Nowadays We cannot imagine life without WhatsApp., and it is difficult for us to remember the time when we sent text messages to our friends, trying to summarize and abbreviate words so as not to see the feared #2 on the screen, which indicated that you were sending (and paying 😮) two messages.
It's the app we all turn to for communicate with our loved ones, send us photos of our trips, and Videos of our best moments; without going into sending stickers and memes, which would be a topic for another post 😏.
But curiously, this was not the purpose for which it was created.
WhatsApp, whose name comes from “What's Up” (What's Up? in English), was born in 2009 with the intention of revolutionize the contact list of smartphones.
It emerged as a simple and automatic solution to see, through statuses, what your contacts were doing and know if they were available to talk (yes, people used to call each other on the phone, and TALKED! 😂).
This way you could know in advance if someone was in a meeting, having lunch, traveling, or whatever situation they were in. would not allow him to attend; as well as personalize it to indicate an alternative such as, for example, calling after a specific time, or sending an email to a certain address.
Shortly after, with the incorporation of the Push Notifications, and the possibility of notifying your contacts about your status with a personalized message, the creators of WhatsApp saw the hidden potential of this application, and did not delay in developing the free mobile to mobile messaging through the application, which would later evolve into what is known today.
According to the Report Hootsuite Digital 2022, WhatsApp is the 3rd most used app (by usage time), after YouTube and Facebook. This represents a great opportunity for companies to connect with their users on a friendly channel, where they spend a large part of their day, and allow them to send mass communications such as new releases, promotions, or end-of-year greetings (yes! the year is almost over 🤯).
According to Hootsuite, the 47% of companies planned to increase their investment in WhatsApp as a communication channel for 2022.
If you are part of one of them, we leave you 6 tips for more effective WhatsApp campaigns:
1- Do not saturate
-WhatsApp seeks to avoid SPAM.
-TODAY it is possible to send promotional messages, but it is advisable to follow guidelines.
-Users have the option to label your message as SPAM and report it to WhatsApp.
2- Opt in
-SMS.
-Website.
-In a WhatsApp conversation.
-By telephone (with an interactive voice response (IVR) process).
-In person.
Obtain consent covering the different categories of messages you will send.
3- Personalization and segmentation:
-A good practice is to personalize messages with variables: name, order status, purchase history, among others.
-The user will understand that the company knows him and this will generate greater commitment and a
closer relationship.
-Segment your audience, upload your contacts to the
platform and send campaigns at scale, as well as individual messages through agents.
4- Rich content:
-Multimedia formats will allow for an enhanced experience and the development of more engaging interactions.
-Videos, images, stickers, audios, location/interactive buttons/pdf.
5- Clarity:
-Less is more.
-The content of the message is concise,
make sure it is not too long.
-The shorter and clearer the message, the easier it will be to capture the attention of your users.
6- Be prepared to respond
- Plan an action plan to address the user's response, whether it is an automated flow or a human agent.
-Feed Google Sheets or CRM spreadsheets.
-Collect audios with real content of people's opinions.
-Audio analysis using AI.
Final Tips
Measure to continuously improve.
-Continuous learning
-Embrace change
-Partner with experts
Unlike other channels used for marketing strategies, #OutboundMarketingWhatsApp has a high open rate, but it also has a high response rate, which allows you to turn your one-way communications into conversations 💬
This is an opportunity to have relevant and personalized interactions, as well as to be creative and add value at the different stages of your client's sales cycle to provide them with a better experience 🙃
Do you use WhatsApp in your Outbound strategy? What other tips would you add?
