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What is WhatsApp Marketing: Ideas, Tips, Examples

Do you know what the most loved communication channel of your customers is?

It is WhatsApp!

With over 2 billion active users, WhatsApp is the most popular mobile messenger app globally. WhatsApp’s most common use case is chatting and video calling our friends and family. However, it can be used for business too.

WhatsApp is emerging as a new channel for brands to communicate with customers and send marketing content directly to them. It helps brands deliver a direct and personalized customer experience that wins their hearts and builds their trust.

Let’s dive into the blog and understand WhatsApp marketing, the benefits of WhatsApp marketing, and powerful WhatsApp marketing strategies to deploy that can help you connect better with customers.

What is WhatsApp Marketing?

As the name suggests, WhatsApp marketing is messenger marketing that involves promoting a brand through WhatsApp. It empowers businesses to reach an enormous audience, foster engagement, deliver a great customer experience and increase sales.

WhatsApp offers business tools like WhatsApp Business API and WhatsApp Business App that support e-commerce brands of all sizes in their marketing endeavours.

WhatsApp is free, reliable and used widely by people; this creates a massive opportunity for brands to leverage this communication channel and grow their business. Moreover, you can send a variety of content formats ranging from voice messages, photos, videos, documents, gifs, etc. and attract your customers to shop with your brand.

WhatsApp Marketing Benefits

With 98% open rates, WhatsApp makes sure that your customers get all your messages. Besides this, customers trust brands more when they use chat apps to communicate with them, and what is better than WhatsApp.

There are more reasons to implement the WhatsApp marketing strategy. Here are the benefits of WhatsApp Marketing.

  1. Long term robust customer relationship

Maintaining a deep connection and strong relationship with your customers is crucial for the growth of your brand. Your expenditures are very low if you have more loyal customers who keep coming back to your brand. Moreover, people feel more connected if they can communicate with the brand directly through a more convenient and accessible platform.

  1. Personalization for better engagement

WhatsApp marketing gives a myriad of opportunities to take your personalization a notch higher. Sending them personalized welcome messages, new product updates, special offers, birthday wishes, etc., with more than just plain text, will help you keep them engaged. More and more brands are implementing WhatsApp marketing strategies to enrich customer experience and improve customer retention.

  1. Higher conversion rate

According to a report, customers answer 40% of their WhatsApp messages. It implies that WhatsApp offers a better conversion rate. In addition, messaging a prospect right after the initial contact boosts conversion. WhatsApp is the most used messaging app; therefore, brands must have a solid WhatsApp Marketing strategy.

  1. Used by different demographics

WhatsApp is used not only by younger age groups but also by individuals in the higher age bracket. The easy functionality of the app makes it accessible for everyone to use. WhatsApp lets you engage with a broader audience segment on a platform preferred by them. Customers expect personalized communication from brands, and WhatsApp serves as the best channel to effectively provide instant customer service.

  1. Low marketing cost

WhatsApp is a very affordable platform both for businesses and customers. This makes it a cost-effective marketing channel, especially for small businesses. All brands need is a strong internet connection, and you are good to go. The chance that your WhatsApp messages reach the customers is very high. This means that your WhatsApp Marketing Strategy does not go in vain. Also, WhatsApp empowers you to build deep connections and earn you loyal customers, leading to recurring customer relationships reducing marketing costs.

WhatsApp Marketing Strategies

A well-planned marketing strategy is essential for the success of any marketing campaign. It is necessary to determine your objectives and work accordingly to start using WhatsApp. Following are some of the effective WhatsApp Marketing Strategies.

  1. Determine your marketing objectives

Before you start using WhatsApp, it is vital to set the objectives that you have to achieve. Determining the goals at the start helps to work on the most important activities first and refrains you from wasting your time. For example, if your customers are leaving without making a purchase, your objective should be to work on WhatsApp cart abandonment messages.

  1. Know your target audience

Running a marketing strategy without knowing your target audience and their needs is like taking a shot in the dark. Determine your target audience and their goals. This helps you understand the best way to serve them and cater to their needs. You can ask your current customers why they use your product and what results they achieve.

  1. Attractive and personalized communication

WhatsApp takes your messaging game a step ahead. Rather than sending plain, boring texts, WhatsApp can be used to send more attractive and more personal messages. It also allows you to send gifs, audios, videos, etc. You can also use emojis and deliver a more personalized experience. People want to engage with humans and have honest conversations. With WhatsApp, you can be very creative with your communication.

  1. Real-time chat for a better customer support

WhatsApp takes a more direct, two-way messaging approach that provides timely, empathetic help to customers and resolves their issues. With WhatsApp, you can provide round the clock customer support and communicate with them easily. People like to shop with brands that listen to their problems and provide solutions. The real-time customer chat lets you keep customers’ needs at the forefront of every interaction.

WhatsApp Marketing Ideas

  1. Netflix

Netflix knows best how to keep its users engaged. We all know that Netflix gives recommendations according to the type of content we watch. In 2017, it started giving these recommendations on WhatsApp in India. If users had both Netflix and WhatsApp installed on their smartphones, they would receive recommendations. This campaign was soon taken to other countries like the U.K., where WhatsApp was used to keep the customers engaged even if they had cancelled their subscription.

  1. Saffola’s WhatsApp Campaign: Beat the Crave

This Indian health card brand used WhatsApp to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle with its campaign, Beat the Crave. It was used to deter participants from having an unhealthy diet and shift them towards a more nutritious diet. Users signed up for this campaign through their WhatsApp numbers and got access to an audio buddy. Whenever users craved a snack, they would message their buddy, who would respond with a motivational text or an audio message to help them beat the craving. It was an extremely successful campaign that helped Saffola increase sales.

  1. Unilever’s WhatsApp campaign: Comfort

Unilever’s WhatsApp campaign, Comfort, helped this international consumer goods company to promote their new range of washing powder and liquid detergent. They launched their WhatsApp Marketing campaign by putting up posters all around Sao Paolo, Brazil and asked users to get in touch with them through a WhatsApp number. After they sent the messages, they were connected with a WhatsApp chatbot called “MadameBot” that gave tips on caring for clothes.

  1. Adidas

Adidas, the famous sportswear brand, leveraged WhatsApp to promote its new shoe. The targeted audience for this promotion was amateur football players. Adidas used WhatsApp to resolve issues like finding a replacement if a player drops out last minute. All teams needed to send a WhatsApp message about the substitute and other essential information about the match. In return, Adidas will suggest options for the replacement.

Bottom Line

Twitter and Facebook are some of the most important channels to promote your brand and connect with customers, but WhatsApp is equally important. More than half of WhatsApp users check the app every day, which ensures that the offers you send reach them. Moreover, text messages have a very high open rate, meaning that your messages are not getting wasted; your customers are reading those. WhatsApp marketing offers brands a myriad of opportunities to build customer loyalty and long-term customer relationships. Automate WhatsApp marketing to skyrocket your sales.
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by Alan Mathew

Author Bio:

Alan Mathew is a content strategist at Brainvire e-commerce SEO services, based in New York. He is a digital nomad, traveling the world while he builds beautiful WordPress websites for small and mid-sized businesses around the world. He enjoys web development, eCommerce programming, and plugin development.