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WhatsApp Business, both the app and the API, have a very interesting feature – welcome messages.
When a customer sends their first message, a custom welcome message is sent as a response instantly. Let’s see how you can create a welcome message for WhatsApp Business.
If you’re looking for more ways to speed up response times and improve support team productivity, a WhatsApp Team Inbox can help.
Without any further ado, let’s get started.
Why use welcome messages for your ecommerce support?
First time customers know very little about your business. So when they send you a message on WhatsApp, they expect a quick response.
They want to know more about the business and the products before they buy and a delayed response can make them shop with a competitor instead.
Automated welcome messages solve this problem. When you send a properly crafted welcome message, customers gain instant trust in your business, and know what to expect when shopping with you.
There is no perfect answer, but there are a few elements that must be included to remove obstacles for your customers.
How to write an awesome welcome message that hooks your customers?
Your welcome message should offer all the information that your customer expects, while being short enough. Here are some of the elements that you should include in your WhatsApp welcome messages.
- A line about your store - “Welcome to <store name> where you can find everything you need in <category of products>.”
- Reassurance - “We’ve received your message and someone from the support team should reach out to you very shortly”
- Link to products page - “While we get back to you, feel free to browse through the products on <link>”
- Link to FAQs - “And if you have any questions, the FAQ page is a great place to get immediate answers. <link to faq>”
These ensure your first-time customers aren’t confused and get all the resources they need to get started with shopping for products on your store.
As customers are very easily distracted and can drop off, it’s best to give them everything they need, right off the bat. Any obstacles lower the conversions.
How to set up your custom welcome message on the WhatsApp Business app?
Let’s get started with the WhatsApp Business app first. The welcome message setup with the Business app is extremely straightforward.
Open the WhatsApp Business app and follow the steps below:
- Click the three dots on the top right of the app screen
- Next, tap [Business Tools]
- Now tap [Greeting Message] and enable the “Send greeting message” switch
- Edit the Greeting message as per your requirements tap [Ok] to save the message
- Finally, choose who should receive the message when they first message you. You could choose to send it to everyone, all non-contacts, everyone except a few people, or send the greeting only to a specific set of people.
Once the greeting message on your WhatsApp business app is set up and the recipients are selected, you’re ready to go.
The app will automatically send the welcome message as soon as someone (depending on your recipient choices) contacts your business for the first time.
You can test the same out by messaging your business number from a new number.
How to set up a custom greeting message using the WhatsApp API?
When using WhatsApp API vs WhatsApp Business app, you need a compatible software that can interface with the API and allow you to create automations, such as a custom greeting message.
DelightChat is one such software that connects to WhatsApp API. We even help you get access to the API, apply for Verified Green Tick and more.
Set a WhatsApp Greeting Message using DelightChat
Step 1 - Sign up for DelightChat and apply for WhatsApp API. Our team will take you through the entire process till you are ready to go.
Step 2 - Go to Settings > Automation Rules to set up your custom greeting message for WhatsApp.
The specific steps to configure the automation rule are explained in our help article - How to automatically reply to a WhatsApp message - which will help you get set up in 2 minutes.
The end result will look exactly like the message that you type here.
At DelightChat, we use our own software everyday. Here's the greeting message sent from us when someone messages our WhatsApp API phone number.
5 Powerful WhatsApp Welcome Message Templates
General, you want your customers to know that they’ll be attended to, and need a direction of where to go next. Here are a few example templates for your WhatsApp welcome message:
1.
Hi! Welcome to <store name> where you can find everything you need in <product category>.
Your message has been sent over to the support team and one of the team members will get in touch with you within 24 hours.
In the meantime, you can look through our collection of products here - <link>. And if you have any questions, please refer to our FAQ section here.
Thank you!
<support team>
2.
Hi! Thank you for your message. One of our team members will get back to you within the next 24 hours.
In the meanwhile, you can look through our FAQ section here - <link>. Feel free to browse through the latest releases on the “New additions” page here - <link>
Thank you,
<support team>
3.
Hello! Good to see you. Did you already know we currently offer a 50% discount on all of our products? The code is XXXX. Don’t tell anybody 😉 Let me know if you have any other questions and I will get back to you shortly!
4.
Thank you for your message! We will get back to you within 24 hours. Kind regards, the [your business] Team
5.
Thank you for your message! We’re delighted to have you today. We’d love to help you right away but we’re *currently closed* 🕦 (please view business hours here - <link>).
Did you know, we have a help section that answers questions that we get asked very often? You may be able to find your answers here too - <link>
Kind regards,
Team <support>
If you're looking for more examples, we have written an education guide on WhatsApp Greeting Message templates. Try them out for your business!
Manage WhatsApp better with a Shared Inbox
The engagement on WhatsApp is off the charts compared to most other channels. Users are active because they know who they receive messages from and can decide who to connect with or block out. So if you are on the contact list for a user, expect great open rates and a lot of engagement.
But as the number of customer messages increases, you have to add multiple team members to support your WhatsApp customers. And if you’ve grown beyond the 2-3 member team size it’s recommended you opt for a shared WhatsApp business inbox.
There are multiple benefits of using the shared inbox:
- Merge all your support channels in one
- Enable team member collaboration from the same tool
- Track customer conversations with tags and notes
- Spend less time switching between browser tabs for checking on support channels
- Reach inbox zero faster
DelightChat is an omnichannel shared inbox that combines all your support channels like WhatsApp, Instagram, FB, Emails & Live Chat from a single screen.
We also offer a full WhatsApp Marketing suite, through which you can send Broadcasts to your customer lists using Official API and grow your revenues.
Try DelightChat free for 14-days and find out if it's the right tool for your business.
