Are you tired of sending marketing campaigns out into the void in the hopes of getting a response? WhatsApp marketing may be the answer to your struggle.
With over 2 billion active users, 1 billion of whom regularly interact with business accounts, WhatsApp is where real conversions happen. Unlike other platforms, where you wait for your email to be opened or the algorithm to magically work in your favor, on WhatsApp, you send out personalized messages, provide instant support, and share interactive content that your audience actually sees.
In this article, we explore WhatsApp marketing, the suite of tools WhatsApp offers, the benefits of this strategy, and some best practices to follow.
Jump ahead to:
What is WhatsApp Marketing?
WhatsApp Marketing is a message-based marketing strategy where businesses use WhatsApp to communicate with their customers, promote their products and services, and offer customer support.
Some common ways businesses use WhatsApp marketing include:
- Creating brand awareness
- Welcoming new customers
- Sending offers and promotions
- Sending messages based on customer behavior, such as cart abandonment and related product suggestions
- Automating customer support interactions
- Sharing purchase and order confirmations
WhatsApp Marketing Tools
When it comes to your business and marketing needs, WhatsApp gives you three distinct tools:
1. WhatsApp Business App: This app allows businesses to automate their customer interactions and deliver quick responses. It is meant for small and medium-sized businesses, as the number of messages you can send each day is limited.
2. WhatsApp Business Platform: This is also known as the WhatsApp API. It allows for message automation at a much larger scale and offers API integrations with chatbots, CRM platforms, help desks, and so on. The platform is ideal for larger businesses.
3. Ads That Click to WhatsApp: This feature allows you to create Facebook and Instagram ads that offer CTA buttons, which users can use to start a WhatsApp conversation directly with your business.
Additional Read: Everything you need to know about Meta Advantage +
What are the Benefits of WhatsApp Channel ?
The most commonly discussed benefit of using WhatsApp for marketing is the reach, given the number of users on the platform. However, some benefits go beyond reach, such as:
1. Personalized Customer Interactions: Messages are an intimate mode of communication, and interacting with your customers through a messaging platform allows you to build closer, more personal relationships. 55% of people feel more comfortable talking to a brand via messages. Combine that comfort with WhatsApp’s personalization capabilities, and you have the formula for effective communications that lead to higher customer satisfaction.
2. Higher Conversions and Sales: Messaging gives you a better chance at maintaining contact with potential customers. With a 98% open rate on messages, you have a higher chance of customers interacting with your brand than most other marketing and sales channels. With WhatsApp marketing, you can answer customer queries quickly and help them navigate your product better. This builds trust and nudges them towards making a purchase.
3. More Data to Work: WhatsApp messaging allows you to collect first-party customer data on your own terms. This progressively improves your marketing strategies and targeting to deliver more personalized customer interactions. Platforms like EasyInsights help you quickly connect data to MarTech tools like Facebook Ads so you can use this data across other marketing strategies as well.
4. Lower Marketing Costs: Compared to traditional marketing channels, WhatsApp messaging is an affordable option, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. The free WhatsApp Business app gives you enough tools to have successful interactions with customers. While the WhatsApp API is paid, it makes up for the costs with high conversion rates and quality customer relationships.
Additional read: A Guide to Social Media Algorithms and How They Work
Getting Started with WhatsApp Marketing
Let’s talk about some best practices that will set you apart from the competition in your WhatsApp marketing efforts.
1. Use WhatsApp Business
Firstly, when using WhatsApp for marketing, use a WhatsApp Business account. While a personal account offers basic messaging capabilities, a Business account provides essential tools tailored for businesses.
- To set up a WhatsApp business account
- Download the WhatsApp Business App.
- Register your phone number.
- Create a profile.
- Set up your business profile and customize it.
2. Identify your goals and your target audience
Try to define why you are using WhatsApp for marketing and who you are trying to reach. This way you can ensure that you are delivering the right messages to the right people at the right time.
Consider your primary goal is to reduce cart abandonment rates. In this case, your target audience would be customers who have added items to their cart but haven’t completed the purchase. Instead of sending a generic welcome message, you would send a personalized reminder with incentives like a discount code or free shipping to encourage them to finalize their purchase.
3. Personalize your messages
Personalization is when you deliver value tailored to who you are communicating with and where they are in their customer journey. By understanding your customers’ unique needs, preferences, and behaviors, you can craft messages that are relevant, resonate deeply, and foster deeper connections.
For example, if you are talking to a new customer, you might send a personalized welcome message that introduces your brand and offers a special discount to encourage their first purchase. On the other hand, if you are trying to suggest products based on previous purchases, you could recommend complementary items or exclusive upgrades that align with their past buying behavior.
4. Use Automation
Automating your WhatsApp messages ensures quick responses and resolutions. This way, customers can receive instant replies, which keeps them happy by showing them that you value their time and business. Automation on WhatsApp works through the WhatsApp API, which allows you to connect to bots and other automation tools to help you tackle common questions quickly and accurately.
Through automation, your customers feel supported and satisfied, increasing your customer retention rates in the long run.
5. Analyze Metrics
Regularly analyzing your campaign metrics helps refine your WhatsApp marketing strategy and ensure sustained success. By closely monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), you can gain valuable insights into what’s working and what needs improvement, allowing you to retarget your audiences more effectively and offer better options to your customers.
Some KPIs to track are:
- Message open rates
- Conversion rates
- Response rates
- Opt-Out rates
Additional read: Top Digital Marketing Analytics Tools To Help Your Brand Grow
Final Thoughts
Message-based marketing is an exceptional strategy for reaching your target audience, whether you use it to convert potential customers or to nurture existing relationships. The great thing about WhatsApp Marketing, in particular, is that it goes a step beyond just conversation, it gives you tools to track how your marketing efforts are performing, and allows you to customize your marketing strategy based on real data.
Tracking marketing performance generates a large volume of data. To manipulate, analyze and make sense of this data, you need to be able to transfer this data from WhatsApp to other platforms that offer effective analytics tools. This is where EasyInsights comes in. EasyInsights is a no-code data marketing platform with a user-friendly interface that allows you to effortlessly collect, analyze, and activate data.
Use EasyInsights to make the most of your WhatsApp Marketing. Book a demo and try the platform today
