WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging applications in Italy and worldwide.
Four out of ten Italians consider WhatsApp the favourite app on their smartphone and it is used by 90.8% of the population with access to the Internet.
Over time, the WhatsApp channel has been used by users not only to chat with friends and family, but also to exchange information with companies and businesses.
Some data collected by Meta confirm how the use of this channel has been appreciated by consumers:
- 80% of adults agree that messaging is a quick and easy way to communicate with a business
- 175 million people send messages to a company account every day
- 75% of adults said: ‘I want to be able to communicate with companies in the same way I communicate with friends and family through text messaging’
- 100 million messages a day are sent by businesses using the WhatsApp Business platform
- 85% of consumers agree that interacting with a company via messaging app is relationship building
The use of the channel has become so frequent that it has been used by companies as a communication and marketing channel. Many businesses use WhatsApp to send promotional messages, special offers, useful content and more to their customers.
In this article, we will look at the advantages of using WhatsApp in your communication strategy and how best to do it.
Want to find out more? Book a free call with our consultantsThe advantages of using the WhatsApp channel
Using WhatsApp in the marketing and communication strategy allows companies to gain several advantages, such as:
- High open rates: WhatsApp is the communication channel that achieves message open and read rates close to 100%, much higher numbers than traditional email or SMS.
- Speed and immediacy: with WhatsApp Marketing, messages are sent directly to customers’ phones, without going through intermediaries. This means that the messages reach the recipients instantly.
- Personalisation: WhatsApp allows companies to create personalised conversations with their customers. This means that companies can speak directly to their customers and understand their needs.
- Interactivity: WhatsApp allows companies to interact with their customers in real time. This means that companies can answer their customers’ questions and create a closer relationship with them.
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How to use WhatsApp for Marketing purposes
Now that we have seen the advantages of WhatsApp Marketing, let us look at some concrete examples of how companies can use the WhatsApp channel in their marketing strategy.
- Sending special offers: Companies can send special offers to their customers via WhatsApp. This creates a sense of exclusivity for customers and incentivises them to buy products or services.
- Abandoned cart retrieval: E-commerce companies can use the abandoned cart retrieval feature on WhatsApp. In this way the user who has just abandoned the product in the cart can be contacted again on WhatsApp to complete the order.
- Order update: a WhatsApp message can be sent to update the recipient of the order status.
- Automated service and support: it is possible via some specialised platforms to create a series of automated responses that offer prompt replies to the customer according to their needs
- Sending service notifications: businesses can use WhatsApp to inform their customers about services offered, such as opening hours and overtime closures. This is particularly useful for companies operating in the service sector.
- Sending useful content: companies can use WhatsApp to send their customers useful content, such as guides, tutorials and videos. This helps provide added value to their customers and build trust with them.
- Using surveys: companies can use WhatsApp to create quick and easy surveys to understand what their customers like and what they don’t. This is important to understand how to improve their products or services.
- Reminder: an appointment, installment or important date can be reminded on WhatsApp.
How to integrate WhatsApp marketing into your company’s marketing strategy
To use WhatsApp as a marketing channel, a few steps must be followed.
- Obtain customers’ consent: before sending messages to their customers, companies must obtain their consent. This means that customers must agree to receive messages from companies.
- Create a contact list: companies must create a contact list of customers who have given their consent to receive promotional messages via the WhatsApp.
- Create effective and highly personalized messages: messages sent via the WhatsApp must be short, clear and effective. They must also be personalized and tailored to customers’ specific needs.
- Monitor and analyze results: companies need to monitor and analyze the results of their WhatsApp Marketing campaigns to understand what works and what does not. This allows them to improve their marketing strategy and achieve better results over time.
- Use platforms that integrate WhatsApp’s official APIs and allow the channel to be used professionally and effectively.
Conclusions
Using WhatsApp as a marketing channel is definitely an effective and efficient choice for businesses. To date, WhatsApp is the most performing and effective communication channel as it ensures much higher read and interaction rates than all other communication channels used (e-mail, sms).
Through WhatsApp, companies can send special offers, service information, useful content and more to their customers.
In addition, WhatsApp Marketing offers many advantages, such as speed and immediacy, personalization, and interactivity. These advantages make WhatsApp Marketing a very effective marketing channel for businesses of all sizes.
Through the use of conversational platforms using WhatsApp’s official API, it is possible to make certain features automatic, such as: reminder or reminder messages, birthday greetings, abandoned cart retrieval, sending informational or professional messages, and much more.
Spoki for example, is the Italian conversation platform that uses WhatsApp’s official API and makes it possible to integrate the channel within the business strategy. Through Spoki it is possible to integrate WhatsApp to business tools, CRM and CMS and thus create integrated, omnichannel communication.
