When reaching a customer on the right platform at the right time, one platform remains king: WhatsApp. WhatsApp boasts over 2 billion global users and recently launched its new Ads Manager feature as part of the Whatsapp business platform, which empowers companies to make the most of its messaging capabilities.
Previously, businesses could only message customers who had opted in to receive updates on WhatsApp. The release of Ads Manager allows businesses to target any consumers who might be interested in their products.
WhatsApp marketing is a more significant investment than emails or push notifications, but this feature release makes it worth considering.
This guide will explore the best practices of WhatsApp marketing and WhatsApp Business solutions, with practical strategies and case studies to help you harness its full potential.
What is WhatsApp marketing?
WhatsApp marketing refers to using WhatsApp to interact with customers and promote your products or services.
WhatsApp is best utilized as a supplement to your existing marketing strategies. Its strength lies in making customers feel valued and connected; but it doesn’t replace existing marketing channels that have been working well for your brand.
For instance, a B2C company could use WhatsApp to quickly share flash sales with their customers or send targeted discounts. It allows for a level of personalization that you may not be able to achieve on social media.
The effectiveness of WhatsApp marketing depends on the business solution you choose. The following table compares WhatsApp’s business solutions.
5 tactics to use WhatsApp for marketing
1. Send engaging promotional messages
WhatsApp claims that more than one billion users connect with businesses on their platform every week. Many of these interactions are fueled by promotional messages about upcoming product releases, special discounts, or upcoming events.
To boost engagement, personalize these messages, as 71% of customers expect companies to tailor messages to their interests.
A word of caution: Don’t bombard users with too many messages. Adhere to best practices to ensure your account remains in good standing with Meta and is not blocked.
2. Automate communication to save time
Once someone shows interest in your product or service, setting up automated reminders and alerts helps move them further down the sales funnel. These reminders include:
- Limited-time discount offers
- Prompts to understand user requirements
- Notifications to complete their purchase
- Cart abandonment alerts
You can maintain constant engagement with customers without manual intervention by automating these communications.
3. Elevate your customer service experience
A customer no longer needs to wait for business hours or endure long response times for common queries as the WhatsApp business app lets you automate responses to such queries. You can easily set up an away message to ensure all customer queries are answered promptly.
In contrast, the WhatsApp Business Platform lets you create, manage, and automate message templates for each user workflow.
With WhatsApp workflows, you can create comprehensive user workflows for repetitive or most common user queries. For example, you can set up a workflow for booking clinic appointments. It includes automating responses to patient inquiries, scheduling the appointment, and sending reminders. By using predefined message templates for each step, WhatsApp ensures that responses are automatically handled according to your set templates. So when patients inquire about an appointment, they get an instant, pre-configured response.
Note: Set the business hours in your app profile to enable this feature.
4. Showcase your products in a catalog
WhatsApp’s business app lets you showcase your products in a dynamic catalog directly within the app.
For example, a fashion retailer can send a curated catalog featuring new arrivals with images, prices, and descriptions. Customers can easily browse the collection and initiate conversations to learn more about the products. This interactive approach drives engagement and simplifies the shopping experience.
Source: WhatsApp business
Benefits of this feature:
- Upload a maximum of 500 products or services with shareable links.
- Every product can include a title, description, price, product code, and link to the product on the website.
- Every product has an image for your potential consumers to see.
This way, customers can view your products and purchase them directly from shareable product links, driving higher sales.
5. Improve internal communication with colleagues or employees
WhatsApp marketing can also prove to be an effective employee engagement channel. Create group chats for different teams or projects to centralize communication, share files, and keep everyone informed. Use the voice and video calling features for quick, face-to-face discussions and make internal processes more efficient.
Best practices for WhatsApp marketing
Know your target audience
More than 60% of consumers prefer brands that engage with them, but that doesn’t mean your customers will respond to a generic WhatsApp marketing campaign. Use your customer insights to create a messaging cadence and content that suits their needs.
- Segment your audience based on demographics, interests, and behavior
- Conduct thorough research to understand their needs and preferences, ensuring your messages resonate and drive interest.
Segment audience to stay relevant
Divide your audience into groups based on demographics, psychographics, and purchase behavior criteria to craft your messaging strategies effectively. Then, hone your messaging by following these steps.
- Define your objectives, such as boosting sales and engagement, or improving customer support.
- Collect customer data from your CRM and other marketing tools.
- Analyze customers' engagement metrics to understand their preferences.
- Segment audiences based on deeper insights like lifestyle, values, behavior, and geography.
- Create customer personas that bring these segments to life
- Use WhatsApp’s business tools to create segmented contact lists.
- Run A/B tests with each segment to find the right message.
- Adhere to WhatsApp's data privacy policies across segments to remain compliant.
Provide value to increase open rates
WhatsApp messages have a 98% open rate; but, to maximize engagement, ensure your messages provide clear value.
Think through the messaging tone based on your target audience. Whether an exclusive offer or an upcoming product insight, give your users a reason to return to the conversation during their purchasing journey.
Additionally, the WhatsApp business platform offers a customizable message templates feature. Create and test your message templates to streamline communication while maintaining personalization. Monitor the performance of these templates closely, as WhatsApp reviews them and may pause those that receive negative feedback.
Personalize messages to increase response rates
Increase response rates by personalizing messages across the buyer’s journey.
- For top-of-funnel (TOFU) consumers - send visually appealing messages to drive engagement.
Follow these steps to attract new customers:
Source: WhatsApp Business
- For middle-of-funnel (MOFU) customers - send messages consisting of unique offers and personalized messages.
- For bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) customers - send cart abandonment reminders and remarketing ads.
Use visuals for better engagement
Incorporate high-quality visuals such as images, videos, and infographics into your WhatsApp messages to target TOFU customers. Visual content is more engaging and memorable, helping to illustrate key points and make your messages stand out. This approach increases the chances of your content being shared and acted on.
Track success and refine strategies
Track and analyze key metrics such as delivery rates, open rates, click-through rates, and customer interactions to gauge the effectiveness of your WhatsApp campaign. Use analytics tools to identify trends and revise your messaging strategies based on these insights.
Impact of WhatsApp marketing on your business
Here’s how WhatsApp marketing can impact your business.
High user engagement
WhatsApp’s business platform gives you a way to recommend products and send promotions based on customer purchase history and preferences. Similarly, the WhatsApp Business App offers many features to elevate your content, creating personalized, direct customer interactions that lead to higher engagement.
Global reach
WhatsApp is accessible in 180 countries, and its popularity is growing annually. In India alone, the number of users is expected to reach 795.67 million by 2025. This channel represents a valuable opportunity for managers to engage with a global audience, drive brand visibility, and drive sales.
More conversions
Personalized messages that address customer needs are more likely to get converted. Alfred Christ, a digital marketer at Robotime, observed that integrating WhatsApp marketing led to a 20% increase in sales.
“Although our WhatsApp marketing is in a nascent stage, response rates were higher compared to traditional email marketing.”
He added that if businesses respect their customers’ preferences and privacy and offer them an easy opt-out, it can be an efficient channel to boost customer engagement.
Increased customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a direct result of an increase in customer engagement. When a customer query is met with an immediate response, it increases customer loyalty and fosters a sense of trust.
Detailed analytics
The platform allows businesses to track campaign performance, customer engagement, and sentiment, optimize marketing efforts, and adjust customer outreach accordingly. It can also integrate with third-party tools or CRM systems to provide deeper insights into customer interactions, including delivery status, open rates, and response times.
Four great examples of effective WhatsApp marketing
Wondering how to fit WhatsApp into your marketing strategy? Check out how these four companies used WhatsApp to fuel their sales.
1. Apollo 24l7: Streamlined booking boosted patient engagement
Business goal: Lead generation
Problem: Apollo 24|7, the largest multi-channel digital healthcare platform in India, needed to increase patient engagement and appointment bookings for diagnostic tests. It was facing limitations with previous chatbot solutions.
Solution: Apollo 24|7 implemented WhatsApp Flows on the WhatsApp Business Platform to move the booking process within WhatsApp, simplifying appointment scheduling and boosting engagement. This approach led to higher revenue and more appointments, prompting plans to expand WhatsApp use across other parts of their business.
Source: WhatsApp Business
2. Tata CliQ achieves a 57% CTR with WhatsApp Business Platform
Business goal: Increase sales
Problem: Tata CLiQ, a fashion & lifestyle retailer, struggled with low engagement rates and limited flexibility using email and SMS. Their emails had only a 10% open rate, and SMS messages were restricted by word count, making it difficult to craft personalized and compelling offers.
Solution: Tata CLiQ adopted the WhatsApp Business Platform to provide real-time order updates and transaction details. Using basic push notifications initially, they evolved to targeted, customized messaging, boosting engagement, particularly during peak sales periods like Diwali and Black Friday. They experienced a 10x increase in ROI, generated $500K in monthly sales, and achieved a 57% click-through rate.
Source: WhatsApp Business
3. Lenovo Indonesia notices 8.2x higher conversion rates with WhatsApp flows
Business goal: Customer engagement + conversion rates
Problem: Lenovo faced challenges with managing technical service appointments, leading to long queues and delays as customers walked into stores without appointments.
Solution: In collaboration with Meta, they implemented WhatsApp Flows to streamline appointment management. Customers could then schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments directly within WhatsApp. They received instant confirmations and updates, leading to a 44.5% increase in customer engagement.
Source: WhatsApp Business
4. Alfamart uses WhatsApp to boost customer loyalty programs
Business goal: Customer engagement + satisfaction
Problem: Alfamart, one of Indonesia's largest convenience store chains, needed a more efficient way to manage the Alfagift rewards program. Previously, new customers had to complete in-store sign-ins and registration forms, while existing customers received rewards-related updates via SMS, leading to inefficiencies and delays.
Solution: WhatsApp empowered Alfamart to expand its customer loyalty database using in-store QR codes. This way, new members could quickly complete registration by sharing their details in the WhatsApp chat. Plus, it encouraged repeat purchases from existing members.
Source: WhatsApp Business
Execute your WhatsApp marketing strategy with Plivo
As a Meta-registered Business Solution Partner(BSP), onboarding WhatsApp Business Accounts (WABA) and integrating the WhatsApp Business Platform with Plivo is quick. Plivo's messaging API streamlines your communication with its scalable messaging solutions.
Here’s a straightforward guide to executing the WhatsApp Business Platform using Plivo.
Set up WhatsApp Business Accounts on the WhatsApp Business Platform with Plivo
- Sign up to Plivo: Visit the Plivo website and sign up for an account.
- Set up your WhatsApp Business Account: Ensure you have an active Meta Business Suite account. If you don’t, follow Plivo’s guidelines to register and verify your business with WhatsApp, which will get you a WhatsApp Business number.
- Onboard and verify: Ensure you have an active WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) to map to your Plivo account. Follow the remaining steps to onboard your account with this guide.
With Plivo’s integrated sign-up and registration, you can quickly verify your WhatsApp numbers and send messages within seconds.
Plivo charges a flat fee of Rs.0.066 (about $0.00080) per conversation on top of Meta’s fees, with volume discounts available to reduce costs based on usage. Plivo combines all charges into a single invoice to take the hassle out of tracking and managing expenses. This way, you can focus on building your business without the headache of handling multiple bills.
Ready to revamp your marketing strategy with Plivo? Request a trial today.
