WhatsApp Business app: How to build a community for your business

Running a small business comes with its own set of obstacles. From limited resources to fierce competition, as a business owner you'll often find yourself needing support and guidance. This is where the power of community comes into play.

Being part of a small business community offers a number of benefits that can help you thrive and succeed in the competitive market. Whether it's networking opportunities, shared knowledge or emotional support, having a community of like-minded people can make a significant difference.

Community engagement marketing allows businesses to build long-term relationships, making customers feel recognised and heard.

In this blog, we look at how the WhatsApp Business app – specifically the community feature – can help you build those relationships and better engage with your customers.

What is the WhatsApp community feature?

The WhatsApp community feature is a popular feature that lets you connect with a group of people. It's a place where you can invite up to 512 people, and everyone can chat.

Not only do WhatsApp communities make communications quicker and simpler, but there are many other merits if you use the feature to its fullest. We cover some of the benefits below.

What's the difference between a WhatsApp community and a WhatsApp group?

The main difference between WhatsApp communities and groups is the level of engagement and participation.

You'd typically create a WhatsApp group for a specific purpose or topic, and for a smaller number of people who are actively involved in the conversation. On the other hand, a WhatsApp community involves a larger group of people who share a common interest or goal but who may not take part in the discussion.

Within a WhatsApp community, you can create up to 100 groups for discussions.

You might think of a WhatsApp community as being more like a forum or discussion board, where people can share ideas, ask questions and get feedback from other members. A WhatsApp group, meanwhile, is more for quick and immediate communication among a select group of people.

How many members can a WhatsApp community have?

You can add up to 2,000 members to new and existing communities. As soon as you add a member to the community, you also add them to the announcement group. If a member leaves the announcement group, they'll automatically be removed from the community.

How do I create a community in my WhatsApp Business account?

If you use WhatsApp Business and want to build a community with your customers, it's important to know how to do it in the app. To create a community, just follow these simple steps.

Create a WhatsApp community on iPhone and iOS

• Tap Menu above your chats list in WhatsApp, or tap the New chat icon.

• Tap New community.

• Enter the community name and description and add an icon.

  • The community name limit is 100 characters.

  • Your description should give members an idea of what the community is about.

  • Add a community icon by clicking the Camera icon. Choose Take photo, Upload photo, Emoji & Sticker, or Search Web to add an image. Once set, the icon will appear next to the community in the Chats tab.

• Tap the green arrow icon to add existing groups or create a new group.

Create a WhatsApp group on Android

• Open WhatsApp and swipe right to access Communities.

• Tap Start your community.

• Enter a name and description and set the icon for your community.

• Create a group from scratch or add existing groups.

• Tap the green tick button in the lower-right corner to save the settings.

Add groups to your WhatsApp community

If you're an admin (see What does it mean to be an admin of a group? below), you can create new groups to add to your community or add existing groups.

• Tap Create New Group or Add Existing Group.

  • Create New Group: Enter the group subject. This will be the name of the group that all participants will see.

    • You can create up to 10 new groups.

    • You can add a group icon as well as a short description of the group.

    • You can add participants later.

  • Add Existing Group: You can choose to add groups you're currently an admin of to your community. Select which groups to add then click the green arrow icon.

• When you're done adding groups to your community, tap the green tick icon.

What is a WhatsApp community announcement group? 

When you create a community, all admins and members are automatically added to an announcement group. This is a group in which all announcements are shared with the community members.

However, unlike in other groups, only admins can send announcements and start polls, but members can engage and reply to them. Members can also view the number of community members, report an admin announcement and mute notifications for the group. 

As an admin, you can delete members' replies, or report them if necessary.

Be aware that if a member leaves the announcement group, they will automatically be removed from the community.

How do I use WhatsApp groups? What can I do with them?

WhatsApp groups are ideal if you want to share personalised messages that will add value and be of interest to a targeted group of customers.

In a WhatsApp group, especially if you're dealing with a high volume of messages, it's vital you stay organised. Here are some of the feature's functions that allow you to do that.

Create a group description

The group description is designed so that everyone in the group can stay on track. It's simply a short description found under 'Group Info' that allows you to specify the WhatsApp group's purpose, guidelines or topics.

When a new person joins a group, the description will show up at the top of the chat. By default, any member of the group can change the group description. However, a group admin can change group settings to allow only admins to edit the 'Group Info' or send messages.

This feature provides more context about the purpose of groups your customers are added to, which helps them decide if it's relevant to them.

Add and remove participants

To add participants to a group:

• Open the WhatsApp group chat, then tap the group subject.

• Tap Add Participants.

• Search for or select contacts to add to the group.

• Tap Add when you're finished.

To remove participants:

• Open the WhatsApp group chat, then tap the group subject.

• Tap the participant you want to remove.

• Tap Remove, then tap OK.

Use links to invite people to the group

You can add up to 1,024 members to a group if you're an admin or if the admins of the group have chosen to keep their group open for anyone on WhatsApp to join.

People who aren't on your contact list can join using an invite link that you can share with them. Here's how you can invite people to groups using links:

• Open the WhatsApp group chat, then tap the group subject.

• Tap Invite via Link.

• Choose Send Link via WhatsApp, Copy Link, Share Link via another app, or QR Code.

• If you're sending via WhatsApp, search for the selected contacts, then tap Send.

Your contacts will be able to join the group automatically by tapping on the link, or by scanning the QR code. This is a great feature to use when you want to invite people who you think will be interested in joining but aren't in your contact list.

Reply to a message or reply privately to someone in a group message

To reply to a message in a group:

• Tap and hold the message, then tap Reply.

• Enter your response and tap Send.

Alternatively, you can swipe right on the message to reply.

To reply privately to someone who sent a message in a WhatsApp group:

• Tap and hold the message.

• Tap More options, then Reply privately.

Mention someone in a group

To mention someone in a message that you're in a group with, type the @ symbol and select the contact's name. When you mention someone, a notification will be sent to that contact, telling them they were mentioned.

What does it mean to be an admin of a WhatsApp group?

Being the admin of a group means having control over certain actions and allowing other users to have permissions too. By default, the person who creates the group is named as the admin.

Admins can, for example, restrict who can change the group's subject, icon and description. They can also set who is allowed to send messages in the group.

Sometimes it may be helpful to have more than one person manage the group. To achieve this, the WhatsApp Business app has a permission setting that allows you to appoint additional admins.

Admins can change permissions for each group member and add or remove admin permissions of other group participants. Be aware that if an admin leaves the group, a new admin is chosen at random.

Here's how to access the admin settings:

Admin settings on iPhone

• Go to the WhatsApp group chat, then tap the group subject.

• Tap Group Settings.

• Tap Edit Group Info to choose who can change the group's subject, icon and description.

• Tap Send Messages to choose who in the group is allowed to send messages, whether it's only admins or all participants.

• Tap Edit Group Admins to add or remove admins.

Admin settings on Android

• Tap More Options (the three dots) in the top-right.

• Tap Group Info, then tap Group Settings.

• Tap Edit Group Info to choose who can change the group's subject, icon and description.

• Tap Send Messages to choose who in the group is allowed to send messages, whether it's only admins or all participants.

• Tap Edit Group Admins to add or remove admins.

How do I change my privacy settings?

With end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp is private by design. In the WhatsApp Business app, there are additional privacy controls which let you control who can add you to groups.

To access the WhatsApp group privacy settings, tap Settings, Account then Privacy. In the Groups menu, select one of the following options:

• Everyone: Everyone, including people outside of your phone's address book contacts, can add you to groups without your approval.

• My Contacts: Only contacts in your phone's address book can add you to groups without your approval. If a group admin who's not in your phone's address book tries to add you to a group, they'll get a pop-up that says they can't add you and will be prompted to tap Invite to Group or send a private group invite through an individual chat. You'll have three days to accept the invite before it expires.

• My Contacts Except...: Only contacts in your phone's address book, except those you exclude, can add you to groups without your approval. After selecting this option, you can search for or select contacts to exclude.

Can I have more than one WhatsApp group at once?

Yes. Indeed, many businesses have a number of subgroups or project teams, as not all information is relevant to all group members. Having several groups helps you manage a large customer base more effectively without sending members information they may not be interested in.

As an example, you could have a group for each of the following:

• Customers

• Staff

• Suppliers

• Nearby businesses

Relevant resources

Use the WhatsApp Business app to:

• Create an engaging business profile

• Build an engagement plan

• Create engaging content

• Reach your target audience

• Boost your sales