The conversational era is already a reality for large companies that interact with their customers on messaging apps. Blip, the leading conversational intelligence platform that connects companies and consumers on social apps, is known for developing Smart Contacts for major brands such as Dell, GM, Itaú Unibanco, Stellantis, Claro, and others, so they can sell, engage, and interact with consumers on apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. Now, the company is expanding its business model to also impact how small and medium-sized enterprises interact with their customers.
Blip is now offering Artificial Intelligence messaging solutions to become a partner of micro and small entrepreneurs because it believes that the future will be conversational for all. The news comes to the market initially for free and in parallel with the announcement of Meta’s new SMB API Solution, the ‘Business-on-App,’ which allows the coexistence of functionalities from the Whatsapp Business App and the Whatsapp Business API, focusing on micro and small businesses.
“A small entrepreneur who has a fashion store in Brás, for example, can use automated WhatsApp customer service to instantly respond to their customers’ most common questions, such as product information, prices, and payment methods,” explains Sérgio Passos, Chief Product Officer (CPO) and co-founder of Blip. Blip Go’s AI understands customer messages and responds with information configured by the shopkeeper, ensuring more natural and dynamic conversations. ‘This speeds up the service process, improves the customer experience, and reduces the risk of sales loss to competitors,’ he adds.
Among the main services offered in this beta version of Blip Go for micro and small entrepreneurs are intelligent AI automation for customer service, which allows configuring automatic responses to frequently asked questions and managing interactions with customers quickly and efficiently; sending messages to lists and distribution, enabling the sending of targeted campaigns, such as promotions and news, strengthening engagement with the customer base, and at a later stage, it will be possible to monitor campaigns with reports on how many customers interacted with the links sent, helping the entrepreneur understand what works best to increase their sales.
“With a simple, accessible, and powerful solution, Blip Go reduces the barrier to entry for small businesses to start using intelligent conversations on WhatsApp. This model allows for progressive growth, where companies can start on the basic plan and, as they evolve digitally, migrate to more robust solutions within Blip,” says Sérgio.
Last year, Blip raised $60 million in a Series C investment round, led by SoftBank, with Microsoft participating. The amount will be used to accelerate Blip’s international expansion and continue developing new products, especially those utilizing AI. Additionally, the company foresees a high investment by 2025 in research and development.
“We endorse the Company’s purpose of investing in constant innovation, offering new tools to make the life of Brazilian entrepreneurs easier. Blip was born from micro-entrepreneurs and has the goal of bringing digital accessibility to everyone in the market. This is a solution specially designed for micro and small entrepreneurs with low digital maturity to use cutting-edge technology to enhance their relationship with customers and thereby grow,” comments Sérgio.
Micro and small entrepreneurs who wish to use the automation solutions on WhatsApp offered by Blip can sign up on this site. The enrollment process involves a waiting list in the first phase of solution launch. Additionally, the company has created a VIP group, and entrepreneurs who participate will have early access to news about the product and its evolution, educational content such as articles, ebooks, and videos that will help grow their business, among other news.
