If you’ve just started using WhatsApp for Business, you’re probably managing promotions and conversations manually. But as the scale of your messages increase, would it really be possible to reply to each message in a timely manner on your own?
Even if you have a team of customer support agents to handle incoming messages, how do you intend to run multiple functions like marketing, sales and support at the same time?
Well, this is where leading companies are now using WhatsApp automation for messages.
In this post, we compare the two approaches – automated WhatsApp messages vs manual messaging.
What Are Automated WhatsApp Messages?
Automated WhatsApp messages are pre-written texts that get sent to customers automatically based on the inputs they provide or the trigger set up in the workflow. This allows businesses to respond to customers even when they’re not available to do so manually. These messages are commonly seen in the form of automated replies, scheduled broadcasts and chatbots.
What Is Manual Messaging on WhatsApp?
Manual messaging simply refers to sending a message directly through WhatsApp by typing it out yourself. As opposed to automated messages, there is no auto-reply here and you need to set aside time to respond to a message received. It’s the standard way of sending a message to the contact.
Advantages of Automated WhatsApp Messages
Some of the advantages of automating messages on WhatsApp include:
– Speed – Businesses can respond to customer queries instantly, improving their overall interaction experience.
– Consistency – Automated messages can be standardized to maintain brand tone and accuracy.
– Scalability – Automating messages gives businesses the ability to handle high volumes of messages simultaneously.
– Cost efficiency – Businesses can reduce manual workload on teams and reduce support costs by automating repetitive queries.
– Data collection and segmentation – Automated workflows are also best suited for gathering lead details with a natural conversational flow for better targeting.
Advantages of Manual Messaging on WhatsApp
Some of the benefits of manual WhatsApp messaging include:
– Personalization – Human touch while typing out the messages often feels a lot more personalized.
– Flexibility – Responses to queries can be adapted based on real-time conversations.
– Better problem-solving – Complex queries can be handled with higher context right from the get-go.
– Higher engagement – Manual messages can drive higher engagement as many customers prefer talking to a person over bots.
Key Differences Between Automated and Manual Messaging
Let’s take a look at the key differences between automated and manual WhatsApp messaging to put things into perspective:
– Response time – Automated messages offer an instant response to customers as soon as an input is received or a trigger is met. On the other hand, manual messages are human-dependent and rely on their availability.
– Personalization – While manual messages can give more tailored responses, automated messages are mostly template-driven unless the business is using AI-powered workflows using WhatsApp Business API providers like Interakt that can process customer data like previous purchases, interactions, etc in real-time.
– Scalability – Automated WhatsApp messages have the ability to handle high-volume queries during peak sale periods. But manual messaging has limited capacity, which can lead to delays in responses and missed opportunities for sales.
– Cost and efficiency – As compared to manual messaging, WhatsApp automation saves both time and effort while keeping customers meaningfully engaged throughout their journey.
Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Messaging Strategy
Both manual and automated WhatsApp messaging come with their pros and cons. Here are some factors to consider before you pick an approach:
– Business size and use case – Consider your business size and the use cases for which you’d like to use WhatsApp. This could include marketing, sales and support to start with.
– Customer volume – Take a look at the number of customers in your WhatsApp list and the volume of messages you need to send.
– Nature of interactions – Evaluate the type of messages you tend to receive. Are they simple FAQs that can be standardized or complex queries that require a tiered conversational approach?
– Available resources – Identify the resources available to you. This should include the team size that will handle WhatsApp messages, technology available and the budget you have.
– Business objective – Consider the need for personalization and efficiency at the same time, against the business objectives you want to achieve through WhatsApp. For example, lead generation, support efficiency, etc.
– Hybrid approach – Before opting for one, also consider combining automation with human support to get the best of both strategies. You can do so by setting up an automated workflow for chatbot to human agent hand-off.
Conclusion
The approach you choose should be based on what you intend to use WhatsApp for. But we do recommend using both automated and manual WhatsApp messages so you can use the chat app for what it is best known for – timely engagement.
Looking for a way to automate WhatsApp messages? Get started with Interakt today.
