Ultimate Guide To Whatsapp Marketing: 2023

Introduction

WhatsApp has taken over the social media world. But the app is no longer just a messenger; WhatsApp Business API has completely changed the game. Businesses now coordinate their day-to-day activities over WhatsApp while also organizing full-fledged marketing campaigns over the app.

With various Message Templates used for marketing, WhatsApp Business API allows businesses to market their products to over 2 billion users in real-time. Companies can now approach their customers in a more relaxed form and indulge with them while making a call for action.

Let's dive deep into the benefits of marketing products via WhatsApp Business API and explore some outstanding real-life examples of its success.

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1. Why brands should use whatsapp for marketing

WhatsApp is a messaging app that has become increasingly popular in recent years. It presents a unique opportunity for brands to connect with their audience and promote their products. Out of the world's population, 75% of users send messages via WhatsApp.

According to the data, users open Whatsapp 23 to 25 times daily. Therefore, WhatsApp has a high engagement rate with brands and is a magnificent platform for marketers.

WhatsApp messages have proven well-structured regarding higher engagement rates with brands compared to another massaging tool (email). With a 98% average WhatsApp open rate, it helps to converse with consumers. 

Some of the most significant reasons why brands should consider using WhatsApp for marketing are: 

1. Increased Market Penetration

Whatsapp has around 2 billion active users. Also, the users are spread across the globe, come from various economic and financial demographics, and are from multiple generations, from baby boomers to Gen Z and Gen X.

In crux, whoever the target audience may be, businesses can find them over Whatsapp and reach out to them at once.

2. WhatsApp-led Business Automation

WhatsApp-led Business Automation enables organizations to provide faster and more efficient services to its customer without any human intervention. WhatsApp Business API engages chatbots to automate conversations and message flows with customers.

This way, users can market their products by connecting with their current and prospective customers more personalized and interactively.

3. Personalized & Targeted Campaigns

As the economy enters the digital era, consumer demand is accelerating. They want a customized, elevated consumer experience catering to their needs and demands. And with big data readily available, it is now possible to design custom campaigns for the different segments of the targeted audiences.

4. Improved Retention & Real-time Engagement

Whether in today's fast phased market or the ancient economies, retaining customers is as important as acquiring them. The ultimate goal of marketing does not end at sales; instead, it is about retaining customers while engaging them with the brand in real time.

And the automation services provided by the WhatsApp Business API can help businesses achieve this goal.

2. How to use whatsapp for marketing?

WhatsApp Business provides one-to-one marketing where WhatsApp Business API serves as the touchpoint, allowing businesses to automate and streamline customer communication. Let us learn how companies can use Whatsapp for marketing by creating custom solutions for their marketing needs:

Step 1: Set up a whatsapp business account

The first and foremost step is to set up a WhatsApp Business account. But while doing so, make sure that you create a WhatsApp Business API account and not a simple WhatsApp Business account. This way, businesses get a verified profile, automated messages, and other features unavailable on a standard WhatsApp account. 

Step 2: Identify your target audience

The target audience for each product will be different, and reaching out to people who aren't potential customers will not only waste valuable time and resources. Still, it can even be lethal for the entire marketing campaign. Therefore endeavors to identify and target their ideal audience are crucial.

Step 3: Establish a unique brand persona

Organizations establish a unique brand persona to differentiate themselves from their competitors. To do the same, they define the brand's values, tone, and communication style to create a consistent image across all messaging, significantly eliminating confusion among the consumers.

Step 4: Proactively engage with customers

To build positive relationships with customers and boost brand loyalty, it is pivotal for organizations to engage with customers proactively. And the process is not even complicated. To proactively engage with customers, be responsive to their inquiries, provide helpful information, and be agile while reaching out to them.

Step 5: Experiment with multimedia elements

Multimedia elements like images, videos, and GIFs can significantly Enhance your WhatsApp marketing content. However, before settling on what's best for you, experiment with various types of content to see what resonates best with your audience and increase their engagement rates.

Step 6: Offer superior customer service

Often, shifting the approach to basic customer service turns superior customer service into the focus rather than just focusing on what one is doing. So, stand out from the competition by being readily available to address customer inquiries or concerns, responding promptly, and offering valuable solutions.

Step 7: Track KPIs & assess marketing performance

Evaluate your marketing performance and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure your business achieves its goals. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to make informed decisions and refine your marketing strategies.

3. Great examples of brands using whatsapp for marketing

The possibilities are endless, and businesses not yet utilizing WhatsApp Business API for their marketing efforts should consider doing so to stay ahead of the competition. There are 175 million WhatsApp users that interact with brands.

Also, the e-commerce business increase due to the use of WhatsApp is 352%. Here are some great examples of brands that engaged WhatsApp for marketing and yielded excellent results:

1. Flipkart

One of India's biggest online shopping giants, Flipkart, leveraged Whatsapp to promote its Big Saving Days campaign in December 2021. The company initially engaged the customers by giving them discounts and offering referral rewards for forwarding it to family and friends.

2. Hellmann's mayonnaise

Hellmann's wanted to rebrand mayonnaise from a condiment to a cooking ingredient. So the company launched an incredible campaign by inviting its customers to participate in a challenge, where real chefs connected with them over WhatsApp and taught a dish using the ingredients they already have and Hellmann's Mayonnaise.

The campaign was a hit. 

3. Big bazaar

Big Bazaar merged its already popular marketing scheme with WhatsApp marketing. As a result, it reaped the benefits of reaching out to an increased customer pool in a considerably reduced time frame, that too with customized and personalized messages.

So, the soaring service reached new heights when Big Bazaar marketed its two-hour instant delivery service on WhatsApp.

4. Absolut vodka

When Absolut Vodka had to send out exclusive invites to its Absolut Unique launch party in Argentina, the company turned to WhatsApp. To get an invite, customers chatted with Sven, the party's virtual doorman, and convinced Sven to let them.

The company quickly enabled long conversations with its customers, which excited them. It resulted in 600 participants presenting themselves and using 1000 videos, images, and proposals from the WhatsApp chats in three days.

5. Adidas india

Adidas India is another excellent example of how brands can create successful marketing campaigns over WhatsApp. The brand redesigned its online presence to accommodate the shopping habits of its consumers.

And to spread awareness, the company used WhatsApp Interactive Message Template while actively making a call for action by providing the 'Join for Free' button.

6. Colgate

Colgate leveraged digitalization and modernization the economy has been witnessing. It combined two significant aspects the newer generation has been focusing on, the indulgence of tech in daily life and self-love.

So, they obliged when Colgate launched the "Send Your Smile" campaign and asked its customers to send their Visible White smile on WhatsApp.

7. LensKart

LensKart substituted WhatsApp to communicate to promote all its fantastic offers. With a single click to the send button, it reached out to the largest pool of consumers imaginable, letting them know that they would get 14% off and an additional 14% cashback they could avail on selected eyewear collection, along with the buy one get one free offer.

8. Marie light

Marie Light is one of the most popular biscuit brands from the ITC. So when ITC decided to reach out to a further potential, untapped market area, the company launched a marketing campaign over WhatsApp, "Tea-time selfie."

The rules were simple, take a "Tea-time selfie" holding the pack of your Marie Light, and a lucky winner will win a 40-inch LED TV. The three-month-long campaign was a hit among consumers.

4. How to build a winning whatsapp marketing strategy?

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Organizations globally are digitalizing at lightning speed, adopting omnichannel structures. And one of the most prominent touchpoints in the omnichannel presence of any brand is Whatsapp Business API.

With the most active users worldwide and the possibility to customize the entire campaign per the targeted audience's preferences, Whatsapp Business API is the holy grail of marketing. However, to reap the benefits of Whatsapp marketing, it is crucial to have a winning WhatsApp marketing strategy:

1. Set your goals

Like any other robust marketing endeavor, the first and foremost thing to do is, set the goal for the campaign. It will help you stay focused and measure the level of success the campaign enables.

2. Build your buyer's persona.

The two most crucial marketing campaign elements are marketing the product and targeting the audience. Therefore, developing a detailed buyer persona is vital to becoming the base for communicating the messages. In addition, it will ensure that the campaign resonates with your audience.

3. Get whatsapp business API

It is the most crucial step in creating a winning WhatsApp marketing strategy. However, business does not get WhatsApp Business, as it differs from WhatsApp Business API, which has the templates used in WhatsApp marketing.

4. Build a contact list.

Build a contact list of users who have opted-in to receive messages from your business. The list can be built by various means, promoting WhatsApp numbers on other social media platforms or offering exclusive promotions to users who sign up.

5. Define messaging and build content.

Once you have defined your goals, defined your buyer's persona, and built your WhatsApp contact list, it's time to draft the content you will communicate to the audience. While preparing content, ensure it is consistent with your brand persona and tailored to your target audience's preferences.

It is because this is what the audience will use to evaluate our brand and products. While engaging and luring content will convert potential customers into real ones, dull and uninformative content will break the deal. 

6. Get customer feedback and improve.

Even the best campaigns will eventually need to redefine themselves to stay engaging and relevant. Some might need to make alterations as early as others, but keeping alert and collecting regular customer feedback is pivotal to ensure continuous evolution and growth.

5. How do I promote my business on whatsapp?

WhatsApp Business API has revolutionized the way businesses approach marketing and customer engagement. With the ability to coordinate daily activities, launch marketing campaigns, and connect users from all demographics, WhatsApp Business API has become a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes.

But the question remains: How do I promote my business on WhatsApp? Well, here is how:

Use media reach functions

Using media reach functions such as Videos, images, audio, voice notes, links, documents, location of business place, and product lists is helpful to engage your customer in buying a product.

For example, show an image and video feature on a retail product and send a link to help the consumers to click for purchase.

Additionally, customers can receive purchase confirmation messages automatically via WhatsApp, and they can track their orders through WhatsApp messages.

Using these features of WhatsApp, sellers can easily connect with their consumers and build faithful relationships in the market business.

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Message templates

With the help of message templates, you can communicate predefined messages to your users who have opted-in to receive them. The most generic message templates are order confirmations, shipping updates, appointment reminders, etc.

However, bots and real-time learning capabilities can communicate more sophisticated messages in real time. It will make the whole experience more personalized and elevated for the customers and save time and resources.

Click-to-whatsapp ads

Click-to-WhatsApp ad is another powerful WhatsApp marketing tool that allows businesses to connect with potential customers by displaying a chat button on their other channels.

The Hubspot review on Marketing Industry Trends Reports found that 27% of marketers think generating traffic and leads will be their major challenge in 2022.

As there is a constant increase in omnichannel structures, especially in retail, this feature is a great hit, especially amongst the younger generation. While it allows the business to engage with the audience on a larger scale, communicating with the businesses becomes easier for the customers through the tool.

When creating upcoming digital marketing campaigns in Ads Manager, there is an alternative to choose a call-to-action (CAT) implemented as WhatsApp conversations, enabling directly engaging marketers to consumers.

With one click, WhatsApp ads allow you to reach your ads via Instagram and Facebook to stimulate the user to initiate conversations themselves.

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Summary

WhatsApp has evolved from just a messenger app to a powerful marketing tool through the introduction of WhatsApp Business API. With over 2 billion users worldwide, businesses can use this platform to reach a massive real-time audience and build stronger customer relationships.

Through message templates and other marketing strategies, businesses can engage with customers more personalized and meaningfully. Real-life examples have shown the success of WhatsApp marketing campaigns.

As a result, businesses that use this platform can benefit from increased market penetration, improved customer engagement, and increased revenue.