What is WhatsApp bulk messaging and what it can offer to your business
Ever since WhatsApp came on the messaging scene, traditional methods of communication on mobile phones, such as texting, have taken a back seat. This is because WhatsApp does not use traditional channels of telecommunication for relaying those messages and texts. Instead, it uses the Internet to convey such data. The process is faster, more reliable, cheaper, and considerably more flexible too. There is no restriction on the data type either. This means people can share all types of files – be they audio files, video files, image files, vcards, spreadsheets, and of course traditional texts and emails without paying much for it. What’s more – this app allows access across different platforms, i.e., people can share iPhone data on BlackBerry and BlackBerry data on Android. Data from android phones can be easily used on windows phones and iPhones as well. Therefore, WhatsApp has become extremely popular among smartphone users. For now, it does look as if this internet based messaging system is ahead in the race between telecommunication systems, and internet based communication systems.
This rather revolutionary method of messaging was bought by Facebook and today, the undisputed king of social media is exploring and exploiting the potential of WhatsApp, along with others.
Of all the abilities of this app, perhaps the best is the flexibility that has opened new doors for smartphone users who can now send and share large files of different types. It has emerged as a great tool for sending bulk messages in social environments and sharing pictures, photographs, and video recordings as well.
This same ability of WhatsApp has been developed into WhatsApp bulk messaging software programs by different developers with varying degrees of complexity. These can be used by marketers as well as marketing service providers.
It is not very difficult to find WhatsApp bulk messaging tools, which are also known by different names such as bulk WhatsApp messaging software, or WhatsApp bulk software. Also downloading them is easy. Many service providers have websites offering bulk messaging WhatsApp services, with varying features that are developed for different marketing needs.
The words “bulk message on WhatsApp” are self-explanatory. Any WhatsApp bulk message software program integrated in such websites invariably sends messages to many people, which is exactly what is needed for marketing. Unlike conventional marketing methods, which could not be used to check and eliminate a set of persons for finding potential customers, WhatsApp bulk software lets the marketer comb segment by segment in order to identify potential customers.
A lot of statistics are involved in any bulk marketing initiative such as how many messages were sent each day, to how many people, who read the message, who responded to that message, at what time, and whether the message been replied to. If any bulk messaging app could offer all such information at a glimpse, the workload of marketers comes down. Such features are included in many of the WhatsApp bulk marketing software tools.
Like any other online marketing initiative, WhatsApp bulk marketing requires a contact list. WhatsApp bulk suite software allows using contact lists existing on many of the handsets. In addition, it is possible to use contact lists from different email accounts and other sources too. It is also possible to feed in, or paste the list of targeted people in WhatsApp bulk sender software.
Even if the contact list is long, the WhatsApp bulk sender does not require much time to download, store, and use this contact list. In fact the WhatsApp bulk message sender is one of the most user friendly tools around and it does not occupy much space in the memory notwithstanding the considerable amount of data. WhatsApp bulk sms software is also available for different operating systems such as Linux and Windows.
Bulk WhatsApp marketing software also allows users to store multiple messages, and files. The sizes of such messages and files can vary as can their format. In addition there are no restrictions applicable on the length of the files being sent. All types of conventional data formats as well as multimedia formats can be sold using this tool.
For simple marketing initiatives, a person can download the WhatsApp bulk sender free of charge. But for more customized marketing, customized bulk WhatsApp marketing solutions are needed.
If a user chooses to download WhatsApp bulk messaging software for free, many of the analytic services and specialized services will not be available. For example, there may be a limited set of contact groups that are possible with such software and Multilanguage support may not be available.
In contrast customized bulk WhatsApp messaging offers several unique features or desirable features such as:
a. Generating WhatsApp channels and validating contacts –
Channels in bulk WhatsApp messaging refer to WhatsApp users who are active on the software. Such channels need to be identified to send them the desired marketing content. However, when a user opts for bulk WhatsApp software free of charge, such channels may not be protected. Protecting, i.e., preventing others from stealing the channel is possible from channel generation software that forms an integral part of developed bulk WhatsApp software. Without such protection, a WhatsApp channel finder tool can trace the channel and allow others to us it too. Such channels can also be created from contacts lists in various SIM cards using the WART Tool. Contacts in formats such as text or CSV can also be transformed into a format for WhatsApp. There is also a way to validate such contacts using a tool for it. Classification is also possible distinguishing the WhatsApp users and contacts based on their country and only selecting those contacts and channels that need to be targeted in the marketing campaign. Channels can also have an image associated with them, which was not possible in the past. Therefore, brand image can be linked to the channel so that the recipient can see from whom the message is.
b. Shuffling marketing messages –
One of the major advantages of marketing on WhatsApp is that it is possible to shuffle the different types of messages stored so that each message seems to be unique and sent exclusively to the person. Personalizing such messages is also possible.
c. Tracking the last seen messages and chatting immediately with the recipient –
Some of the whatsapp bulk messaging tools help to keep track of the last seen messages in any marketing campaign. They also help to chat with the person, which is not possible with conventional tools because there is a time lag between the time the person opens the email or when the marketing SMS is seen by the intended recipient. Auto reply is another feature that some of the WhatsApp bulk messenger services offer. This is an important feature because it ensures that the client or prospective client does not move away and is kept engaged till somebody replies to his or her query.
On the whole, any WhatsApp mass marketing initiative is better managed when compared to conventional marketing initiatives because contacts or channels are developed by the software, and they are long lasting.
d. Speed in sending messages –
One of the reasons why WhatsApp bulk sms is popular is because of the speed. Different tools and service providers may vary in speed at which the WhatsApp bulk message is sent. In general though almost 10000 messages can be sent to intended recipients in less than 2 hours, which could have taken a couple of days in conventional way of messaging. As mentioned before, such messages can also be personalized, and be in any format or combination of formats such as images with texts, videos with texts, etc. Moreover, there are no restrictions on locations to which messages could be sent as there were with conventional telecommunication methods. It is also possible to send bulk WhatsApp messages in the language of the country where the recipient resides.
e. Secured message sending and information receipt –
The Bulk WhatsApp sender takes the responsibility of keeping the communication secure. Traditionally, it was not possible to keep the messages secure. In addition to such security, a WhatsApp bulk messenger service tracks the messages that are sent, and reports on them having been delivered.
f. Multiple chats in call centers –
Because WhatsApp mass marketing is a fast tool, it is possible for call centers to tackle multiple clients simultaneously which was not possible with the technologies of the past.
g. Inbox, outbox systems –
There are inboxes and outboxes allocated so as to keep track of different messages in bulk messaging WhatsApp services. The messages received or sent can be in any format and of any length or size.
h. Managing multiple marketing initiatives –
There can be many products or services that are being sold or marketed simultaneously. Using separate sets of channels for each of these is often necessary to avoid confusion. When WhatsApp sms marketing tools or services are used, managing such multiple marketing initiatives becomes easy and there is no confusion. Each client gets exactly the desired information and the marketer gets neatly classified information about which the client is asking, such as which product and which product needs to be sent to which customer. This is indeed a huge benefit. For example a real estate company may be selling some homes in Florida and Texas. Keeping track of which contact asked for information about Texas and which customer asked about Florida is important. The same is true even for electronic products. Similarly, there can be more than one type of marketing campaign for the same product as well. This will ensure that customers get to see new campaigns each time.
i. Cost benefit –
Marketing campaigns were never cheap. It is difficult to draw the attention of people towards what is being sold. A lot of study has gone into this to identify how to get the attention of the visitor to a site. But bulk WhatsApp messages are different. Though they are not entirely free, i.e., there is some expense involved, and the sender facilitating WhatsApp bulk messages may impose some restrictions and collect some fees too, the fact remains that the overall costs are considerably lower than all previous ways of marketing. In addition, a combination with Facebook and other social media websites allows service providers to offer bundled packages, i.e., if the person wants to market using both the website as well as the mobile phone, using the specific service, then some concessions would be available. Effectively, costs of marketing have gone down considerably even though every such message that the business sends using bulk messaging WhatsApp is read.
j. Do not disturb is not effective or applicable as yet –
When marketing companies used to make cold calls, trying to find out the needs of the clients, there were a few DND numbers, which they could never call without any legal problems. There is no such fear anymore because it is the customer who gets to decide whether he or she is interested in the campaign, and listen to the audio content or watch video content
Conclusion:
There cannot be any dispute about the fact that the WhatsApp bulk messaging system is here to stay, and many new developments are exposing the usefulness of the system for several other purposes also. Therefore, WhatsApp bulk messaging is not confined to just marketing or socializing. For example, there is potential for this system in government departments that send tax notices. That certainly would be an environmentally friendly way of managing such communication exchanges. Many banks inform their customers about debit or credit in their account. Such instantaneous communication either way can also prevent thefts and could be useful in many other ways. There is no denying that the WhatsApp bulk sms system has completely changed the way marketers find customers. It has also revolutionized service industries such as call centers as the new technology makes their job faster and easier, apart from making it more effective too.
Bulk WhatsApp Software 