What you need to know about the return of WhatsApp marketing
The outcry was great when the preliminary suspension of WhatsApp marketing was announced in December 2019 in the form of the popular WhatsApp newsletter. At this point in time, companies of every industry and size were using the many advantages of the B2C channel – whether publishers like the Süddeutsche Zeitung, e-commerce giants like Otto or political parties like the SPD.
The figures spoke a clear language: a 90 percent open rate within the first half an hour and a 25 percent click-through rate – that made for smiling faces on the part of marketers: inside and outside the company. There were also advantages of the Messenger marketing like the full attention of the users, the possibilities of real-time communication and the independence from an algorithm that we otherwise know from Facebook or Instagram.
But then, shortly before Christmas 2019, the message: WhatsApp no longer supports the sending of WhatsApp newsletters to a selected customer distribution list. The sudden end of the former shooting star in conversational marketing.
Then came the surprising news in June 2021: From now on, push notifications from companies can be sent to their customers again. What has changed in the setup? Which old and new features are on board? What can and may companies communicate when and how to their customers? We want to clarify these and other questions here.
The WhatsApp Business API, which WhatsApp released for companies in 2018, is now again able to design, plan and send WhatsApp newsletters using templates.
When using the WhatsApp Business API, a distinction must be made between two types of messages: user-initiated messages and business-initiated messages. While the former is primarily used for personal advice and customer service aspects and is initiated by the user, the real magic lies in the latter: companies can use the so-called Promotional messages Communicate on their own and send important updates, offers or personalized recommendations to their users.
In the future, marketers will have a wide range of options for managing a wide variety of scenarios via WhatsApp and recording them for their users. This includes:
- Current news or offers
- Personalized product recommendations
- Order confirmations including tracking links
- Back-in-stock notifications
- Updates on delays or postponements, e.g. B. from events, flights or public transport
- Malfunctions and failures
Customers must agree to receiving such messages in advance via an opt-in. Sending these business-initiated messages will in future be priced per message and will be based on the respective local SMS tariffs. The potential behind this has long been known: For example, the “Urlaubspiraten” portal was able to win over a million WhatsApp subscribers to its previous WhatsApp newsletter. “We see it as a great opportunity to be able to send our customers the latest offers that they are interested in directly to the lock screen of their smartphone in real time,” enthuses the CEO of Holiday Pirates, David Armstrong.
The most important use cases in WhatsApp marketing at a glance. (Source: MessengerPeople)
In order to embrace the advantages of WhatsApp marketing, companies must have an official partner by their side – a so-called WhatsApp business solution provider. This partner gives you access to the WhatsApp Business API, often with a software solution that allows you to use the API immediately without your own programming effort.
MessengerPeople started as one of the first players in the WhatsApp newsletter business in 2015 and is an official WhatsApp business solution provider. With them you can the new possibilities in WhatsApp marketing use it quickly and easily for your purposes. Many helpful tools are available, for example target group selection, the integration of multimedia content or chatbots and automations. Thanks to the intuitive user interface, all of this is easy to do and is also the central control unit for all of your Messenger Marketing Activities, even beyond WhatsApp.
Curious how you can use WhatsApp for your customer communication and marketing? Then take a look at the free video tutorial now, which gives you practical tips on all aspects of the new, exciting possibilities in WhatsApp marketing!
