat is not private. Anyone and everyone in that group can view that chat and each other’s responses as well.

Communication via broadcast lets you send your message to multiple people individually. This means you have individual, private, direct chats with each one of your contacts.

Messaging in a group may cause an important message to be missed or people to get annoyed due to the large volume of messages being shared. This may reflect negatively on your business or you may lose out on a potential customer.

With WhatsApp broadcasts the chance of important messages being missed is next to none. Furthermore, it gives your client the feeling of being exclusive and encourages them to view and respond to the messages being sent.

With WhatsApp broadcast you curate broadcast lists to send targeted messages to only the ones you add to the list. Broadcast lists are convenient when communicating with multiple customers quickly.

How to Broadcast via WhatsApp Business

To send out a WhatsApp Broadcast, you first need to have a broadcast list. Creating a broadcast list on WhatsApp is very easy.

There are 5 simple steps to set up your broadcast list:

• Open WhatsApp for Business App
• Click on the three dots at the top right and click on More Options
• Select New Broadcast
• Add all the contacts you want to that broadcast list by selecting them. You can also search for specific contacts to add to the list
• Once you have added everyone to the list, click on the check mark sign.

Your broadcast list is ready and waiting for you. You can edit, delete or even add labels to your broadcast lists. 

Importance of WhatsApp Broadcast for your business

1. Popularity

WhatsApp is the most used social messaging application. As of 2022, WhatsApp is used by 218,541,212 million people in Pakistan. On average 53% of people check their WhatsApp messages multiple times a day. 

2. Userbase

Having a WhatsApp for business and using WhatsApp broadcast lists will help your business have a larger audience that you can target and spread your message to.

3. Increased engagement

Furthermore, not everyone has an email address or checks it regularly apart from official work. Hence, WhatsApp broadcast is much more accessible and has a much higher engagement rate.

4. Multiple communication styles are supported by the WhatsApp application

You can use WhatsApp broadcasts to send out multiple types of communication. Aside from messages, you can also share newsletters, new product launches, back-in-stock intimations, shipping updates, multimedia messages, and much more.

5. Higher click rate

With a 99% open rate, it is best to use WhatsApp broadcast as an alternative to disseminate information as WhatsApp messages have higher chances of being opened.

6. Less probability of a message being lost

There is little to no chance of a message being missed because unlike emails, there are no óthers’ or ‘spam’ folders where WhatsApp broadcast messages may get lost.

7. Important messages are not missed

People prefer to check WhatsApp messages frequently to ensure they are not missing any important communication. Seeing a notification automatically prompts them to open their WhatsApp chat.

8. Tracking message delivery and opening rates

It also helps track your message's click ratio as you can easily find out who the messages were delivered to when they opened them as a result of the double blue ticks if they are enabled by the receiver.

9. Easily Available everywhere on all devices

WhatsApp is also accessible on all social devices in 180 countries. Be it a laptop, a tablet, a computer, an android phone, or an iOS cellular device, WhatsApp is compatible with almost all digital devices. 

10. Convenient automation

There are multiple options to set up automated responses that individuals can use to engage with you. For instance, setting up a prompt with numbers against the kind of service you are looking for. When a person picks one of those numbers, the corresponding information can be sent out automatically. 

This relieves the load off of you and your team if you have one while communicating with your customers and it helps the customers reach out with the exact thing they want to discuss. 

11. Customization

With WhatsApp, you can customize your messages for your audience and give them a more holistic experience which improves your customer experience as the customer feels valued and appreciated.

12. Free to use

Using WhatsApp for business and business broadcasting with WhatsApp for business is free to use which means you will not incur any costs while engaging with your customers.

WhatsApp Business Broadcast limit

While WhatsApp business broadcast is an excellent platform for a business to engage with its audience, like all things, WhatsApp business broadcast limit is a real challenge.

Depending on the needs of your business, these limitations may or may not be a hindrance to you while communicating with your audience.

The limitations of WhatsApp business broadcast are as follows:

• Customers must have the business’s number saved:

You can not send messages via WhatsApp broadcast to contacts who have not saved your numbers in their contacts list.

• Limit on number of contacts per broadcast list

There is a limit of 256 contacts per broadcast message, meaning at a single time you can only broadcast messages to 256 contacts via WhatsApp.

• Limit on number of devices WhatsApp business can be linked to

You can only use your WhatsApp business on 4 different devices at a time. This means only four people or systems can access WhatsApp business in a go. This should be okay if you have a small setup with a limited number of people running the show. For larger teams, this can prove to be a communication nightmare if not tackled.

• No built-in ticket management system

There is no ticket management system since tickets are not generated for issues. 

• Lack of an integrated chatbox

You do not have an integrated Chatbot that you can use to lessen the burden on your customer service team.

• Lack of notification on customer activity

You do not get notifications. For instance, in case a customer visits your catalog and adds products to the cart but then doesn’t complete the purchase, you will not get notified on your system unless you view that specific chat yourself.

• Inability to export contacts

You can not export contacts to your WhatsApp business account from excel or any online database. You will have to enter those contacts manually. 

• No analytical report is available

You do not get analytics. There is no possibility of getting a Whatsapp-generated analytical report about your business stats etc.

• Limited automation in replies

You have little room to automate your replies in the WhatsApp for business application. This means that a majority of the replies will still need you to respond to them instead of being able to automate them.

• Suitable for small businesses

WhatsApp for business is suitable for use by smaller businesses that can manage the systems and customer communication in a more micromanaged manner with only 4 people accessing the chat.

How to Increase WhatsApp Broadcast limit

As is the case with most things, there is a way to increase the Whatsapp broadcast limit for businesses too. These limitations may not be of concern to small businesses.

However, if you are a medium to large business looking to integrate WhatsApp for business into your communication repertoire you may need to increase your WhatsApp broadcast limitations.

With an increasing number of businesses using WhatsApp for business, in 2018, WhatsApp launched the WhatsApp Business API version. 

The WhatsApp Business API is different from WhatsApp business as it offers some advanced features that WhatsApp business doesn’t have. Some of those features are paid for too.

How to use WhatsApp Broadcast for Markaz App to increase sales

Markaz App is a platform dedicated to connecting wholesalers with resellers with maximum ease for both. 

Markaz App onboards both the wholesaler and reseller. Thus the stress of finding a reseller or a reliable wholesaler is non-existent for both the parties involved. 

Furthermore, Markaz App provides even more convenience to both parties by taking care of the payments managing and handling shipping and logistics themselves. This lets the reseller focus only on selling and the wholesaler on providing a consistent, quality supply of goods.

With over 10,000 products listed on its portal, Markaz App is a great place to start a business for everyone. All a reseller has to do is choose one or more products they wish to resell. They will be able to see the wholesale rates on the application. 

Once they have chosen a product, the reseller will just need to add a markup of their choice to the product and float the Markaz App link to the product with their customers. 

Wherever someone will purchase a product using that unique link, the markup as set by the reseller will be sent to the reseller.

Using WhatsApp Business and curating WhatsApp Broadcast lists will prove to be immensely beneficial for a person looking to provide quality customer services and share their message to a bigger audience in a fraction of the time.

You can also visit the official WhatsApp Help Center guide to using broadcast lists on WhatsApp.

Concluding Remarks

With an increase in online commerce, leveraging all means of communication is essential for a business. Using WhatsApp Business broadcast can make all the difference between satisfactory and great customer service.

WhatsApp ranks top amongst all messenger apps in the world, which mean the potential to use it for your business is unlimited. This blog post is a detailed guide especially curated for you. It is dedicated to explaining the benefit to a business opting to use WhatsApp Broadcast to Expand Your Business in 2023.

FAQs

Is there an official Markaz app whatsapp group?

On record, or officially speaking, there is no official markaz app whatsapp group, or in other words, markaz app whatsapp group/communities from a broad spectrum perspective. 

Is this a red flag? 

Of course not. 

Markaz doesn’t officially endorse a specific whatsapp group as the one and only ‘markaz app whatsapp group.’ There are literally thousands of online sellers, who are selling markaz products through all kinds of social media platforms. 

To that effect, many sellers with a high network count have created markaz whatsapp group to promote the products of their choosing from Markaz website. These Whatsapp business broadcast groups are mostly meant to promote those products that the group admin chooses to presell. 

This also means that if you have joined such markaz app whatsapp group communities, you are a little disadvantaged in terms of promoting the products of your choosing.

But don’t worry. You can grow your network and eventually create your own whatsapp business broadcast community for the purpose of scaling your markaz whatsapp group reputation. 

With the passage of time, you will have your independent whatsapp broadcast for business platform, where you will have complete autonomy over which products to sell and promote – and that too, with peace of mind.

What are some of the global whatsapp business broadcast group rules that also apply to markaz app whatsapp group (s) In Pakistan?

The following list outlines some of the most common rules for WhatsApp Business Broadcast Groups:

1. All members should be made aware of the group’s purpose prior to joining it. 

2. All messages posted must relate directly to the topic or purpose of the group. 

3. No spamming or commercial solicitations are allowed in any broadcast group message thread. 

4. Advertising of any kind is strictly prohibited in any broadcast group message thread. 

5. Each user is responsible for maintaining their individual privacy settings within markaz app whatsapp group accordingly, as well as that of other participants they may have interacted with while a member of a broadcast group chat room (for example, through private messages).  

6. Respectful debate and discussion is encouraged among members; however insults, profanity and personal attacks will not be tolerated in any form on any broadcast group message threads whatsoever – including text-based and audio/video calls taken place on this platform.  

Any such behavior will result in being immediately removed from the broadcast group without warning.  

7. Always remember that members can report objectionable content to Group Admins/Moderators, if necessary, at any time.