Whenever there is a discussion about Social Media Marketing Channels and Campaigns, you instantly think of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn because of their popularity and opportunities they offer to brands and businesses. However, with the change in marketing styles and budding messaging apps the lens of campaigns and marketing has started to shift towards these apps. And increasingly messenger apps are being used for marketing.
As per research and studies, WhatsApp is ruling the world of marketing in apps with 1.2 Billion monthly active users around the world. However, before directly jumping to WhatsApp marketing it is important to understand the different functionalities and how you can effectively use the app for your brand or business.
Let’s have a look at the possibilities and marketing-friendly features of the app.
Why WhatsApp for business?
Starting with the understanding of using the app for business and one of the reasons to do this is that many of your customers are probably already using it. Studies have revealed that more than 50 Billion messages are sent through WhatsApp every single day. According to Nielsen’s Facebook Messaging Survey, 67 percent of mobile messaging app users said they expect to use chat more for communicating with businesses over the next two years. And 53 percent of respondents say they are more likely to shop with a business they can message directly. Moreover, if your target audience is younger, then they are more likely to be comfortable using these apps.
Marketing Strategies & Tips for WhatsApp
While starting out a strategy for your brand/business you need to understand the elements of reaching out to your target audience using the app. The main power of WhatsApp is that it is tied to our phones and it tend to seem more personal than computers. So, any campaign you roll out should have that personal aspect to it. It is the platform where customers interact with their friends, so trust and creativity are the key.
Building buzz and creating brand persona
As it is a personal messaging platform, so it is necessary to create the personality of your brand that feel like a friend. How you can do it? Well, you will have to present your brand as youth friendly or you can also create a character that will relate with your target audience.
The perfect example is of a campaign executed by Absolut Vodka, when they launched their Limited Edition in Argentina. For the launch they decided to host an exclusive party and only 2 invitations were available to the public. The catch was, anyone who is interested in getting these tickets had to impress an imaginary bouncer called Sven and convince him to attend the party. WhatsApp also has its app for business and marketing available for Android users. With the app, businesses can interact with customers easily by using tools to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages.
Give one-on-one assistance to inspire new users for a product
If there is any service or product that is used in daily life of people, then you can plan out a campaign that will give them one-on-one assistance for it. This will benefit your brand immensely in terms of customer satisfaction and give them a brand experience.
Hellmann’s in Brazil executed such a campaign. They wanted to inspire customers to think of mayonnaise as a cooking ingredient. They invited visitors to their website to submit their phone numbers along with the contents from their refrigerator. After this, they were connected with real chef over WhatsApp , who came up with recipes using Hellmann’s and the other ingredients from the image sent by the participant. Moreover, the chefs also shared how to cook the meal through videos and pictures.
Offer discreet advice and value to customers
The fun of shopping gets doubled when there is an advice from the brand/business itself. So, if you want your high-end customers to feel special and valued, then you can plan a campaign around giving them assistance and discreet advice while making a purchase.
So, now that you know how WhatsApp marketing works, it’s time to plan one for your brand. Offer something interesting to your customers over WhatsApp because it’s all about the stories you tell.
