Guide to WhatsApp Group: All You Need to Know in 2024

When it comes to business communications, there are various channels available to reach out to your customers for the purpose of marketing your offerings, providing customer service, or nurturing leads. And ever since WhatsApp allows businesses to use the platform commercially, the landscape of customer engagement has completely changed. 

It has become the most popular messaging app to let you connect with your audience, serving as a direct line of communication between you and them. Over time, WhatsApp has launched many new features to enhance conversations for its users, and one of these features is WhatsApp Groups.

WhatsApp Groups is similar to any other group chat where you can send bulk messages to the members and they can engage with each other by sending messages, media, and documents. However, there is much more to know about this feature to make the most of it.  

Having said that, in this guide, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about WhatsApp Groups, starting from its benefits and how you can use it to build trustful relationships with your customers, resulting in more closed deals. 

Let’s dive into it!

What are WhatsApp Groups?

If you are already using WhatsApp, then it is likely that you might have already seen or joined a WhatsApp Group, and if you haven’t, no worries. 

WhatsApp Group allows you to create a space, where you can invite members that share a common chat screen to see each other’s messages. This way, if you have invited your customers to a group, you can effectively communicate with them while also allowing them to conversate with other members. 

Furthermore, since your messages are visible to all the members of the group, you can use this space to distribute different kinds of content like sending company updates, discussing ideas, sharing information guides, and providing customer support. 

Advantages of using WhatsApp Groups

Now that you have a solid understanding of what WhatsApp Groups are, let’s take a look at why you should use WhatsApp Groups for your business and how they can help you in boosting engagement rates. 

Large group size

One of the biggest advantages of WhatsApp Groups that makes it different from WhatsApp Broadcasts is its large group size. WhatsApp allows up to add a maximum of 1,024 members in a single group, making it ideal for large communities and businesses.

Admin controls

Since WhatsApp Groups support over 1,000 members, you need some moderators to maintain decorum and keep your group a peaceful place for your customers to enjoy and share information with others. 

For this reason, you need admins who have enhanced control over your group. These have the ability to add or remove members, manage messages, and set group rules, ensuring that there is no spamming within the group.

File sharing

As you might already know, WhatsApp supports various types of content ranging from simple text messages to highly engaging videos, and WhatsApp Groups is no different. You can share documents, images, videos, and links effortlessly within your group to keep everyone engaged with your posts.

End-to-end encryption

Just like every chat in WhatsApp, communications within the group are secure with end-to-end encryption, making sure conversations within the group remain private and inaccessible to third-party entities.

How to set up a WhatsApp Group?

It is not that difficult to set up a WhatsApp Group for your business. You can use WhatsApp’s Android or iOS 

However, before you start creating a WhatsApp group for your business, there are some things you will need to deliver better customer engagement. These components include a group name, a description that clearly tells your customers what they can expect from this group, an image, and guidelines to direct members on how to behave as good members. 

Steps to set up a WhatsApp Group on a mobile device

Below is the step-by-step guide on how to create a WhatsApp Group for your business:

Download the WhatsApp mobile app based on your device type. Launch the app and tap on the three-dots menu button located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Choose the ‘New group’ option from the menu that opens.

Decide the members whom you want to invite to your group as shown by the app. One thing to keep in mind here is you need to have the phone number of the participant and it should be saved in your contacts list. 

After that, provide a name for your group and add a group icon by choosing a picture from your phone. You can also enable the Disappearing messages option, which makes it so that all new messages will disappear after the selected duration of time.

Finally, you can modify Group permissions before creating it. These permissions include whether you want the members to be able to edit group information, send messages, or add other members. You can also enable admin permissions so that new members have to be approved by the admin before they can join.

Once you are done modifying the settings as per your preferences, tap the green check mark at the bottom to create a new WhatsApp Group.

Steps to manage your WhatsApp Group’s members

Creating a WhatsApp Group is the easy part. All it takes is clicking on a few options in the WhatsApp mobile app. But now comes the hard part, growing and managing your group, plus how you can utilize it to build a strong WhatsApp community around your business. 

That is why, here are a few features of WhatsApp Groups to help you manage your members and make the most of them to boost engagement. 

Inviting new members 

Adding new members to your group is the first step to building a solid community. And for doing that, WhatsApp offers various methods, such as the WhatsApp group link or the QR code.

Now, where to find these things? 

Well, once you have created a group, if you missed adding any members from your contacts at the time of creating it, the app shows you the feature of ‘Add members’ directly within the group. You can tap this button and select contacts from your phone book to add to your group. 

For the WhatsApp group link, you need to click the ‘Group info’ button, scroll down to the end and you will see the ‘Invite via link’ option.

Click it and you will see the invitation link for your group. Below that, there are some options so that you can easily copy and share it with your audience on external channels like your website or social media platforms, making it convenient for them to join. 

On the same screen, there is the option for the QR code, tap on it and the app will display your group’s QR code that you can take a screenshot of and share on other platforms. This way, your customers can scan this code via their phone’s camera and join the group.

Appointing WhatsApp Group admins

Now that you have added members to your group, you need someone to actively monitor the group conversations to ensure there is no spamming within the group. 

In addition to that, admins are also in charge of adding and removing members from the group. Plus, you can give them access to modify the group name, description, and icon to better match any particular event that should be reflected throughout the group. 

With that said, to appoint an admin for your WhatsApp group, here are the steps to follow:

Navigate to your WhatsApp group and head to the list of active members. Click on the name of the member you want to appoint as an admin. Next, tap on the ‘Make group admin’ option

Editing WhatsApp Group information

WhatsApp allows you to change your group’s name and description after you have created it to best match your company’s growth. Using these features, you can tailor your group’s identity to match your brand’s at every stage of its evolution. 

So, let’s check out how you can do this in a step-by-step manner:

Changing the group name

You can use the following steps to change your WhatsApp group’s name:

1. Head to the WhatsApp group and click on the Settings.  
2. Tap on the ‘edit’ (‘pencil’ for Android). Type in your group’s new name and click the save button. 

However, there is one thing to remember, changing your group’s name too frequently might not be a good thing as it can confuse your members, thinking it might have been a different one. 

Managing notifications

If managing groups is taking too much of your time or if you are getting distracted from other important tasks because of continuous alerts from new messages, then you can mute the notifications from the group. 

This way, you can concentrate on crucial activities without exiting the group altogether. Below are the methods to mute notifications for your WhatsApp group:

Open your group chat and click the three dots button at the top corner. From there, tap the ‘Mute notifications option. 

In the menu that opens, select the period for how long you wish to not receive notifications for group messages. You can pick from 8 hours, 1 week, or forever. Keep note that if someone tags you specifically, you will still be notified by WhatsApp. 

Leaving the WhatsApp Group 

If you are handing over the responsibility of managing the group to someone else or think that you have achieved everything within the group, you can leave the group with the click of a few buttons. 

Navigate to group settings, scroll to the end of the screen, and click the ‘Exit group’ button.

After you have left the group, you can continue to view the past chats of the group. In the event that you were the only administrator, WhatsApp will randomly select a new one.  

Deleting your WhatsApp Group 

If you think that the group is not the best fit for your WhatsApp marketing needs or if it has served its purpose, then you can delete it once and for all. Remember that all the previous conversations and chat history will be deleted, and the group will not appear in the WhatsApp app. 

To delete your WhatsApp Group, head to the WhatsApp group info and click ‘Delete Group’.

You will be prompted to confirm whether you want to delete the media files you received in the group from your device’s gallery. Tick the box if you want that to happen, or leave it unchecked. Finally, click the 'Delete group’ button to finalize the deletion.

Best practices for using WhatsApp Groups

After learning how to set up your groups, manage members, handle notifications, and leave or delete the group, here are some of the things you need to keep in mind to ensure you utilize WhatsApp Groups to drive maximum engagement.

Set clear objectives

Before you decide on creating a WhatsApp Group, have a clear objective in mind. Define the purpose of the group and what you aim to achieve with it.

Some of the common business goals that you can set are customer support, marketing, or team collaboration. Having a clear objective guide your strategy, allowing you to stay focused and keep on optimizing your efforts as you grow.

Create group guidelines

You can establish rules for group interactions to make sure a respectful and productive environment is maintained within the group. By having strict rules and regulations, you can control the frequency of messages, the type of content that is acceptable, and the general behavior.

Engage regularly

A common mistake that many marketers make when investing in WhatsApp Groups, is that they don’t have a consistent schedule for posting content. This leads to inactive groups where members lose interest in the brand as well as what it has to say. 

So, keep the group active by sharing regular updates, asking questions, and encouraging participation. Create a roadmap for future posts so that you can have a complete understanding of when and what kind of content is needed, ensuring the engagement rates don’t fall off. 

However, keep track of how many messages you are sending and avoid overloading members with too many posts. Space them out on a daily or weekly basis for regular interactions and smooth conversations.

Utilize WhatsApp’s features

This is an extension of the above point. When planning the content for your WhatsApp group, you can take advantage of WhatsApp’s multimedia and messaging features, such as images, texts, videos, pinned messages, group descriptions, and document sharing to enhance the group’s experience.

Is there a better way to use WhatsApp for scaling your business?

Although, WhatsApp Group is an excellent channel for engaging customers and boosting interactions among your customer base. If you are an entrepreneur or small business, having a small clientele, then you can use WhatsApp Groups to communicate with them because you can add 1,024 and engage with them effortlessly. 

Pros of using WhatsApp Groups

• You can conversate with your customers directly from a unified chat. 
• It is an effortless channel for you to send messages and share details about your business with the customer base from a single location. 
• One of the top channels for interactions, quizzes, customer support, and engagement. 
• Better chat control functionality with administrators.
• Cost-effective channel with a familiar WhatsApp UI. 

Cons of using WhatsApp Groups

• There can only be 1,024 participants in a group at a time. 
• Your posts are seen by every member of the group, this means that you can not share private information within the group. 
• There is a chance that your posts might not be relevant for every member. 
• Does not grow with your business as there is a restriction on the maximum number of members you can add to the group. 

That being said, medium or large-sized companies require a robust marketing platform that allows them to personalize, monitor, and scale their efforts as their customer base grows. WhatsApp does offer those features in the form of broadcast lists and WhatsApp API to reach out to a wider audience. 

So, if you have a big customer base and wish to communicate with them smoothly then you will need advanced features of WhatsApp, and these groups might be a great pick for you.

Leveraging WhatsApp API

​WhatsApp API is an outstanding method to connect with hundreds and thousands of users simultaneously and take your WhatsApp engagement to the next level. By using the WhatsApp API providers like Zixflow, you can send broadcast messages in bulk. 

In comparison to the public messages that are visible to everyone in the WhatsApp Group, WhatsApp API allows you to send tailored messages directly to your customers. Using the API, you can send media-rich messages, monitor engagement rates, and set them to be sent at a predetermined time. 

To use the WhatsApp API, you will require a frontend platform to integrate with the API as it does not have a frontend UI, and use this platform to communicate with WhatsApp’s cloud servers and send messages at scale to your customers. 

‍Zixflow is one of those frontend platforms, you can connect with WhatsApp API to design and send broadcast messages straight to your customers. It is a no-code solution that doesn’t need you to have extensive technical knowledge to use the platform to run WhatsApp marketing campaigns.

On top of that, you can use advanced WhatsApp features like auto-assigning incoming messages to sales reps, automating messages when a customer opts in or opts out, and welcoming messages to onboard customers.

Furthermore, if you want to encourage your customers to take action after reading your messages, you can leverage WhatsApp Flows to send interactive messages. These messages include a CTA to direct readers to the next step without ever leaving the app.

That is not all. These are just some of the many outstanding features of Zixflow. It is simple and free to get started with Zixflow. Also, it’s easy to add a WhatsApp number to Zixflow. Below is a video with a step-by-step guide on how to do that and get your Zixflow account ready to send outreach messages.

Use WhatsApp Groups to communicate effectively with your contacts and skyrocket your engagement 

WhatsApp Groups are a versatile and powerful platform for you to engage with your audience, foster community, and streamline communication. By taking advantage of the features and best practices mentioned in this guide, you can effectively use WhatsApp Groups to scale your business in 2024. 

So, you can start creating meaningful connections and drive your business success with WhatsApp Groups. And if they are not the perfect match for you there are other WhatsApp solutions available for you to utilize this renowned channel for better customer engagement.

That being said, if you decide to go with WhatsApp API, then I would recommend you do so with Zixflow. Its modern and sleek user interface lowers the learning curve to make it easy for you to kickstart your WhatsApp marketing today. 

Don’t believe me? Then take a look yourself! Sign up today to take advantage of a 7-day free trial to experience the software yourself. You won’t regret it.