Marketing on WhatsApp may not be the first idea that comes to mind when exploring ways to expand your brand, and you may be surprised to learn that it’s quickly becoming a top competitor to email and SMS marketing. That’s because WhatsApp not only expands your reach across a global audience of over 2 billion active users but marketing campaign metrics can also be tracked much like email.
But the average WhatsApp app won’t do the trick, as it’s most commonly used for personal messaging between people. Luckily, WhatsApp offers businesses options to leverage its reach with the free WhatsApp Business app and the advanced paid option WhatsApp Business API.
So how effective is WhatsApp in terms of marketing?
Let’s find out!
From showcasing catalogs to sending thousands of messages without any issues, here are the top 5 benefits of promoting your brand through WhatsApp.
With the right WhatsApp version, you can send thousands of messages a day legally and without getting your number banned. And no, we’re not talking about browser plugins or third-party apps. These features are provided to any business that gets approved to use WhatsApp API.
Here’s a quick rundown of the message limitations for each version of WhatsApp:
You may be thinking that sending the same message to thousands of people might not be so effective, but if you choose the right WhatsApp API Business Solutions Partner (like Zoko!), that won’t be the case. Through your API dashboard, you can not only automate promotions, but also easily personalize them to include key customer details such as their names, order numbers, and other details.
Being able to broadcast messages at scale is one of WhatsApp’s most powerful marketing features and is what helped this sports company generate 20% more traffic to its website.
WhatsApp Business API can be integrated with eCommerce platforms like Shopify to make selling, tracking orders, and sending reminders a lot simpler. Since Meta is the parent company of WhatsApp, you can also integrate it with Facebook Messenger and Instagram to receive messages directly from both platforms.
You may be wondering if the normal WhatsApp app or WhatsApp Business app allows these integrations, and sadly the answer is no. You cannot fully unlock the potential of WhatsApp marketing except through the WhatsApp Business API. If you’re an established business you can easily apply through an official WhatsApp Business Solutions Partner. Once you get approved you can enjoy a host of benefits such as:
And many more features.
WhatsApp is a major messaging platform with over 2 billion active monthly users, so you can imagine the kind of reach you’ll have once you are approved for marketing. However, it’s important to note that as a business there are a few conditions before you can send messages, namely:
There are plenty of ways you can get prospects to opt-in such as by sharing your WhatsApp link on social media, through integrations with Facebook Messenger, or by including a WhatsApp chatbot on your website. Each of these methods allows prospects to get in contact with you and from there you can add them to your list.
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The beauty behind WhatsApp is that over 90% of messages get opened and read within 24 hours. It’s hard to reach those kinds of numbers even with email or SMS marketing, and as a result, you can guarantee more engagement with your offers and brands if you target the right audience.
But how do you know how many of your messages get delivered, opened, and read? Your official WhatsApp Business Partner should have analytics as a key part of their platform. Businesses can track metrics in real-time such as:
And many more important analytics to keep you up-to-date on how things are going. WhatsApp marketing would be nowhere near as effective without being able to accurately track your campaign’s performance.
There are many types of messages a business will have to regularly send customers, and it would take countless hours preparing each individually for thousands or even hundreds of customers. That’s why you can use a library of templates for each specific scenario such as:
And plenty of other message types that you can find readily available as templates. Customer details such as names, phone numbers, addresses, and tracking numbers can be automatically added to templates, saving you hundreds of hours of manually filling in details.
Those are the 5 top benefits of WhatsApp marketing to give you an idea of its incredible potential. To recap the advantages behind marketing on WhatsApp:
Zoko is an official WhatsApp API Business Solutions Partner that can help you get approved for a WhatsApp API account, offer support every step of the way, and provide you with all the tools to pivot your brand. Click here to learn more!
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