Looking to expand your marketing efforts? Then WhatsApp promotional messages is what you need. Use WhatsApp API to conduct upselling or cross-selling activities, promote restocked or seasonal products, share special offers, and even onboard new subscribers by introducing a service’s features.
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WhatsApp Promotional Messages: Where Do They Belong In Your Marketing Strategy?
Email used to be the platform of choice for promotional activity but those days are in the rear-view mirror. While social media has taken its place, it faces limitations such as publicly shared negative feedback. If you’re looking ahead, messaging is the way to go.
To guide your understanding of marketing messages strategy on WhatsApp, we’ve designed a framework for channel selection based on activity type (marketing or remarketing activities) and its success metrics (brand awareness or brand engagement).
First, consider if you’ll be using the channel for marketing or remarketing. Marketing aims to attract new eyeballs and build brand awareness, but this sometimes results in spam.
To maintain a high-quality user experience, WhatsApp only allows new customers to initiate conversations while businesses can only proactively message Contacts in their customer lists. WhatsApp is, therefore, a remarketing platform.
Rather than brand awareness, the success of promotional activity on WhatsApp rests on brand engagement, measured with performance marketing metrics like open and click-through rates. Messaging’s superior engagement translates to higher revenue potential here.
Limitations of Sending Marketing Messages on WhatsApp
Initially, WhatsApp only allowed businesses to send transactional messages, such as shipping updates. It trialed non-transactional or promotional messages in several countries throughout 2021 and finally lifted this restriction globally in September 2021.
This is important because WhatsApp is — or should be — part of any omnichannel marketing strategy. It can complement promotional activity on other channels, like website banners or social media posts, or creatively engage with customers in its own right.
Before you send out a flurry of WhatsApp promotional messages, here are some things to note.
- Contact Opt-In: Before you can make the most out of WhatsApp promotional messages, it's crucial that you first confirm that your contacts have opted in to receive these messages. This ensure you provide more tailored and relevant content, which can lead to better conversion rates.
- Content Restrictions: WhatsApp promotional messages must adhere to WhatsApp's Business and Commerce Policies. This includes using pre-approved Message Templates provided by WhatsApp for all communications.
- Price Considerations: There are costs associated with using WhatsApp promotional messages, such as account fees, Business Solutions Providers (BSPs) fees and WhatsApp conversation fees. That said, the potential benefits of WhatsApp promotional messages far outweigh the costs.
Furthermore, according to respond.io’s Customer Success Team Lead, Aiden Yau, businesses should tailor messages based on their audience segment. This ensures that the content truly resonates with their audience.
WhatsApp Promotional Messages: A Marketing Must-Have
With over 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp is a business must in countries where the app is dominant. Interactions are informal and instant, which spur action now and build brand loyalty in the long term.
Hands down, its greatest benefit is enabling businesses to initiate communication with known Contacts. It’s also extremely cost-effective to market directly to people who have already shown an interest in your products or services.
Additionally, a strategic WhatsApp promotional message compels action. Over 90% of first-time website visitors aren’t ready to make a purchase. Reminding them of their desire on a frequently-used channel increases user conviction and conversions.
Then, there’s the versatility of WhatsApp Message Templates, which can be adapted for different use cases. The same campaigns and techniques applied for email marketing are more relevant and widely received with messaging. We explore some of them below.
How to Send Promotional Messages on WhatsApp: The respond.io Way
Let’s talk about how to send promotional messages on WhatsApp. To get started, you need a WhatsApp Business API account and respond.io account. Better yet, get WhatsApp API via respond.io, an official WhatsApp BSP, to manage your account and all conversations from a single platform.
You also need a Contact list, which you can build with the following methods:
Once you’re ready, here are three ways to use WhatsApp promotional messaging.
Broadcast Promotions to a Wide Audience
Perhaps you run a supermarket franchise and want to promote monthly offers to your online shoppers. You’ve been using email newsletters, but chances are customers are ignoring them. Instead, send WhatsApp Broadcasts for this type of remarketing exercise.
Broadcasts are the best solution for announcements. They are targeted, focused and delivered to an inbox where Contacts spend a lot of time. Although messages like restock alerts are sent en masse, they can be personalized to address recipients by name with Dynamic Variables.
Contacts expect to hear from you — they opted to receive your messages, after all. That said, use broadcasts carefully to avoid them being mistaken for spam as this can get your phone number blocked and affect your quality rating.
If this sounds like the right strategy for you, use WhatsApp Broadcast in the Broadcast Module to reach thousands of targeted Contacts at once.
Automate Promotional Messages with Triggers
Say you’re the owner of a premium gadget store. You’ve noticed that online shoppers spend a significant amount of time browsing and selecting items, but there’s a consistently high percentage of abandoned carts.
Return-to-cart emails recover some 10% of that potential revenue but WhatsApp messages reach users while the intent or desire is still fresh. Nearly 80% of WhatsApp messages are read within 5 minutes, far superior to email’s lower and slower open rates.
What’s more, up to 60% of abandoned carts stand to be recovered via WhatsApp cart recovery messages. Interactive Message Template features like call-to-action buttons combine a sense of urgency with ease of action.
Each step in a customer’s journey involves decision-making. Clearly telling them what to do reduces decision fatigue and prompts action. This is especially effective for customers who need a nudge to indulge in non-essentials like gaming accessories.
For store owners using platforms like Big Commerce or Shopify, integrating Zapier with respond.io offers automating the sending of abandoned cart messages. This ensures timely engagement with potential customers, leveraging the immediacy of WhatsApp messaging to effectively recover abandoned carts.
Setting up WhatsApp promotional messages in response to specified trigger events involves a similar process as WhatsApp push notifications.
Create a WhatsApp Drip Campaign
Say a streaming app wants to convert trial users to subscribers. A tried-and-tested method would be a drip marketing campaign. In this, a sequence of automated messages would be sent to Contacts in response to their actions or changes in their customer journey.
Rather than settle for email’s lackluster engagement, create a WhatsApp drip campaign. Entice action by evoking excitement or urgency across multiple messages to keep a business in customers’ consciousness and encourage repeat service use.
“By sending out carefully crafted discounts and offers through promotional messages to both existing customers and potential leads, we can significantly boost engagement. Drip campaigns should be designed to increase the frequency and depth of sales conversations, directly impacting revenue growth”, said Aiden Yau.
WhatsApp drip campaigns have an added advantage: The informality of messaging apps makes these suggestions sound friendlier than they would on email. Business messaging strengthens customer relationships and can lead to almost 600% more click rates than email.
Putting together a WhatsApp drip campaign is effortless on respond.io. Just use the Workflows Module to set up a sequence of messages over a defined period of time.
Automatically Reply to Promotional Message Responses
The goal of sending promotional messages is to attract customers to your offerings. When that happens, customers will respond to your messages. However, if you send a WhatsApp broadcast to thousands of people, you will get a ton of replies. How can you handle all of these messages effectively without adding significant costs?
This is where Respond AI comes in. Specifically, Respond AI Agent. With it, you can set up a workflow to answer customer replies automatically and route customers to the right teams. It can run round-the-clock so you reduce lost opportunities to competitors or loss of interest.
You’re almost ready to start sending promotional messages to your customers. Before you do, check out our list of templates for various marketing scenarios below.
10 Promotional Templates that Help You Boost Sales
Now that you have all the tools you need to send WhatsApp promotional messages, here are 10 templates you can use to increase your reach and revenue.
New Product Launch Template
Generate excitement about your upcoming products.
- "🌟 Introducing our latest [Product Name]! Be the first to experience its unique features. Exclusive for our loyal customers."
- "Hey there! Check out our new [Product Name] that redefines [Product Category]. Get a sneak peek here: [Link] 🚀"
Limited-Time Offer Template
Build a sense of urgency in your customers.
- "⏰ Flash Sale Alert! Grab a 30% discount on selected items until [Date]. Don't miss out!"
- "Limited Offer: Enjoy 25% off on your next purchase! Valid until [Date]. Hurry, shop now: [Link]"
Seasonal Sale Template
Take advantage of special occasions to promote your sales.
- "🌸 Spring Sale is here! Refresh your wardrobe with a 20% discount on all items. Shop now before stocks run out."
- "Celebrate the season with our exclusive Holiday Sale. Save up to 30% on when you use code: HOLIDAYCHEER"
Exclusive Member Discounts Template
Entice your customers to join as a member or subscriber to increase sales and generate leads.
- "Dear [Name] a valued member, you get 15% off on your next purchase with us. Use code: MEMBER15 at checkout. [Link]"
- "VIP Exclusive: Enjoy a special 20% discount on our premium range. Thank you for being with us!"
Event Promotion Template
Increase customer awareness and attendance to your upcoming events.
- "Hey [Name], join us for our upcoming [Event Name] and enjoy exclusive offers. Register now to secure your spot. 🌟"
- "Don’t miss our [Event Name]! Exciting activities and special discounts await. Details here: [Link]"
The promotional message samples we've explored today demonstrate the power of clear, compelling, and targeted communication in engaging potential customers and driving action. Feel free to use or alter any of these templates as you see fit.
If you haven’t considered exploring WhatsApp promotional messages and activities, you are definitely missing out as messaging has enormous potential in the marketing sphere.
Ready to get started? Sign up for a respond.io account and connect WhatsApp API at a click.
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Further Reading
To learn more about using WhatsApp for promotional activities, check out these articles:
- 12 Ways Companies Do Whatsapp Marketing Campaigns
- The Practical Guide to WhatsApp Message Templates
- The Practical Guide to WhatsApp Ads
