Tag: WhatsApp

Staying connected with customers means meeting them where they already are—and more often than not, that’s on their favourite messaging apps. Channels like WhatsApp are no longer just for personal; they’ve become the go-to platforms for brands to engage with their customers in a way that’s personal, convenient, and instant.

For businesses, these messaging apps are a game-changer. They allow brands to provide quick support, share updates, and even create tailored experiences, all in the same place where people are chatting about their day. The result? Happier customers, stronger relationships, and a smoother overall experience.

For our latest case study, we delve into how the Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) tapped Sleekflow, an AI-powered omnichannel conversation suite, as its official WhatsApp Business API provider to power its WhatsApp business channels for better customer engagement and experience for users.

The Challenge

As the telecommunications landscape continues to evolve, the Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) has recognised the need to adapt its communication channels to better reach and engage with customers. In response to the surge in scam calls and the growing preference for online messaging apps, the company decided to pursue WhatsApp as a customer connection channel. The company then set out to create official WhatsApp Business API accounts, since they noticed WhatsApp offers a more user-friendly and interactive option than phone calls or emails.

The Objective

HKBN’s objective was to leverage WhatsApp’s user-friendly and interactive features to distribute important notices, and promotions, and enhance service offerings. Customers can easily connect with HKBN, receive prompt support, and better customer service on the messaging app.

The Solution

HKBN began its reform by centralising WhatsApp management through SleekFlow integration. They decided to have separate WhatsApp API accounts for different services, such as Home Broadband, Mobile Service, and Promotion Updates. This approach allowed customers to easily recognise the distinct services offered by each account. 

Within a month, HKBN seamlessly integrated WhatsApp into their operations, fostering direct engagements with customers. One important aspect of building trust with customers was obtaining official verification for their WhatsApp accounts, soon receiving the official WhatsApp verified badge next to their account name. This verification further boosted customer trust and willingness to engage with HKBN through the platform.

To streamline customer interactions and improve the overall chat experience, HKBN implemented SleekFlow’s automation tool, Flow Builder. This revolutionised how HKBN managed customer interactions by introducing automated processes that guide customers through various flows, allowing HKBN to collect context and information before assigning an agent to interact with the customer.

In addition to enhancing the customer experience, SleekFlow’s collaborative team inbox empowered HKBN’s large teams to work more efficiently. With over a hundred representatives in their customer service and sales teams, simultaneous access and engagement with customers on the same WhatsApp API account became possible. This allowed representatives to move beyond traditional sales scripts and foster genuine two-way conversations.

The Result

The implementation of SleekFlow’s solutions has yielded significant results for HKBN. One notable outcome is the boosted marketing impact and improved data for analytics. HKBN has leveraged SleekFlow’s broadcast feature to send  targeted WhatsApp marketing campaigns and utilised in-built data analytics to measure campaign effectiveness. 

In September 2023, HKBN launched a WhatsApp campaign targeting hundreds of inactive users who were unreachable via the service hotline for contract renewal. The engagement rates were impressive, with a 95% message read rate and a 50% response rate. These results demonstrate that WhatsApp is innovative and effective as a major means of service renewal, targeted marketing and customer engagement instead of phone calls.

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Looking ahead, HKBN is keen on exploring SleekFlow’s advanced features, such as CRM integration, to offer even more personalised customer services. By integrating their customer relationship management systems with SleekFlow, HKBN can further enhance their understanding of customer preferences and provide tailored services and recommendations.

In short, the partnership between HKBN and SleekFlow demonstrates how leveraging innovative communication platforms can lead to enhanced customer experiences and business success.

Singapore – Zendesk has announced the launch of ‘Relay,’ a new app that offers proactive messaging for companies using WhatsApp and SMS. Relay allows companies to proactively connect with customers at scale using outbound messages in WhatsApp and to manage all those conversations natively in Zendesk.

By deepening its partnership with Meta’s WhatsApp and SMS providers like Twilio, Zendesk empowers businesses to enhance their CX strategies significantly. This collaboration is designed to provide customer service teams with the tools to proactively keep customers informed, ensuring that crucial updates are delivered before customers need to seek out information on their own.

With Relay, customer service teams can improve targeting and personalisation by using dynamic content and targeted audience data, creating custom messaging templates, and boost customer loyalty, increase satisfaction, and drive higher sales through timely and relevant proactive communication.

Mike Keohane, regional vice president for business development at Zendesk, said, “Consumers now expect real-time, personalised communication from brands, akin to what they experience in their personal lives. By adopting proactive messaging strategies, businesses not only meet but exceed these evolving expectations, delivering timely and relevant information through channels that customers already use and trust.”

He added, “Relay will allow companies using Zendesk to proactively contact their customers through WhatsApp, to provide important updates that they might not be aware of. This can include examples such as reporting incidents, invites for exclusive opportunities, and requests for feedback on services or products.” 

Meanwhile, Maureen Chong, regional vice president for Asia at Zendesk, commented, “Conversational commerce is becoming the new standard in Asia Pacific, with consumers desiring more seamless experiences with the brands they interact with. That said, our CX Trends Report reveals a stark disconnect between what consumers in APAC desire–for everything to happen within the same chat–and the ability of APAC businesses to provide that. Solutions like Relay will help businesses bridge this gap in expectations, ultimately allowing them to marry immediacy with engagement while delivering personalised, quality CX at scale that will improve the bottom line.” 

Singapore – Singaporeans’ social media app of choice is messaging platform WhatsApp, according to a digital report released by creative agency We Are Social and social media and intelligence firm Meltwater.

Data from the report mainly suggests that WhatsApp takes the top spot in Singapore for both favourite (27.2%) and most used social media platform (74.7%) with local users clocking an average of 978 sessions per month in its Android app.

Notably, the report finds that Singaporeans are spending an average of 2 hours and 14 minutes a day on social media across an average of 6.9 social media platforms each month, with 5.13 million social media user identities in Singapore which equates to 85% of the nation’s population. 

Aside from WhatsApp, Facebook ranked second place as favourite (16.7%) and most used (72.7%) social media platform in Singapore, while TikTok tops the spot for most time spent in the Android app with a total of 33 hours, 23 minutes per month. TikTok was the most downloaded app in Singapore in 2023, followed by messaging app Telegram and Bytedance-owned video editing tool Capcut.

In terms of how they use their social media platforms, the report said that Singaporeans like to stay connected with messaging (97.5%) being the number one type of app or website they visit, followed by social networks (95.8%). Aside from keeping in touch with family and friends (43.4%), filling in spare time (35.5%) and reading the news (32.6%) are the main reasons that more than a third use social media. 

Talking about these findings, James Honda-Pinder, head of strategy at We Are Social Singapore, said, “While Instagram may be the favoured social media app in other markets, in Singapore we see social media users favour platforms that offer focused utility. For connection and increasingly for business communication, WhatsApp is a clear leader.”

“Elsewhere, TikTok continues to its staggering rise, as it becomes a bonafide platform for search and discovery, not just entertainment. In an era of fragmented attention where brands are vying to capture the attention of consumers, TikTok’s platform continues to show strong engagement with average usage amounting to more than 33 hours a month – that’s more than one whole day on the app. It’s a rocketship”, he added.

Singapore – ADA, Axiata Group’s digital group, joins with Meta to launch a business messaging hackathon, improving WhatsApp’s use as a route of communication between individuals and organisations across the APAC region.

ADA and Meta will launch the ‘ADA Business Messaging Hackathon 2023: Building the Future of Conversations’, with the goal of providing 1 million APAC enterprises with said solutions. Over 10,000 digital talents from Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, including students, developers, and entrepreneurs, will collaborate to create chatbot solutions on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Paul Kim, VP of Telco Ecosystem Partnerships APAC at Meta, said, “With increasing number of customers communicating with a business or service account on WhatsApp in APAC, business messaging has become one of the core growth pillars of Meta and we are delighted to cement our partnership with ADA, which will also include the integration of ADA’s best-in-class CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) solutions – ADA’s Business Messaging Platform & APIs with WhatsApp Business Platform. This will enable businesses to seamlessly communicate with their customers and offer more personalized experiences”.

Meanwhile, Srinivas Gattamneni, CEO of ADA, said, “As seamless Customer Experience (CX) and stronger customer relationships continue to become the focus of businesses, ADA is proud to strengthen our strategic relationship with Meta by contributing to the growth of this ecosystem. This hackathon will be anchored on the WhatsApp Business Platform for our clients and businesses across APAC.”

Philippines — In recent years, there has been a pivotal shift in consumer buying patterns – consumers have started making more important buying decisions on their smartphones. According to a study by Google, mobile searches for ‘best place to buy XYZ’ have increased by 70%, and 59% of consumers mentioned that the convenience of shopping on their mobile device is important when deciding which brand or retailer to buy from.

With this trend, it is crucial for enterprises to keep up and capture a touchpoint with their customers at the right stage in the buying journey. Since smartphones have become an integral part of this journey, enterprises need to expand their available communication channels to include WhatsApp.

MoEngage’s insights-led engagement platform allows enterprises to learn what their customers are looking for on their mobile app or website, use AI to predict what next steps their customers are going to take, and help them automatically send contextually relevant recommendations, alerts, and reminders on multiple communication channels.

Through this collab, enterprises can have personalized communication with their tech-savvy, mobile-first customers on WhatsApp. WhatsApp is used the most by consumers in the age group of 26 to 35 and is present in almost 180 countries.

Another report shows that, while 54% of consumers prefer using WhatsApp to receive shipment status and delivery updates, 50% of consumers use WhatsApp for appointments and to get notifications of upcoming events and 23% of consumers want to receive promotional offers from their favourite brands via WhatsApp.

As more enterprises adopt WhatsApp, the WhatsApp team is improving how businesses can communicate with their customers. For example, earlier enterprises were limited to sending timely notifications, making it difficult to follow up with their customers outside of a 24-hour window. To enable seamless and timely interactions between enterprises and their customers, WhatsApp now supports more types of messages, for example, to let customers know when an item is back in stock. The team is also working on a periodically-updating service available for more types of conversations.

MoEngage is also studying behaviours and how they can integrate personalized messages to keep customers reminded and engaged on their shopping needs albeit with a very busy schedule as long as they consent to it.

Raviteja Dodda, CEO and co-founder of MoEngage, said, “By teaming up with Meta, we aim to bridge the gap between enterprises and their customers by allowing them to leverage insights about their customers, their journeys, and the long-term impact of WhatsApp campaigns on key business metrics like LTV, revenue, retention, and product stickiness.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Data and artificial intelligence company ADA has announced that it is now a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) in Asia-Pacific. Through the offering, ADA will empower businesses to connect with their customers in a private and secure environment across its markets in South and Southeast Asia.

WhatsApp Business Platform allows businesses to drive better conversations with their customers in a personalised manner, thus boosting customer engagement and increasing customer satisfaction, leading to better sales conversions.

The new integration comes in line with business recovery making its way across Southeast Asia, as well as retailers bouncing back from COVID-19. ADA notes that WhatsApp chatbots can also give operators in-store support to help guide the customer journey and enhance every bit of the customer experience.

“Over 2 billion people around the world use WhatsApp and it is the most popular messaging application in Southeast Asia. As the number of people using this app will continue to rise with the growth of digital consumers across the region, brands and businesses will need to better connect and communicate with their customers who are turning to chat with businesses on WhatsApp,” the company said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, Srinivas Gattamneni, CEO at ADA, noted that chat commerce is changing the way businesses operate, and customer engagement solutions are the key drivers.

“With this WhatsApp Business Platform, ADA now offers a truly seamless end-to-end business solution across our practices – e-commerce, martech, business insights, and marketing services – for that complete customer experience and journey. The face of chat commerce as we know it will change too, with the integration of our AI and machine learning models, deepening the level of personalisation and quality of conversations,” Gattamneni said.

The new endeavour from ADA reflects the company’s vision for this year in improving the e-commerce experience in the region. During an exclusive interview by MARKETECH APAC with Gattamneni in recognition of ADA’s e-commerce solution as Product of the Year, he said that businesses need to be efficient, agile, and falling in front of new trends to cope with the ever-changing digital landscape of business.

“Be efficient with your resources and invest in what gives you the best return, whether it’s your marketing campaigns, strategic partnerships, or the various e-commerce platforms. Automation is also key to optimising your e-commerce operations in areas including content production, customer service, and fulfilment,” he told MARKETECH APAC.

Singapore – Omnichannel customer engagement platform, Vizury, has partnered with Kaleyra, the API-based platform that engages clients with personalized messages, chatbots, programmable voice service, to enable global brands with cross-platform mobile messaging app WhatsApp’s commerce abilities.

The partnership will see Vizury leveraging Kaleyra’s platform in its conversational commerce infrastructure to give its customers the complete stack to build their brand’s sales and engagement on WhatsApp. Through this, brands will be able to use the complete collection of WhatsApp Business features built for shopping, such as unique business numbers, WhatsApp AI chatbots, and powerful product recommendations, as well as advanced behavioral analytics, among others. 

Mauro Carobene, Kaleyra’s chief business officer, commented that they are looking forward to improving their business communication with WhatsApp Business API integration. 

“We believe this channel can increase the speed of response, enhance customer experiences and reduce the cost of engagement for Vizury,” said Carobene.

Hong Kong – Hong Kong internet users spent on average almost a whole hour more online each day in 2020 compared to the previous year, a new report from creative agency We Are Social and social media management Hootsuite shows.

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According to the report, time spent on the internet daily has increased from 6 hours and 16 minutes a year ago to 7 hours and 15 minutes today, following a year of COVID-19 related lockdowns, which curtailed many normal activities. This means Hong Kong’s internet users devote over a day more per month to being online versus a year ago.

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In terms of demographics, users aged 16-64 spend an average of an hour and 57 minutes a day on social media, making it the second most popular online activity for Hong Kongers after watching television. YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook are the most used networks but Snapchat is growing in popularity as parent company Snap reports its advertising reach in Hong Kong rose by 13% over the previous quarter.

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Of the same demographic, social media is mostly used for brand research with 44% of internet users, higher than for most countries, while 34% use voice commands in searches. 

The increase in time on the internet also shone a light on ad spend which the report revealed is in tandem with such leap. A year-on-year increase of 7% was seen in the amount brands spent on advertising on social media against a 4% rise in overall digital ad spend for 2020.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Despite concerns of WhatsApp users on its new privacy policy, which the platform announced in January of this year, 7 in 10 of users in Malaysia are still shown to stick to the messaging app, a recent study by marketing data insights platform InsightzClub shows.

The new terms require users to share their personal data with Facebook. WhatsApp clarified that it has nothing to do with the messages and profile data, and instead is related to business advertising purposes.The new policy stirred panic among users worldwide, with a large portion migrating to other messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal. 

According to the report, reliance on WhatsApp usage among Malaysians increased during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, swelling to 68%, compared to pre-pandemic periods. Even when the platform amended its privacy policies, Malaysian patrons were shown to stay, which majority, or 65%, use for personal and professional communication. 

Still, amid the changes, Malaysian users were still shown to be in tandem with majority of users of the platform, creating a mild state of paranoia, worrying about their location sharing (60%), stored private messages (56%), and accessing media files (54%). 

The report stated that Malaysians’ loyalty is necessitated by circumstances to remain on the platform, and only 3 out of 10 users installed an alternative app compared to the big chunk of WhatsApp users worldwide, which is said to be 82%, who have installed one or more additional messaging apps recently, like Signal and Telegram, owing to the bandwagon effect.

Meanwhile, the small portion of Malaysian users who made the switch were due to concerns over migrating personal circles (48%), and simply, curiosity (32%).

Telegram is already capitalizing on this opportunity in the coming year, as they have set a target of gaining 1 billion a user base by 2022 – something that’s unimaginable just a year ago. 

Dhaka, Bangladesh – OBHAI, the locally-based ridesharing application, has expanded its online services to WhatsApp, tapping on the communication app’s ease of use and application to all walks of life.

The new WhatsApp integration fits the accessibility bill, as WhatsApp has 1.5 billion monthly active users around the globe, and 22% or around 40 Million users in Bangladesh.

“As Bangladesh marches forward towards a more sophisticated digital era, the masses are now more accustomed to having the world at the palm of their hands. As such, the frequency of communication via social media platforms, the likes of Facebook, Viber, WhatsApp etc. are increasing significantly,” the company said in their press statement.

It added, “Keeping the need and comfort of the citizens of Bangladesh in mind, OBHAI edged a step ahead and introduced its own WhatsApp service to complement its ride-sharing offerings, and to provide passengers a more personalized experience.”

Through the OBHAI app, users can book the OBHAI G (car), CNG (three-wheeler), or OBHAI Express (parcel) on WhatsApp. Commuters can save +8801313201222 in their address book as ‘OBHAI WhatsApp’ to which they will type ‘Hi’, as automated replies will pop up, to which one would simply punch in the corresponding number to their needed service.

“WhatsApp OBHAI booking will help a lot of OBHAI users to simply order an OBHAI Gari, OBHAI CNG, and even order OBHAI Express services in few keystrokes,” said Anis Ahmed, startup founder and investor at OBHAI.

OBHAI WhatsApp can be used by current OBHAI customers seamlessly, and all facilities including refund requests, complaints, billing, reviewing ride history, and suggestions will be available within minutes from OBHAI call center representatives.

The ridesharing app has existing services across 53 cities in Bangladesh.