In recent years, messaging apps are becoming more popular and a preferred method of marketing. Statistics show that, in 2020, messaging apps were 20% bigger than popular social networks. Approximately 2.9 billion people now use Messenger and WhatsApp for their needs. According to Kenshoo, 51% of mobile messaging app users prefer to contact brands via mobile messages as per report.
Businesses can no longer afford to ignore using it for marketing purposes. A successful business is based on the customers and the relationships the business has with the customer. Personal messaging apps such as WhatsApp set up the direct medium for businesses to interact with their customers. That’s not all – with the variety of smartphones in the market, the number of users using WhatsApp is on the rise. Therefore, it’s important for businesses to understand the importance of WhatsApp marketing and to use it in the right way for their business.
WhatsApp marketing EXPLAINED [2024]
WhatsApp Marketing is promoting your products/services to drive more conversion, sales and revenue.
Marketing on WhatsApp involves sending messages, sharing on-brand content, building brand authenticity and personality of your brand on the platform and providing reliable and fast customer service through the WhatsApp marketing platform.
As it is now legal to use WhatsApp as a marketing channel for businesses. It is important to know that brands remain compliant with its guidelines and they cannot use it unless their customers have opted in to receive messages from the brand through WhatsApp.
4 Reasons To Use WhatsApp marketing Platform
Here are a few reasons why we recommend using WhatsApp for marketing:
1. Deeper relationships with customers
Most customers find it easier to connect to brands via communication platforms like WhatsApp. And moreover, WhatsApp marketing is a great strategy to build and nurture customer relationships in the long run. WhatsApp provides you with a lot of tools for personalizing your customer interactions, be it through a welcome message or a birthday wish or a personalized special discount.
2. Higher conversion rate
Traditional channels like email and calls are reliable, but while one has the risk of not being opened, the other might be seen as a nuisance by some customers. WhatsApp on the other hand, has a higher chance of converting customers. It has a better open rate, and with the right tools and the right messaging strategy, it has a higher chance of nudging buyers towards a purchase.
3. Improve sales
Based on a survey, it was revealed that simply adding a brand’s WhatsApp phone number to the website can result in a 27% increase in sales leads. WhatsApp offers a lot of benefits that can help marketers sell better and besides this, it can perform equally well as a sales channel by itself.
4. Cost-effective marketing
WhatsApp marketing is extremely cost-effective and it has been proven to do wonders for small businesses when we consider the cost-to-return ratio. Straight out of the WhatsApp Business app, you can start your business journey for free. With the WhatsApp Business API and a WhatsApp Business solution provider like Interakt, you can expect better sales, better customer relations and better growth by paying a small price to enhance your marketing game.
Steps to set up WhatsApp marketing
Getting started with WhatsApp marketing is easy. Irrespective of the scale you are at, here’s how to get started:
1. Learn the Opt-in Rules
WhatsApp marketing requires you to be compliant with their rules and guidelines.
Five of these key regulations of WhatsApp compliance policies include the following:
1. Brands can send out marketing messages and initiate conversation with customers, only if the customer has opted-in and given their consent or has directly reached out to the brand on WhatsApp.
2. The brand opt-in forms must contain the brand’s logo, WhatsApp name, details of what the customer will and a field where customers can fill in their phone numbers.
3. Brands have to be clear about the kinds of information they will send out such as transaction alerts, shipping and order updates, promotions etc. If you will send different types of messages as well later, this should also have the customer’s permission beforehand.
4. Customer support calls cannot be counted as opting-in. In such a scenario, the brand can only send a follow-up within 24 containing information regarding the issue and its resolution.
5. All presentations of the brand in the WhatsApp marketing campaigns such as the opt-in forms, announcements etc. should be compliant with WhatsApp branding compliance.
2. Download the WhatsApp Business app and create a business profile
Once you are familiar with the guidelines, start by downloading the WhatsApp Business app from the App Store or the Play Store. This app is crafted with small to mid-sized businesses in mind, giving them access to features that help them establish an online presence – starting with their business profile.
When done right, a WhatsApp Business Profile is like a mini-website for the brand which can display the brand name, logo, provide contact information and give a detailed but short description of the type of products/ services sold.
Your WhatsApp Business Profile should also include information on your open hours, category, address etc. to add authenticity to your business account.
3. Promote your WhatsApp Business Profile
Once your profile is up, you need to promote your WhatsApp business profile to drive more conversations on the channel.
By adding a WhatsApp chat widget on your website let your visitors know that they can reach out to you on messages for quick assistance or to avail special deals.
You can also promote your WhatsApp Business link through your social media pages as a link in bio or add them to your posts as a call-to-action.
Click to WhatsApp ads are another effective way to direct customers to your WhatsApp business profile. When running promotional campaigns around new products or deals, instead of taking your audience to the website, you can drive them to WhatsApp to drive an opt-in that makes it easier to follow-up.
4. Set up WhatsApp automation and quick replies
The next step is to set up WhatsApp automation and optimize everyday tasks. You can also enable quick replies to speed up communication and offer instant customer support.
Steps to enable WhatsApp automation :
• Go to “More Options”> “Business tools”> “Quick replies”.
• Set up your quick reply messages.
• Choose your quick reply shortcut.
• Create keywords to find quick replies faster.
You can add up to quick replies 50 and each quick reply shortcut can be as long as 25 characters.
Additionally, with WhatsApp Business API platforms like Interakt, you can set up custom WhatsApp automation workflows as well to reduce the load on your team and run routine tasks seamlessly while keeping your target audience engaged.
With WhatsApp Business API Business can send automated messages which include:
• Welcome and greeting messages
• Order and delivery updates
• Feedback collection and surveys
• Alerts and reminders
• Abandoned cart recovery
And more
5. Organize contacts and chats using labels
One extremely handy WhatsApp marketing tool is the label feature. This helps you better segment customers and divide chats to better handle customer interactions.
Customers at different phases of their journey can be engaged as necessary while allowing your team to prioritize tasks in a more organized manner.
With Interakt’s Shared Team Inbox, labels become even more effective. Labels can be used to assign customer interactions to different members. End customers often reach out to brands for various reasons like support queries, feedback etc. These customers, using conversation labels, can be differentiated, tracked, assigned and prioritized based on context.
6. Create a catalog for your products
Create product catalogs containing information like product cost, detailed product description, and a unique image for each item in your inventory. You have the option to upload a maximum of 500 products.
Customers can use the WhatsApp catalog in the following way:
1. Customers can view a product or a list of products. These can simply be clicked to receive additional product information.
2. Customers, if they like a particular product, can directly add the product to their shopping cart.
3. Once they have decided on products and added them to the cart, they can send it to the business, who will follow up with further steps to complete the purchase.
This function eliminates the need to guide your customers to an external website and continuously share product details and images with potential contacts. This feature lets you effortlessly distribute your catalog to showcase and advertise your products and services through WhatsApp.
Here is a comprehensive guide from Interakt on setting up catalogs.
Four best WhatsApp marketing messages to boost engagement
Here are the four latest WhatsApp marketing messages we recommend businesses to use:
1. WhatsApp carousel message
WhatsApp Business users can send out WhatsApp Carousel messages with up to 10 customizable cards to market their products/services.
This type of WhatsApp marketing message makes it easier for the customer to browse what you have to offer and easily find products. WhatsApp Carousel messages can also greatly improve engagement and offer a seamless shopping experience.
2. WhatsApp Interactive Button Message
WhatsApp API enables you to craft dynamic messages that can do more than merely send info. You can send out interactive messages with reply buttons and list messages.
Interakt’s multiple CTA Button feature within your WhatsApp message create a more interactive and engaging experience for customers unlike with other channels.
3. Promotional message
You can send out promotional messages in bulk to your contacts using the WhatsApp Broadcast message feature. This lets you send anything from special offers to sales alerts to new collection updates, to all your contacts with ease. Take a look at this WhatsApp marketing template:
“Hey there! Our new winter collection just dropped and it is as dope as ever! Go check it out right away!”
4. Abandoned cart message
Abandoned carts are quite an annoyance but with WhatsApp, you can alert your customers about their carts and hence have a better chance at winning back sales that could have been lost.
WhatsApp’s better open rates suggest how effective it can be for cart recovery and with the right strategy you can significantly reduce your cart abandonment rates. Here’s a WhatsApp marketing sample for an idea:
“Hey [NAME]! It seems like you have left something behind in your cart. Buy now and get an extra 5% off!”
Top 3 WhatsApp marketing examples [2024]
Let’s take a quick look at some of the companies using WhatsApp marketing to drive customer engagement and business growth:
Jet Gems
Jet Gems wanted to up their online marketing game and they made the call of leveraging WhatsApp Business API with Interakt. With effortless broadcast messaging for promotions and improved customer support made possible with Interakt’s “Shared Inbox” feature, Jet Gems were able to increase their online revenue by 20%!
The Indian Ethnic Co.
The Indian Ethnic Co needed a simple way to face the influx of customer queries and provide support efficiently. The brand, using WhatsApp Business API was able to sync with their customers’ demands. Utilizing the catalog feature, promotional messaging and providing instant order updates, they were able to get closer to their customers using the conversational platform of WhatsApp. The brand was able to increase its abandoned cart recovery rate from 7% to 15-20% while improving its open rates to 80-90%!
Mangalam
Mangalam, the medical and cosmetic brand, was looking to create an easier experience for its customers to track orders and provide instant support responses. With WhatsApp Business API paired with Interakt, they streamlined their communication and provided customers an easier way to track orders, with instant updates on confirmation, shipping and delivery. The brand witnessed an open rate of 88% and a delivery rate of 99% on WhatsApp.
Top 3 hacks to build your WhatsApp marketing strategy
Here are three things we highly recommend following when getting started with WhatsApp marketing:
Segment your customers
Customer segmentation is important as it helps you better target your messages and offer a more personalized experience to each customer. Segment your audiences based on where they opt in from, what their interests are, their purchase history etc. This way you can seamlessly run personalized campaigns at scale.
Automate your campaigns
Even in your marketing campaigns, if you find any responses or any areas that can be automated, do it. There is plenty of heavy lifting your team has to do on a daily basis and by automating wherever it’s possible, you are allowing your team to work on where they are most needed.
For example, with Interakt you can create custom flows that help walk the consumer from the point of discovering the product all the way to the purchase, solely with WhatsApp automation.
Keep your catalog up-to-date
Create collections to group items and make it easier for customers to navigate and find products. Also frequently update your WhatsApp catalog with new products and new deals. This is important because once you start scaling your WhatsApp business, people will start treating it as your website, instead of visiting your website itself. You are offering a convenient alternative, so make sure that it is not just convenient but also relevant and up-to-date.
Wrapping Up
For a business to be successful, it’s important to market their offerings to customers. WhatsApp is the preferred and easiest choice of communication medium between businesses and customers. If you are keen on improving your customer interactions, it’s time you try out WhatsApp for your business. Businesses can work with Official WhatsApp Business Solution Providers, and use their products such as interakt to get started with WhatsApp Business API Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you are ready to skyrocket your business using WhatsApp Business API.FAQs
WhatsApp marketing is legal but it is important that businesses obtain consent from the customers before they start sending messages. You should only send messages to customers who have subscribed or opted in to receive messages from your brand.
WhatsApp as such does not have an inbuilt segmentation feature, but by organizing your customers into lists based on purchase behavior, location, customer interest etc. you can segment them.
Meta has a set of conditions and guidelines for using WhatsApp Brand assets for marketing and other purposes. These guidelines also have legal disclosures and an FAQ section that answers common questions.
Some of the most important WhatsApp marketing metrics to track are Return on investment (ROI), click-through rate (CTR), open rate, opt-out rate and conversion rate.
There are several popular WhatsApp marketing tools that help marketers automate campaigns, send bulk messages, employ chatbots and improve customer engagement. The best solution recommended by industry experts is Interakt.
