Whatsapp is a well known platform for messaging in India and businesses have started to realize the power of this platform to expand their audience base and generate new leads.Through Whatsapp campaigns,businesses have been able to cater to their customers more effectively and quickly.Marketing campaigns on Whatsapp have begun to show its results and many businesses are keen on learning the tactic.
Understanding the medium is highly important!
Whatsapp is an ENGAGEMENT channel and NOT a marketing channel
Businesses need to understand the medium in which they are interacting with the customers.Whatsapp is a messaging platform but it’s not limited to that,it’s an interesting way to engage your audience, It is necessary to know that engagement is important for today’s time.As a business it is primary to note that Whatsapp messaging is used for building connect with target audience and not for marketing!.
Building a campaign on Whatsapp makes it a focal point for the customer to reach to you easily.Campaigns also helps to maintain transparency among you and the customers.Lesser confusion,more leads!
Steps you must take to run a successful ‘whatsapp’ campaign
Step1: Identify your business service and its target audience
You must in the first place know what service are you going to offer through Whatsapp and who are you going to target.Usually,services having multiple discounts,courses offering discounts or newly launched services are marketed on Whatsapp.For existing services,a feedback mechanism is set up on Whatsapp.Getting to know which product or service is proving to be getting leads from this platform is important.
Step2: Choose an official solution partner for Whatsapp API
Whatsapp doesn’t provide green verification to all companies and hence it would be great if you partner with a API solution provider.They would help you in setting up your API accounts and manage your marketing mechanisms.You won’t face roadblocks or issues while setting up your accounts plus they are a reliable source for data protection.
Step3: Build a good customer service and marketing strategy
Interaction is essential for whatsapp campaign and it can be done with a strong customer support service team.Nowadays,chatbots are used to provide solutions to the user queries.It is indeed a good way of solving most of the question but what is important is the ‘human touch’ in the conversations and only a real human can do that.
Step4:Get contacts
Whatsapp Business API provides two types of communication i.e. user-initiated and business-initiated.Users can interact with businesses only through an opt-in service only. You must get contacts by asking the user to give their consent to their private number.
You can get contacts through:
include a click-to-chat link into your promotional emails;
suggest getting notifications via WhatsApp at check-out;
explain all the benefits of using this messenger;
offer a discount for a subscription.
Step5: Abide with the guidelines
Read all the guidelines laid down by Whatsapp before you start with your campaign.Try to be in accordance with the rules and read them all carefully before.With all compliances,your brand will get verified and if you abide by the rules you won’t face roadblocks.
Types of Whatsapp Marketing Campaigns
Taking a confirmation message
Sending notifications
‘How did we do?’ survey forms
Sending recommendations for loyal customers
Sending technical support solutions
Sending transactional updates
Informing new updates and sending follow-up messages
Examples of Creative Whatsapp Marketing Campaigns in India
1.Hellman’s Whatscook Campaign- Hellmann is a well-known Mayonnaise brand and they tried one of the best WhatsApp Marketing Campaigns in 2014 in Brazil. It was the best synchronized WhatsApp marketing campaigns one would have ever seen. Users were acquired through a unique WhatsCook website setup by Hellmann's. Users just had to enter their phone number and by doing so, they opt-in to the WhatsApp campaign.
2. Livon’s India’s Next Top Model S02 Campaign- Livon India tried a different marketing technique where asked to send a selfie of the models along with a pack of Livon serum and send their entries on a Whatsapp number.The best entry would get a entry as a wildcard contestant on the show.This worked and models pan-India had sent their entries.
3. Marie Light Win A TV Campaign- ITC owned Sunfeast Marie did a campaign where they printed advertisements on the product packets and asked consumers to click a selfie with it and send on the Whatsapp number given on the product. However, the official numbers for consumers getting a 42inch LED TV is not given by ITC,it did help the sales to boost drastically.
Marketing tools that will help you to automate your campaigns!
1.WATI.io- It is a CRM software tool that helps you in optimizing your Whatsapp Marketing campaign.Also,as said earlier in steps to run a successful campaign,choosing a correct API partner is necessary and this tool is just perfect for that purpose.
2.Freshdesk- It is one of the trending tools for Whatsapp Automation as it provides easy access to set-up your accounts,auto-ticketing etc.Many businesses have chosen them as their trusted API partner.
3.Gupshup.io- This is a quickly growing tool for Whatsapp Automation as it provides a variety of options and features for automations.Right from SMS to Whatsapp,it gives automation products for every platform.
Few ways in which you can collect consent from users and get them to chat with you on Whatsapp?
1. Use opt-ins to generate leads:Businesses use this technique to generate leads from Whatsapp. In this method,you collect consent from users to send or receive messages from this business account.If they are interested,they can chat with this account leading to purchase of the products.It works in the form of links shared by the business along with the marketing message leading to their website or app.Once clicked,user will be asked for their details to continue to chat with the business.
2. Click-to-Whatsapp Ads:For any business with a website,running ads is very beneficial but for businesses without a website can make use of this method.It can be done through Facebook Ads manager,where you can place your ad and when clicked by the user it takes them to your business profile on Whatsapp.
Source:freshworks.com
3.Create contests and campaigns:Whatsapp is an instant messaging platform and holding a contest would get spontaneous results.You must hold contests on Whatsapp,it has proven to be a good way to promote your product and get the masses talking!.Absolut Vodka held a creative contest where user needed to convince ‘Sven’(a doorman of the party) who would give them access to the launch party of their limited edition bottles.As users,got creative it made a 3day chat sessions and more than 1000 videos/images/gifs used to convince the bot.
How to set up bot flows in a whatsapp marketing tool like ‘wati’?
Step 1: Go to the CHATBOTS section
Step 2: Click “+Add another bot” and “+Add from scratch” buttons
Step 3: Select the nodes and connect them
Step 4: You've made your first chatbot! Test it!
How can a partner like Web-Stepup help you in Whatsapp automation campaigns ?
At Web-Stepup,we understand your business first and then recommend the tool through which your campaign can be fully optimized.We help you to build the right kind of template and broadcast flows with the help of specialized knowledge in the field.It is essentially important to know that a good strategy for marketing can enhance your automation and bad strategies can cause issues and hence we help you to understand how both aspects amplify the automation.
Whatsapp marketing is truly a doorway to success for your brand and it may work wonders.Businesses must make use of Whatsapp Business API and optimize their products or service and drive great leads.