Almost everyone in Malaysia uses WhatsApp, it’s no doubt the most popular instant messaging app in Malaysia.
Therefore, WhatsApp is the holy grail of marketers, but it is sort of untouchable if you are dreaming of bombarding WhatsApp users with ads.
Forget about buying those WhatsApp “blasting services” that sell you their database, it is not legit and it will position your brand as a spammer.
However, you can consider WhatsApp for Business as one of your communication channels, but the standard business account is tied to a number, a phone, and practically an individual.
How are you going to distribute the workload or pipelines if you have a team of customer service or sales agents?
Bring on WhatsApp Official Business Account (a.k.a. WhatsApp Business API).
With the “official account”, you can set your brand name, use a landline number, get verified with a green checkmark, distribute the queries between your agents etc.
Let’s take a look at how brands in Malaysia leverage on WhatsApp Official Business Accounts not just for customer service, as some of them are using it creatively to close sales.
Even though this is ideal for service-oriented businesses, there are only a handful of brands in Malaysia leveraging on WhatsApp as one of the communication channels.
Just think about it, how WhatsApp can be more convenient than phone calls (customer service wise), how WhatsApp can be more popular and effective than emails (sales-wise).
CIMB
CIMB is probably the first bank in Malaysia who set up WhatsApp official business account, you can check their website for more info.
Don’t expect to chat with any real human as everything seems to be automated with a chatbot.
Even if you select “Apply for Products”, you will be directed to the respective product’s URL to submit your application online.
Hong Leong Bank
Hong Leong Bank is another local bank with an official account on WhatsApp, which was announced in a Facebook post in September 2020.
The features available are quite similar to CIMB, with self-serve functions such as promotions, tutorials, branch locator, product info etc.
Instead of having all requests responded to by bots, is it worth considering having real humans handling product/sales inquiries?
Celcom
In comparison to the banks, Celcom virtual assistant sounds more friendly, and he or she (or it?) converses in dual languages – English and Malay.
While the language options is great, will it be better to ask users to reply with a simple number or a single alphabet instead of having to type the whole word during each step?
Maxis
Maxis is trying to con you into thinking that you are talking to a human agent by the name of Max, the son of Maxis.
In actual fact, this is similar to the IVR (interactive voice response) menu you get while calling the hotline.
The advantage here on WhatsApp is that you can proceed way faster to the next step compared to IVR, in the hope of finally able to talk to a real human.
Astro
If you are still an Astro’s customer like me, probably the only time you will contact them is when something goes wrong, right?
My home Internet that comes together with Astro IPTV is not working recently, guess what they no longer have customer service (real human) supporting you out of working hours.
Guess what, I am being asked to WhatsApp them and this is a good example that not everything can be automated and solved with a chatbot.
Pizza Hut
Click here to WhatsApp Pizza Hut
Finally something much more interesting than the standard “IVR-like” menu.
Pizza Hut has launched its WhatsApp Official Business Account with a bang, with this video, and with (or type “Pizza sedap 50% off sekarang. Get me one now“) to enjoy the promotions.
This is a great example of how brands can run a campaign to initiate WhatsApp chat with consumers and boost sales!
RinggitPlus
Click here to WhatsApp RinggitPlus
It is interesting how RinggitPlus integrates WhatsApp into its website, take a closer look at the call-to-action form alongside its product pages.
For example, if you are interested in applying for a credit card, just enter your name and mobile number and the conversation will be initiated on WhatsApp.
The conversion rates on WhatsApp is very likely to be higher if compared to other channels like email or even phone calls.
StashAway
Click here to WhatsApp StashAway
After introducing a WhatsApp-enabled chat button across its website and app, the online wealth management platform lowered agent wait times for customer replies by 50%.
- 50% decrease in agent wait time for customer reply
- 80% more tickets handled per agent per week
- 50% of incoming customer enquiries now solved through WhatsApp
Hap Seng Star
The Malaysian car dealer used WhatsApp to conveniently and securely communicate with high-value customers, which increased the read rate for sent messages by 55%.
- 30% increase in delivery rates over other channels
- 55% increase in read-message rates over other channels
Conclusion
You can check out more WhatsApp Business API case studies across the Asia Pacific region here.
In fact, Malaysia Airlines is one of the first local brands that launched WhatsApp official account back in 2018 but the account is no longer active at the time of writing.
It is unclear whether the service is suspended due to the pandemic crisis or other reasons.
Nevertheless, brands should be more creative in implementing WhatsApp strategies instead of just treating it as an “IVR-like” menu.
Just take a good look at the case studies of Pizza Hut and RinggitPlus above.
Feel free to leave a comment below if we missed out on any local brands, we will be keeping track and updating this list from time to time.
