Moobicast Blog

Marketing with WhatsApp and How It Can Drive Increased Sales

7 Nov 2022

Back in the early days when e-commerce was yet to become the norm, people shopped at brick-and-mortar stores that had salespersons whose goal was to persuade customers to make purchases, often even more than what they had originally planned to. This is the power of human-to-human marketing that requires real conversations to work. However, this is largely absent in today’s e-commerce businesses, which rely on one-way marketing techniques like paid promotions, emails, and SMS marketing to get their deals, discounts, and products in front of consumers.

Conversational commerce is now a must-have for success as consumers increasingly turn down faceless brands in favour of purchasing from actual people. As a result, an increasing number of businesses are utilising conversational channels such as WhatsApp to engage with their target audience. Below, we go over WhatsApp marketing and its role in driving sales.

WhatsApp Marketing and Why Use It for Ecommerce

WhatsApp marketing is among the primary methods of messenger marketing. It allows brands to make connections and engage their customers through WhatsApp, one of the leading chat apps with over 2 billion active users worldwide. It works similarly to SMS marketing with many added features, such as sending files, images, videos, and more.

As an already-established messaging platform that continues to grow rapidly, WhatsApp has become a natural part of daily communication for millions of people. This presents a business opportunity to reach consumers where they are most active and get their attention. To start with WhatsApp marketing, one must first sign up for a WhatsApp Business API account.

WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp Business is a free app available on the Google Play Store and the App Store that caters to small businesses with tools and features that allow for the automation of processes, sorting, and responding to customer queries and messages within the app. Its other features include:

• Business profiles complete with the brand’s website, email, address, profile image, and more.
• Online product catalogues.
• Labels for organising messages.
• Quick replies and many other messaging tools for quick response.

On the other hand, WhatsApp Business API is more suited for medium to large businesses that want to use WhatsApp to engage with multiple users. Unlike the app, the API solution is much more complex as it lacks any front-end interface. It must be integrated into a business’s existing software to work, which many third-party solution providers can help with. These providers typically offer dashboards similar to email marketing tools to utilise the integration and create, monitor, and manage the business’s WhatsApp marketing campaigns.

Unlike Personal or WhatsApp Business, only WhatsApp Business API enables brands to send out marketing-related content. WhatsApp Business API also provides numerous advanced features for setting up automated campaigns across the customer’s journey at a larger scale.

How WhatsApp Marketing Helps Drive Sales

1. Automated lead generation

Integrating WhatsApp’s click-to-chat feature widget on business websites encourages visitors to interact with the brand, not simply browse and leave. This works similarly to how live chat gathers visitor information. Using WhatsApp Business API, businesses can automate interactions with potential leads and collect information that may be followed up with personalised campaigns down the line.

2. Announce promotions for product launches, sales, and more

WhatsApp’s broadcast feature allows brands to announce updates regarding upcoming and ongoing events like product launches, discounts, sales, and more to keep customers engaged. These broadcast campaigns can be automated and scheduled at set intervals to promote and notify customers about offers they may be interested in. With WhatsApp’s proven 99% open rate1 for marketing campaigns, it is easily one of if not the most effective channels for running promotional broadcasts.

3. Provide customer support during all stages of the purchase journey

With its conversational interface, WhatsApp simplifies the process of offering customer support to shoppers during all stages of the purchase process, whether before, during, or after. WhatsApp Business lets brands address their concerns and encourage them to make and continue with an informed purchase.

4. Higher conversion rate

Businesses must choose the perfect channel for their initial contact with customers. Potential leads may get frustrated with conventional phone calls or other inaccessible channels like email. WhatsApp’s real-time messaging comes in handy to nudge these prospects towards finalising their purchase, as businesses using the platform claim that customers answered around 40% of their messages. Furthermore, messaging drives conversions, specifically after the initial contact with a lead, which can result in a 112.6 rise in conversion rate2.

Conclusion

From improved customer care to better marketing, WhatsApp Business API has a slew of advantages to offer for businesses, making it one of the best messaging channels with plenty of potential beyond bringing back conversations into the online shopping experience. As such, WhatsApp marketing presents an incredible opportunity to reinforce one’s brand and develop long-term customer relationships.

Set up your WhatsApp or SMS marketing in Singapore with Moobicast, a premier marketing tool provider that enables you to do so in just a few simple steps. Using our platform’s excellent mix of functionality and flexibility, you can develop personalised messages for your customers, set up autoresponders to welcome new subscribers, and create campaigns to promote your products and services. Moobicast also offers a wide range of additional features, including analytics, optimisation, and integrated marketing tools, making it the ideal choice for any business.

Should you require more information in getting started, please contact our customer service team at +65 8799 6394 anytime via WhatsApp or SMS or utilise our online support.

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