In order to drive more sales and website traffic, most brands use email newsletters to send information about their brands and product discounts to customers and other potential customers. As a marketing tool, it allows you to interact directly with potential customers and increase the interactivity between your brand and customers through one-on-one communication.
Although email is a communication channel used by almost every consumer. But as of 2021, the number of emails sent and received every day has As many as 320 billion letters, and consumers’ email inboxes are flooded with various marketing emails every day. So in order to stand out in a fiercely competitive market, how should merchants attract consumers’ attention?
To connect with customers, brands must start from the consumer’s perspective. With the popularity of communication software (such as WhatsApp, Telegram and other channels), many brands have begun to turn to conversational marketing to interact with customers. WhatsApp is the world’s most popular instant messaging platform with more than 2 billion active users. Not only can it gain consumers’ attention more effectively, it is also a good platform for marketing and brand image building.
Further reading: Leveraging Conversational Marketing via Chatbots in 4 Easy Steps
What is WhatsApp Newsletter?
In the past, newsletters were a form of email marketing. It allows marketers to send promotional messages to potential customers’ inboxes and drive sales and website traffic through engaging content.
However, with the rise of instant messaging software, e-newsletter marketing is no longer limited to email, but can also be carried out through channels such as WhatsApp. Like traditional email newsletters, WhatsApp newsletter content can include:
● special promotion
● Member discounts
● new products
● Picture or video
But the difference between them is that each WhatsApp email can only contain one message.
To effectively push WhatsApp newsletters, you need to use the WhatsApp broadcast function. The sender only needs to add the contacts to the broadcast list and compose the message content, and then use WhatsApp to send a large number of messages to the contacts in the list at once. However, when the contact receives the message, they will not know that they have been added to the broadcast list, creating one-to-one interaction.
Further reading: Tips to Increase Customer Engagement via WhatsApp Broadcast
Do WhatsApp newsletters really work?
According to data, more than half of WhatsApp users check WhatsApp at least once a day, and the reading rate is even can be as high as 98%. There are as many as 54% of consumers. They said they prefer to use WhatsApp to track order and logistics status, as well as appointment or lecture reminders (50%), discounts (43%), etc. This means that promoting through WhatsApp not only makes it easier for consumers to see your brand, but is also more likely to boost sales and improve customer satisfaction.
In the era of information explosion, consumers are always exposed to a large amount of marketing and advertising information through various channels. Compared with other channels, WhatsApp is a channel that most consumers trust and rely on. Since it is primarily a channel for users to communicate in real time, users are more likely to click on content from merchants than email users. If your brand or online store has already opened a WhatsApp account, I believe you will encounter situations where customers take the initiative to inquire or request information from you from time to time. This means that WhatsApp is well suited for brands to send promotional and promotional messages to customers.
Taking VIMOS’s education center customers as an example, the acceptance rate for courses promoted through email is only 20%. However, after I started using WhatsApp to promote and proactively sent 1,743 broadcast messages, WhatsApp received 1,311 views and an open rate of 75.2%. The previous use of email promotion increased the reading rate by nearly 3 times!
Further reading: VIMOS Success Story: Elite Learning Centre – VIMOS
In addition, merchants can also use WhatsApp broadcasts to send shopping cart unchecked reminders and encourage them to check out through discounts or gifts to reduce the problem of abandoned shopping carts. Merchants can achieve the best marketing results through WhatsApp marketing.
Where to start to create a WhatsApp e-response?
To enhance interactivity through WhatsApp newsletters, start with concise and concise content. Merchants can also add a “quick reply” below the message for users to click or a CTA (Call-to-Action) button to direct customers to the website. Although WhatsApp newsletters are the fastest way to reach customers and increase interactions, merchants should not completely replace email marketing with them. In fact, both can co-exist if merchants can leverage them for different marketing objectives (e.g. email for high-frequency promotional messages and WhatsApp newsletters for less frequent and more personal messages) .
*CTA: CTA is translated as call to action, which literally means a call to encourage consumers to take some action. Can be used on websites, email marketing or banners to drive users to conversions. The most commonly used CTA element is expressed through buttons.
Further reading: 6 WhatsApp Business API Features brands can’t miss out on!
Let customers start receiving newsletters via WhatsApp
For customers to start receiving WhatsApp newsletters, they need to subscribe via a CTA button or QR code. A common approach is to share news about subscribing to WhatsApp newsletters through marketing campaigns on the website, email or social media, and provide customers with some incentives (such as discounts or early access to new products) to attract subscriptions and collect customer information.
If the customer subscribes and agrees to receive messages from WhatsApp Business, the merchant can receive the message that the customer agrees to subscribe on the WhatsApp Business API platform. At this time, customers will receive a message agreeing to receive WhatsApp newsletters and can also redeem related rewards.
Specifications for WhatsApp newsletters
Since WhatsApp attaches great importance to the user experience of general users, it has very strict regulations on spam messages. If you are a WhatsApp API user, you need to submit a template message to the official for review before sending a message. Only after passing the review can you start sending broadcasts. Therefore, when choosing an API provider, merchants must also clearly understand the solutions provided by the other party and whether it is an officially recognized partner.
A good conversational marketing tool can help merchants collect customer consent (opt-in) to receive merchant information through an automated process. In this way, when customers agree to subscribe to WhatsApp newsletters, merchants can easily send corresponding marketing messages to designated customer groups.
Allowing customers to explicitly agree to opt-in not only allows merchants to manage customer expectations more effectively, but also creates a more seamless and complete marketing process in conjunction with automated processes and the customer management capabilities of the WhatsApp Business API. Consumers also have the right to cancel receiving messages from merchants at any time.
How to develop more customers through WhatsApp newsletter?
1. Extend customer lifetime value through community management
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) represents the net profit from a customer over the duration of their relationship with a business. Studies show that 84% of consumers are likely to join a brand’s online community if the brand engages with them directly. Incorporating WhatsApp marketing into community management emerges as an optimal approach to foster customer loyalty. Utilizing WhatsApp for open communication, offering exclusive benefits and discounts, can draw customers closer to the brand and provide a personalized shopping experience, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and potentially increasing CLV. This strategy makes WhatsApp marketing a vital component in building a brand’s online community and maximizing CLV.
Merchants can use WhatsApp e-newsletters to build the foundation for community operations. For example, use newsletters to increase customer interaction before new product launches. Can merchants encourage customers to receive discounts through WhatsApp when promoting new products on major social platforms? When customers receive the discount code on WhatsApp, they will be directed to the product’s webpage and purchase the product. This approach not only increases sales and conversion rates, but also allows marketers to expand their customer lists.
2. Shorten the sales cycle
Social marketing should not start after the customer completes the purchase. When potential customers become interested in your brand or product, merchants should start building relationships with potential customers. Merchants can use the human side to get closer to customers to speed up customers’ purchasing decisions and shorten the sales cycle. The most effective way is to resolve customers’ questions and concerns through different social and communication channels, which can turn potential customers into loyal customers faster.
Taking VIMOS customer Canvas Sweet as an example, after using the WhatsApp Business API, their “checkout work stage” (that is, the customer browsed the product and completed the checkout) increased by 46%, and “completed the transaction work stage” Stage” increased by 45.3%.
Customers only need to click the chat button on the website to go to WhatsApp to have a conversation with Canvas Sweet’s live customer service and complete the entire shopping process.
When customers interact with merchants on WhatsApp, they can quickly go to the website to complete payment by clicking the “Order Now” button, shortening the purchase process. Merchants can also collect feedback from customers after they receive the goods, which helps strengthen customer relationship management. Some companies report that with the help of WhatsApp e-newsletters, the sales cycle has been shortened by 2-4 days, and sales have increased by 70%.
3. Use pop-ups to re-engage existing customers
To reduce customer churn during the purchasing process and nudge them towards a decision, merchants can implement “Exit intent pop-ups” integrated with WhatsApp marketing strategies. Exit-intent pop-ups are designed to activate when a potential customer shows signs of leaving the website or after extended browsing. By offering discounts or prompting customers to subscribe with their email, these pop-ups can prevent 10% to 15% of customer churn. Incorporating WhatsApp marketing into these pop-ups can further drive traffic, enhance interactivity, and improve the overall effectiveness of your marketing efforts, making it a powerful tool for conversion optimization.
If your brand operates both WhatsApp and email newsletters, you can also create pop-up ads for subscribing to WhatsApp and email respectively, and use A/B testing to see if your customer base prefers to interact with your brand through WhatsApp or email. , and put more resources into channels with better results based on test results.
4. Personalized WhatsApp newsletter
Although e-newsletters are sent in the form of broadcast messages, marketers can classify contact lists based on products or preferences that customers are interested in, and add the recipient’s name in the title to attract their attention.
The customer management function of the VIMOS platform allows users to effectively process and classify customer data and create more accurate WhatsApp e-newsletters.
Log in to VIMOS to start your WhatsApp e-newsletter business
VIMOS Sales Conversation Intelligent Reply is an automated conversational sales platform specially designed for small and medium-sized enterprises. Key features include:
● Chatbot Chatbot
● Keyword auto-reply
● Team management and multi-person login
● Customer tags and categories
● One-click broadcasting in marketing
● Personalized template message (supports multimedia such as PDF, video, photo, etc.)
Our team has many years of experience in marketing and developing software, and is an officially recognized WhatsApp Business API partner. After registering as a VIMOS user, our team will assist you throughout the process of applying to open the WhatsApp Business API, and provide email and online support. We will also provide suggestions and assistance on the most suitable WhatsApp e-newsletter and automated processes based on your business needs.
To learn more about the potential and uses of WhatsApp newsletters, book an appointment today 15-minute business consultation by a dedicated person, embark on the journey of digital transformation!
