Using a virtual assistant on WhatsApp can be the starting point to improve your communication strategies through this channel. Follow the text to find out why!
To give you an idea, the messenger is installed on 99% of smartphones and has more than 120 million active users in the country.
Therefore, we have already started to think about the need for companies to use messenger as a communication channel, right?
After all, WhatsApp has long ceased to be just a social network. Nowadays, the app is already used as a tool for work, studies, and even shopping.
What Is A Virtual Assistant?
You may have heard of Siri from Apple, Alexa from Amazon, or Google Assistant. What they have in common is that they are all virtual assistants programmed to help us with everyday tasks and make our daily lives easier.
Virtual assistants are software programmed to simulate a human conversation with a beginning, middle, and end.
In short, they are nothing more than chatbots. That is, chat robots interact with users and simulate a natural conversation.
These robots can use powerful technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. In this case, their conversational capacity becomes so high that sometimes the user thinks he is talking to human service.
How Does A Virtual Assistant On WhatsApp Work?
First, to understand how a virtual assistant on WhatsApp works, we need to know more about the three versions of WhatsApp.
That’s right, in addition to the conventional version that we know, “Zap” has two more versions focused on the business world.
The Versions Of WhatsApp
At the beginning of this text, we saw how advantageous it is for companies to use WhatsApp as a communication channel.
Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, also realized this potential for companies and launched 2018 the version WhatsApp Business, entirely aimed at helping businesses commercially use the messenger.
WhatsApp Business is a free solution found in major app stores. This version allows the company to create a business profile, set up automatic responses, and create a digital catalog to display the leading products and services.
This version is ideal for small businesses. However, this version becomes totally inefficient for medium and large companies that perform a greater volume of calls.
Therefore, in the same year that WhatsApp Business was launched, Facebook made a version called WhatsApp Business API available.
Unlike the other two versions, WhatsApp Business API is a paid service, and with it, companies can integrate the messenger into various third-party systems and platforms.
And that’s where the possibility of having a virtual assistant on WhatsApp comes from. Integrating the API into chatbot management and development platforms makes it possible to automate and scale all the communication carried out in the channel.
How To Use A Virtual Assistant On WhatsApp In My Company?
When we think of communication automation, the first things that come to mind are customer service and customer service.
However, you may be surprised to understand how this strategy can benefit other company areas. In marketing and sales, for example, the virtual assistant on WhatsApp becomes a great tool to capture, nurture and convert leads through the channel.
As with a form used to collect information from users, we can program the virtual assistant to ask a series of qualifying questions and identify which stage of the sales cycle the leads belong to.
With a virtual assistant on WhatsApp, you can also send your leads notifications and automatic messages with personalized content and promotions.
In areas such as Customer Success, for example, the virtual assistant can be used to send satisfaction surveys through the channel.
Automating scheduling and booking services, support and FAQ are other possible applications with a virtual assistant on WhatsApp. The sky’s the limit!
What Are The Advantages Of Using A Virtual Assistant On WhatsApp?
A virtual assistant on WhatsApp can provide several advantages and benefits for a company. See listed below:
- WhatsApp with automated service 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
- Reduction of service costs;
- Process automation and support for the sales and marketing team;
- Improved user experience;
- Possibility of serving several customers at the same time by WhatsApp, without waiting in lines;
- Easy extraction of conversation reports for decision-making.
- Possibility to integrate with various digital platforms, such as CRMs.
- Customization and standardization of language on WhatsApp;
- Greater engagement;
- Greater convenience allows the customer to talk to your company in a place they are more than used to.
How To Hire This Technology?
As mentioned before, companies can only have a virtual assistant on WhatsApp with WhatsApp Business API services.
However, to hire the WhatsApp API, the company must undergo an initial evaluation process carried out by Facebook.
Approval can be done in two ways:
- Through a registration form using the tool.
- Through a Business Solution Provider.
The Business Solution Providers, or Solution Providers, are partner companies approved by Facebook that sell the WhatsApp API.
Solution Providers aim to make the service contracting process easier. Even Facebook recommends that the service request be made through these partner platforms.
In addition to the WhatsApp API, your company must use a platform for creating, managing, and developing chatbots to integrate your virtual assistant with WhatsApp.
Also Read: WhatsApp Payments: Learn How To Use This
