WHY AND HOW TO USE WHATSAPP IN YOUR MARKETING?

Wondering why you should integrate WhatsApp into your marketing strategy? What started out as an instant messaging platform to facilitate exchanges between users, has quickly become an essential marketing channel.

With its Business offer, WhatsApp allows companies to offer an efficient customer service and increase sales thanks to some very interesting features. If you’re looking to take your first steps or improve your WhatsApp marketing, this guide is for you!

How does WhatsApp Business work?
WhatsApp is an instant messaging application for free communication via text messages, voice messages and video calls. The company was acquired in 2014 by Facebook, which also owns Instagram, making it the major player in the social media market in the world.

The WhatsApp Business platform is designed specifically for business owners. In fact, the “pro” version has tools and features dedicated to customer interaction.

How do I create a WhatsApp Business account?
To start, you need to create a business profile. This will allow you to indicate important information for your prospects and customers like:

The address of your headquarters
Description of your business
Your company email address and most importantly, your customer service email address
Your website
Your opening hours

How to create a product catalog?
The great interest of WhatsApp Business is its “e-commerce” feature! Indeed, you can create a catalog to present your products/services. It is your company’s showcase on the platform.

You add the products and services you sell as well as details like price, features and visuals. You can include links to direct users to your site.

However, with the “Shopping Cart” feature, customers can choose products and place the order with your business, without leaving the application.

How to set up messaging automation?
WhatsApp also allows you to automate messages to welcome your new customers and provide customer service even during your off hours.

It works like chatbots. You set up messages and as soon as a customer contacts you on WhatsApp, they receive a response within a second. Useful to avoid losing a sale or to keep a user with a problem waiting.

How do I tag incoming messages?
WhatsApp Business allows you to tag messages. This is useful if you have several people managing your messaging.

It helps you sort messages by urgency, process and track your orders.

You can use pre-programmed labels or create new ones.

How to use segmentation options?
As you know, segmentation is the key to successful marketing! On the pro version of WhatsApp, you have the ability to create groups (up to 256 members) to divide your audience.

It’s up to you how you organize these groups, based on the targeting criteria you’ve already established in your marketing strategy. For example, you can segment with subsets like: customers, prospects, executives, top customers, etc.

Why use WhatsApp in your marketing strategy?
In the last few years, WhatsApp has replaced SMS as the primary messaging channel. In a decade, the messaging app has managed to gather over 2 billion users worldwide. Among these billions of subscribers are bound to be your customers! That’s why you should use WhatsApp Business to communicate with them.

But this is not the only advantage of the application…

1 – To provide better customer support
With WhatsApp Business, you can offer personalized customer support through automated messages and chatbot-like features.

Another interesting point is that the application syncs with your CRM. You can find all your contacts and integrate them into your WhatsApp strategy easily.

This synchronization also allows you to centralize the exchanges with each customer and prospect, in order to offer a more personalized follow-up. An essential asset to move your prospects through the sales funnel and build customer loyalty.

2 – For its more transparent algorithm on the display of publications
Unlike Facebook, Instagram and other social networks whose algorithm changes frequently, WhatsApp follows a linear logic. There is no random display of posts and only users who have had contact with your company will receive your messages.

This makes it easier to connect individually with each customer and get responses.

3 – For easy to follow reminders and payment confirmations
WhatsApp is useful for sending confirmation messages for requests made on your website. There is very little spam. This makes it easier for users to track the reminders and confirmation updates you send.

Also, offering this way to be notified of follow-up orders allows you to get the customer into your WhatsApp contacts.

4 – For its sales support features
The catalog tool, the synchronization with the CRM, the ads… WhatsApp Business offers many features to expand your audience, while optimizing the user experience.

The fact that the customer can directly shop on the platform is an undeniable asset to boost your sales.

5 – For its support of international communication
WhatsApp Business makes it easy to communicate with international customers. Here, there are no extra charges for conversations with foreigners.

Not to mention that you don’t have to wait for “the right time” to send a message. Users will see it in due course.

What marketing actions should be implemented on WhatsApp?
Only a minority of companies actively use WhatsApp Business for marketing. This means: less competition and a more receptive audience for your campaigns!

Because WhatsApp is different from other channels, it forces you to be innovative by trying new techniques. It’s also an opportunity to show another side of your company, a more human side!

1 – Use WhatsApp statuses effectively
WhatsApp statuses are similar to Instagram stories. They disappear after 24 hours and are visible in a dedicated tab. But what kind of content should you post?

Behind the scenes of your business
It can be a typical day in your office, a focus on the daily life of one of your experts, an internal event…

Motivational quotes
This type of content always works, while enhancing your principles! Also share visuals that form an inspiring storytelling for your community.

Access to exclusive content
Offer for example access to promotions, private sales or contests.

Informative content
The possibilities are endless: infographic, list of tips, quick tutorial…

2 – Support your content marketing via groups
Since WhatsApp Business allows you to send links, images, videos, PDFs and more, why not set up a newsletter-like distribution model?

Customers sign up via a landing page or pop-up, on your site, to receive your latest ebooks, blog posts and videos directly via WhatsApp.

However, consider designing a content marketing strategy specific to the messaging application, sending content that can be easily viewed from a mobile device.

And like any good content marketing strategy, segment your distribution! Each group will need an editorial plan that meets their needs.

For example, to build customer loyalty and counteract the “stop ads” that are increasingly present on mailboxes, Carrefour offers to receive its catalog in digital format: On its website, the company asks users who wish to do so, to enter their postal code and phone number.

3 – Opt for non-traditional campaigns
Want your WhatsApp strategy to work? You need to motivate users to send you messages, give you their phone number or join your groups. So get creative.

For example, you can:

Ask your prospects to send you a WhatsApp message to unlock a feature when trying your products/services.
Offer professional advice and services only to customers who regularly participate in your WhatsApp conversations.
Offer personalized help to users to increase their satisfaction, as well as their loyalty.
4 – Collaborate with other companies
When you collaborate with companies that offer complementary services to yours, you expand your audience. This well-known technique used on social networks also works on WhatsApp Business!

You can:

Join WhatsApp groups of other companies
Invite brands and companies into your own
Co-organize a WhatsApp contest
Organize a Q&A session on a customer issue with experts from other companies
Share content from other companies in your groups (and vice versa!)
5 – Use WhatsApp Ads
Just bought by Facebook, the WhatsApp application welcomes ads in the statuses! Like Instagram’s Stories Ads, WhatsApp Ads are displayed between two slides and take up the entire width of the screen. It’s impossible to miss them!

Of course, it will be possible to include a link to your website, a landing page or your WhatsApp account to convert users.

6 – Organize product demonstrations
Are your customers always busy? Do you have an international clientele? It’s hard to get a face-to-face meeting. That’s where WhatsApp comes in!

Use the multimedia features and video calls to offer a remote product/service demonstration. This will save your prospects time and speed up the decision process.

7 – Build customer loyalty
WhatsApp allows you to directly share your content, like blog posts and industry news, with your customers. Sending direct content helps rekindle customer interest in your business.

A quick way to do this on WhatsApp is to create a dedicated group for your customers. Send them tutorials, product demos and other tips on how to use your products/services well. You can also organize Q&A sessions to help them, in the best possible way, to achieve their goals. This also brings you closer to your customers, creating a bond of availability and proximity.

The company is taking its one-to-one marketing to the next level by getting closer to its most loyal consumers. They can quickly contact an advisor to ask all their questions. Fnac guarantees a response within 4 hours, even during the night! What to keep its customers and push them more easily to re-purchase…

8 – Promote your webinars, events and conferences
Between saturated inboxes and social network algorithms that limit your organic reach, your invitation for an event can quickly get lost… With WhatsApp, the customer receives a notification directly on his phone: hard to ignore!

If you’re organizing a conference, a grand opening or a webinar, send the invitation on WhatsApp. Again, use groups to target your invitations. For example, for a small inauguration, invite only your best customers. For a webinar about a key issue of your prospects, invite only your potential customers.

9 – Promote new products
Have you launched a new product or service? In addition to sending emails and other marketing strategies, you can use WhatsApp to inform your customers:

Schedule a call or demonstration of the product
Send demonstration videos
Send presentations and order forms
Add the product/service for pre-order to your WhatsApp catalog
10 – Adjust your communication tone
WhatsApp is the perfect channel to humanize your business. Move from a formal tone to a playful one to get a little closer to your customers.

Prospects and customers should really feel like they are talking to a person (an advisor, an expert) and not to a company.

11 – Collect feedback to improve
Using WhatsApp Business makes it easy to collect feedback from customers. In the conversations, you can detect blocking points or ideas for improvement. But to go further, send questionnaires to your different groups.

Ask your contacts to evaluate a product, the customer service or the navigation on the website. Since they will receive a notification on their cell phone, they will be more inclined to answer. However, take into account the “mobile” factor! Your questionnaire should be short (3 questions maximum) with predefined answers or value scales.