7 Prime Whatsapp Marketing Strategies For Ecommerce Brands

Every social media platform can benefit from some form of marketing strategy, including WhatsApp. WhatsApp marketing is a type of messenger marketing that promotes a brand through this channel. It’s little bit like SMS due to this messenger service being used for every day use by many people across the world.

The platform allows you to connect with others via your phone’s data services or on WIFI. This type of marketing is still effective for many brands who are looking to reach a big audience, build strong relationships and most importantly, increase sales.

The Benefits of WhatsApp Marketing

There are benefits to WhatsApp marketing, particularly because it’s used by so many people. As of 2021 in the UK, 30.1 million people were monthly active WhatsApp users.

One of the major benefits to WhatsApp is that it’s secure and private from prying eyes. It’s a safe and private space for users to communicate with others without having to worry about their data being compromised.

The messenger is active in real-time, making it useful for marketers who want to speak directly to the user beyond just the initial communications. For marketing, it’s one of the most versatile platforms because it’s a highly engaging, digital channel. You can send pretty much anything via this messenger service whether it’s images, attachments, voice recordings, etc.

With so much opportunity to connect, it’s worthwhile giving WhatsApp marketing a go.

WhatsApp messenger vs WhatsApp business for eCommerce businesses

There are two parts to this messenger service, WhatsApp messenger and WhatsApp Business. The platform introduced WhatsApp Business in 2018 in order to provide a service for small to medium-size companies.

Both the apps are similar format but have different capabilities with one being more effective for businesses than the other.

The similarities

The design and layout are pretty much the same, the only thing that’s different is the logo. Both apps are also free to download and use via the Apple Store or Google Play Store. There’s no worry about security with end-to-end encryption services for both platforms.

Both of these platforms cater to multimedia shareability and messaging capabilities to reach many different users at once. 

The differences

WhatsApp Business provides an additional feature in the form of WhatsApp Labels, which colour code your chats. This can help mark individual contacts or groups and to give them names in order to organise your data efficiently.

WhatsApp Business allows you to add more information to your profile, whereas WhatsApp Messenger is limited. A good benefit from WhatsApp Business is that you can automate messages, which is useful for marketing.

7 Whatsapp marketing strategies

Statista reports that of all the active mobile users in the UK, there’s at least 80% who actively use WhatsApp to message others. So with an available audience to tap into, you may want to utilise any of the WhatsApp marketing strategies for 2022 below.

1. Prioritise text over calls.

Whilst your customer agents might be efficient in their sales chat, it’s good to focus on text as many users prefer that over having to speak to someone they don’t know via phone call.

2. Focus on building customer relationships.

It’s not just about selling your product. Focusing on building customer relationships is a great way for brands to connect with their audience, whether they’ve bought something or not. It makes them more trustworthy and users are more likely to make a purchase as a result.

3. Segment your audience for personalised experiences.

Segmenting your audience with the WhatsApp Labels feature is a great way to ensure your users get a more personalised experience. Why? Well because there are likely different user demographics that one marketing message may not cater to as much as another. Providing the best user experience is key!

4. Use automation to inform customers of stock changes.

For eCommerce, it’s important that you’re shifting all your stock and not having too much leftover that it goes to waste. So with that in mind, you can use WhatsApp’s automation tool via the WhatsApp Business app to alert customers of new stock, discounts, and promotions, and any other changes to the products being sold.

5. Make use of stories to give more insight into the brand.

Social stories have proven to be significantly effective in promoting a brand. When social selling for ecommerce brands, make use of WhatsApp stories to give a behind-the-scenes perspective for your business.

6. Create groups for additional promotion.

Groups are a great way to segment but they can also provide an opportunity for research and feedback. It’s worthwhile creating these groups where possible in order to develop and grow your relationships with users.

7. Use the additional features that WhatsApp Business offers.

WhatsApp Business offers a range of different features that are worth taking advantage of. Features like voice messaging can be handy, as well as in-app previews that give users a glimpse of a web page before clicking it.

Brand examples that have successfully leveraged WhatsApp marketing

Why WhatsApp is good for marketing? WhatsApp is a great way for brands to leverage another social platform that is accessible to many users, including many of their existing customers. Here are a few WhatsApp marketing examples of brands that have successfully leveraged the platform to promote their brand.

Agent Provocateur

Customers appreciate privacy when it comes to buying delicates, so WhatsApp is the perfect platform to provide that privacy. Agent Provocateur connected with their customers via WhatsApp using a host of personal shoppers. 

Combining the privacy required and a tailored experience, making this a great marketing campaign for the brand.

Hellman’s

To encourage Brazilians to cook mayo, the campaign involved connecting users with a real chef through WhatsApp. 

The user would need to send a picture of the contents of their fridge, which the chef would then use to design a personalised recipe! Over 13,000 customers ended up participating as a result.

There are plenty of WhatsApp marketing campaign ideas to make use of in order to utilise this platform for your own users this year.