Why Team Collaboration Tools Outweigh Using Whatsapp for Business
Whatsapp is the most popular messaging service in the world, with a staggering 1.5 billion users.
It’s hugely successful because it’s a great platform for chatting socially with friends and family. And of course, because it’s free to use.
But it was always designed with social interaction in mind. So if your team is using Whatsapp for your business communications too, you’re probably finding that it isn’t working that well.
Read on as we take a look at 4 key reasons why using Whatsapp for business isn’t going to cut it.
1. Your Data Isn’t Private
Whatsapp has had a long history of being terrible for privacy.
Back in 2015, the Electronic Frontier Foundation ranked Whatsapp as the worst company when it came to user privacy. Since then it has improved things somewhat, by introducing end-to-end encryption.
But Whatsapp is owned by another company with a terrible record when it comes to privacy: Facebook. Whatsapp co-founder Jan Koum stepped down recently and was rumored to be highly concerned with Facebook’s plans to collect and sell Whatsapp user data.
This really isn’t ideal for a business platform.
2. Group Chat Can Get Messy
Whatsapp has two basic modes. Either you chat one-on-one or you have a group chat.
And whilst group chats are great for arranging your next big night out or sharing hilarious gifs, it’s not that well-suited to a business discussion. For a start, only the person that created a group can add or remove people from it, or create an invite link. So if they’re missing in action, it’s impossible to get anyone else added to the group.
And as soon as the numbers in a group reach a certain level, the chat gets too messy for anyone to be able to follow it particularly well.
3. Important Information Can Get Missed
Another downside of having large group chats is that crucial information can easily get missed.
All it takes is a couple of replies and the key information will disappear off the top of the page. A few more responses and finding it again can be a real challenge. Sharing documents within the app is also not something that is very user-friendly.
4. It Wasn’t Designed for Business
The issues raised in this article come down to the core problem: Whatsapp wasn’t designed for business.
It was never intended to be used as a workplace communication platform, and so it doesn’t have the functionality that most businesses need. There’s no way to build dedicated workspaces, no scheduling integration, and no business appropriate data privacy.
As an app for social chat, it’s great. For business, it’s a bust.
Are You Looking for an Alternative to Using Whatsapp for Business?
If you’re looking for something a little more professional than just using Whatsapp for business then you’re in the right place.
Designed from the ground up for business use, Gravatate eases the communication between your employees, co-workers, vendors, and clients. You can chat with your clients or colleagues in real time, either one-on-one or in specific channels and custom groups.
Why not give it a try? Get started for free today.
