WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging platform. Its monthly active user base has surpassed 2 billion. It’s moved beyond merely being a way to chat with friends, becoming a popular promotional tool for businesses all over the world.
WhatsApp marketing is the perfect way to stay in touch with your customers. Not only do more than half of WhatsApp users check the app at least once per day but text messages have a 98% open rate! So you can be certain of eyes on your offer.
It’s amazing how much users adore this mode of communication going as far as trusting brands who chat apps more than those who don't. A staggering 53% of people say they would buy from companies they can reach through chat.
Why Include WhatsApp in your marketing strategy?
Better customer relationships
Increased conversion rate
Increased sales
Reduced marketing expenses
WhatsApp use cases:
Send reminders for due dates and payments.
Update customers about their order status.
Personalise occasional wishes like birthdays, and inform customers of discounts.
Recommend possible actions to customers such as new products, travel packages, hotel stays, etc.
Remind customers of abandoned carts and persuade them to check out.
WhatsApp marketing ideas and examples
Klook: transactional messages
Klook, an online travel platform, decided to use WhatsApp to improve customer satisfaction and retention. As a result, the company’s marketing strategy revolved around booking updates and notifications.
Klook had its customers’ best interests in mind and wanted to find the most convenient communication channel. Thanks to a large audience in the Asia-Pacific region, WhatsApp was chosen as the best option.
Visitors to the website and app were invited to sign up for WhatsApp notifications, which included order updates and reminders. In the end, WhatsApp’s opt-in rate was 63% higher than the Klook app’s push notifications and the customer retention rate increased by 40%
Netflix: personal recommendations
Netflix knows a thing or two about keeping users interested. They have always provided personal recommendations on their mobile app but in 2017 the company decided to expand this feature with WhatsApp.
They launched this campaign in India, WhatsApp’s largest market, in January 2017. Users who had both Netflix and WhatsApp installed on their smartphones were prompted to communicate via WhatsApp messenger. If a user clicked “I’m in,” they began receiving messages about their account as well as series and film recommendations.
The campaign also helped Netflix chat with customers even after they had cancelled their subscriptions, sending reminders and announcements designed to get them to resubscribe to the service.
Saffola: real-time assistance
If you’ve ever tried to eat a little healthier you know how frustrating it can be to get cravings. Saffola, an Indian healthcare brand, decided to build its campaign around combating this desire for pizza and cookies.
Saffola created a WhatsApp chatbot to assist people in combating their unhealthy eating habits. Users were encouraged to send the bot a message the moment they felt a craving coming on. The chatbot then tried to divert their attention with pre-recorded positive messages, advice, puzzles, and even a rap song. After this, a promotion for their product popped up.
Adidas: real-time support to footballers
Adidas used WhatsApp to promote its new shoe campaign. The brand decided to target a specific audience, amateur football players; and assist them in dealing with their specific needs.
Football teams often have problems with various aspects of their game. Some players may withdraw from a match at the last minute, and there may be no replacement. Adidas offered to find a replacement via WhatsApp. All you have to do is send a message to a WhatsApp hotline and share important match information. Adidas will send a top-tier football player to your game in exchange.
Despite the fact that the campaign was only six days long and targeted a specific audience, the results were impressive. Adidas received a lot of attention in sports media, retail websites, blogs, and more.
KLM
KLM uses WhatsApp to provide flight alerts and other useful information to its customers. Customers who book a flight via WhatsApp can receive booking confirmations, check-in notifications, boarding passes, and flight status updates.
Customers can access the company’s official website, enter their booking information, and choose to receive flight notifications via WhatsApp. You can also contact the company directly via WhatsApp to get real-time updates on your reservations. Behind the message is always a customer service representative who will ask you for your information and keep you updated.
If all of this has piqued your interest in using chatbots to help your business get similar results, feel free to contact V5 Digital to set up a consultation.
If you want to see how intuitive a chatbot can be, take a second and talk to our clever little chatbot here.
This article was written by Vikrant Kaushal for Jungleworks and adapted for the V5 Digital audience.
