13 Ways Companies Do Whatsapp Marketing & Support (May 2019)
13 Ways Companies Do Whatsapp Marketing & Support (May 2019)
We're living in a WhatsApp world – your friends, colleagues, customers, and competitors are using WhatsApp. There are 1.3 billion WhatsApp users out there. With a huge users base – there is huge opportunity. Don't spend it on just talking with your friends! The truth is WhatsApp Marketing & Support isn't on the way. It's already here.
Many businesses are already using WhatsApp to engage with customers. Here are 10 successful marketing campaigns on WhatsApp:
- The Clarks Rats to Rudeboys Whatsapp Marketing Campaign
- The Netflix WhatsApp Engagement Campaign
- The Hellmann's WhatsApp Brand Campaign
- YOOX WhatsApp Personal Shopping
- Agent Provocateur Ménage à Trois WhatsApp Marketing Campaign
- The Absolut Unique Access Whatsapp Marketing Campaign
- Buyagift Whatsapp Promotion Notifications
- OYO WhatsApp Booking & Notifications
- KLM Booking & Notifications
- 263Chat & Kukurigo News Delivery
- Delhi Police WhatsApp Anti-Bribery Campaign
- Bharatiya Janata Party WhatsApp Election Campaign
- Sorabel WhatsApp Shopping & Customer Support
Psst, we are working hard to make WhatsApp available on Rocketbots ASAP. Let us know if you want you can get notified as soon as it arrives.
1. The Clarks Rats to Rudeboys Whatsapp Marketing Campaign
In 2015, footwear brand Clarks launched one of the first Whatsapp Campaigns ever. Rats to Rudeboys was an interactive storytelling campaign designed to target millennials. The campaign leveraged the Clarks Boot status among three iconic individuals throughout history. These personas were created using chatbot like marketing automation tools.
How Did The Clarks Rats to Rudeboys Whatsapp Marketing Campaign Work?
The campaign allowed users to join by adding a specific number to their contacts, which they can these message on WhatsApp. Once connected, users can speak to Steve Barrow, a writer from the 1960s mode scene and Stitch a reggae icon. These characters discussed how the Clarks boot helped to shape their times.
The campaign also included links to further content such as Spotify playlists to keep users engaged. Links were also offered to the Clarks e-commerce site for conversion and to social media sites for increased engagement.
Was The Clarks WhatsApp Marketing Campaign A Success?
It's hard to say definitively as Clarks keeps those numbers private. Clarks wanted to increase brand awareness and brand reputation among millennials and taking the first experimental step in a new medium.
It is likely the interactive marketing strategy successfully engaged millennial demographics, but there is some work to be done especially on the acquisition front. Asking users to add you as a contact on Whatsapp is just not scalable.
Undoubtedly Clarks is using data from the WhatsApp interactions to create the generation of engagement campaigns on WhatsApp and other messaging apps.
2. The Netflix WhatsApp Engagement Campaign
You've just finished binge-watching the new season of Grey's Anatomy – what's good to watch next? You might text your friends to see what's new out there that has a solid 5 seasons and 20 episodes in each season. Netflix wants to save you that trouble.
As you can imagine, the general idea of the campaign is to re-engage WhatsApp users who have been dormant for some time. Netflix started testing this campaign in India in 2017 and it appears to have rolled out in the United Kingdom since then.
How Does The Netflix WhatsApp Campaign Work?
Everything starts from notifications that appear when you are in the Netflix app. We suppose that for this to work you will need to have registered on Netflix with the same number you use on Whatsapp. We haven't been able to test it out ourselves. If you have, please give us a shout.
Once you've done this, Netflix will start sending you suggestions over WhatsApp. Of course Netflix isn't just spamming your WhatsApp with random TV shows or movie suggestions that you're not interested in, they know how to play the game. They'll use the same recommendation engine they've already created to serve you the content you enjoy.
3. The Hellmann's WhatsApp Brand Campaign
Hellmann's is a mayonnaise brand that wanted to convert more people to using Hellmann's in Brazil. This campaign began in 2014 so it was truly the prehistoric days of WhatsApp campaigns but because it was such a great success we have tons of information on the results.
How Did The Hellmann's WhatsApp Campaign Work?
This is one of the best orchestrated WhatsApp campaigns we have ever seen. Users were acquired through a special whatscook website setup by Hellmann's. Users just enter their phone number and by doing so the opt-in to the WhatsApp campaign.
Once signed up they receive a message through WhatsApp from a human chef. The chef prompts them to upload a picture of the ingredients they have on hand. Then proceeds to give advice on what they can cook with those leftover ingredients together with Hellmann's.
Was The Hellmann's WhatsApp Campaign A Success?
Oh, you bet it was. We know a lot about the success of this WhatsApp campaign because it was presented by Unilever at the SM2 conference. The brand prompted 4 million people to visit the whatscook website through various channels. This resulted in 13 thousand people registering on the website.
The most astonishing metric of the campaign was that users spent 65 mins on average interacting with the chef. Yes, I'm not kidding. 65 minutes. Who even spends 65 minutes texting a friend? Can you image the brand loyalty that was created?
Video Overview of the Hellmann's WhatsApp Campaign.4. YOOX WhatsApp Personal Shopping
Using WhatsApp for business doesn't necessarily mean running a campaign. Rather than a campaign for the masses, this is an elite service for Extremely Important People or EIPs.
For YOOX, this was a natural development. YOOX noticed that their personal shopping team was regularly using their personal WhatsApp account to communicate with customers. In addition, members of the personal shopping team insisted that clients didn't want to login to the YOOX app and preferred to receive products suggestions and complete transactions in WhatsApp instead.
How Does YOOX WhatsApp Personal Shopping Work?
YOOX uses WhatsApp Enterprise to connect everything that is important to the experience. Staff from the personal shopping team are able to communicate with their clients, clients are able to confirm purchases directly through WhatsApp and notifications about shipping are piped in as well. This creates a one-stop solution for customers.
Does YOOX WhatsApp Personal Shopping Deliver Results?
In short, yes! YOOX reported that they were even able to sell a €80,000 item over WhatsApp. You see, 40% of higher-margin in-season revenue is coming from just 2% of its highest-spending customers. Net-a-Porter, the parent company of YOOX, is tapping into an existing group of customers to drive that revenue even higher. And by doing so it is creating even longer lasting relationships than before.
5. Agent Provocateur Ménage à Trois WhatsApp Marketing Campaign
Of all the WhatsApp campaign efforts we've seen this is definitely the hottest!. It ran just for a just a few 10-hour windows in 2016. The chat was available from 10 am to 12 pm from December 6th to 9th and December 13th to 16th.
How Did The Agent Provocateur Ménage à Trois WhatsApp Marketing Campaign Work?
The initiative was part of a larger campaign called Naughty or Nice. Which allowed users to move between different scenarios in an interactive video. Part of the campaign involved a Ménage à Trois in a WhatsApp group chat. And this was truly a Ménage à Trois because it involved you, your partner and an Agent Provocateur shopping assistant.
Was The Agent Provocateur Ménage à Trois WhatsApp Marketing Campaign A Success?
Keep in mind, this was quite a small campaign that ran for a very limited time. It's difficult to know if the campaign was a financial success. But experimentally it produced some very interesting results:
- 112 conversations took place in the app
- 31% of the chats resulted in physical store visits
- 61% of the chats converted into substantial website traffic.
If you need to define a place where the borders between our personal relationships and our relationships with brands cross, this WhatsApp campaign is undeniably one of those places.
6. The Absolut Unique Access Whatsapp Marketing Campaign
In 2013, Absolute wanted to promote limited edition vodka bottles. What do you do when you're an alcohol company and you need to promote? Throw a party! The company invited A-list celebrities and reserved 2 tickets for the winners of their WhatsApp marketing campaign.
How Absolute Unique Access WhatsApp Marketing Campaign Work?
As far as we can tell this is the first WhatsApp campaign by any large brand. But the formula it created has become the de facto standard for most WhatsApp campaigns ever since.
What's the thing stopping us from getting into all the hottest parties? Bouncers. Absolut created Sven the Doorman who you would have to convince to get those tickets.
User Awareness? Facebook. The brand created a Facebook Campaign that let users know about the party and how they could score some tickets. User acquisition? The Facebook campaign directed users to add Svens number to their contacts and message him on WhatsApp.
Then all they had to do was convince him. How did they do that? Watch the video below to find out.
The Absolute Unique Access WhatsApp Campaign Video OverviewWas The Absolute Unique Access WhatsApp Campaign A Success?
Over an incredibly short period of the 3-day campaign, over 600 users contacted Sven. And it generated more than 1000 images, videos and voice messages. The campaign effectively engaged with the Argentina community and created a huge buzz trend in itself. These numbers seem small but considering the year, 2013 and the fact that users actually had to add Svens number manually, these results are stunning.
7. Buyagift Whatsapp Promotion Notifications
Buyagift is a UK company specializing in gift experiences they are something in-between a standard eCommerce site and a Groupon type company. As you can imagine, there is a huge amount of competition in this sector. For a company like Buyagift, experimenting with and optimizing every stage of the funnel is crucial.
How Do The Buyagift WhatsApp Notifications Work?
E-commerce companies always ask you to sign up to their mailing list to receive the best promotions. But how many of us actually open those emails? Buyagift encouraged users to sign up for WhatsApp alerts instead.
Are Buyagift WhatsApp Notifications A Success?
Sadly we haven't found any actual data to share. But we do know one thing for certain, messaging apps engagement rates are miles above email. We've seen 600% higher click rates on messaging apps vs email.
8. OYO WhatsApp Booking & Notifications
With WhatsApp dominating the messenger landscape in many if not most developing countries, it's not surprising that OYO an Indian hotel booking site is taking the lead in using WhatsApp for Enterprise.
How Do OYO WhatsApp Booking & Notifications Work?
What OYO has set up here is not technically groundbreaking. Users can use the WhatsApp channel in 3 main ways:
- Receive a booking confirmation
- Receive hotel directions on the day of check in
- Cancel their booking.
Are OYO WhatsApp Booking & Notifications A Success?
Although not technically groundbreaking, convenience wise it is astonishing. WhatsApp ability to run smoothly even on the lowest tier devices and a minuscule amount of data consumption creates accessibility for everyone. It could mean that you spend all of 3 seconds getting the address you need instead of spending 10 minutes opening their app and trying to load your booking history.
9. KLM Booking & Notifications
KLM is one of the most forward thinking companies we have seen when it comes to adopting and using messaging apps. Thanks to KLM's use of the WhatsApp Business API, passengers can receive their flight information and notifications on WhatsApp. After booking their flight on KLM website, flyers can receive their booking confirmations, boarding passes, check-in notifications, and flight status on their WhatsApp app. The whole process makes it easier for passengers to receive all their flight details and documentation on their favorite platform in a single place whether they are in the office, home, or en route to the airport.
How Do KLM WhatsApp Booking & Notifications Work?
Channels KLM Makes Available for Booking NotificationsAfter you've entered all the necessary booking details on KLM.com, you'll be offered the option of getting your flight documentation via your Messaging apps. If you've missed this page and you still want to activate your notifications you can actually message KLM directly at +31 20 649 0787 on WhatsApp. Although we haven't recently booked a flight on LKM we have tried messaging the number and you'll be pleased to find that there is a friendly customer service agent on the other side who will ask you for your booking details and then patch through the notifications once they are confident that you are who you say you are.
Video of KLM WhatsApp Booking NotificationsOnce you've opted in for WhatsApp notifications, KLM will send you your flight information directly through WhatsApp. The app will remind you when it's time to check in and then send a scannable photo boarding pass that you can use at the gate.
Flyers can also ask questions 24/7 such as whether they can change their seats, etc. KLM can answer questions in several languages including English, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. After ending the chat session, I didn’t get any further notifications, travel recommendations, or other promotional campaigns, which is something I expected.
10. 263Chat & Kukurigo News Delivery
We talk about WhatsApp marketing quite often here. However, there are more fundamental ways that companies use WhatsApp for Business. From where we are sitting it's hard to imagine, but in Zimbabwe, WhatsApp has become one of the primary sources of news for citizens.
This is possible because it's near impossible for the local population to afford a data plan, but mobile operators in Zimbabwe sell cheap WhatsApp only plans.
How Does WhatsApp News Delivery Work?
It's relatively simple and complicated at the same time. There are no high dollar WhatsApp marketing campaigns to attract users. Although both 263Chat and Kukorigo have websites, their primary focus is news updates on WhatsApp.
The simple part is how they get users. Since media is highly restricted in Zimbabwe people are actively seeking out sources of news that are outside the official media narrative. Both outlets actively use Twitter to attract people to join. In their posts, the chat media outlets ask users to add the phone number to their contacts and text join to the WhatsApp number.
The complicated part is how the publications use WhatsApp marketing features to spread the word. Both papers offer daily news updates using WhatsApp Broadcasts. However, this has become difficult to manage as WhatsApp broadcast groups only allow up to 256 users per group.
With over 20,000 subscribers each this means the publisher has to manage over 1,000 groups to allow their daily news broadcast to happen. Hopefully, both these publications can be accepted to the WhatsApp API soon.
11. Delhi Police WhatsApp Anti-Bribery Campaign
Governments all over the world have tried to battle corruption, or at least make it look like they are. So it's not surprising that one of the worlds largest police forces has experimented with WhatsApp marketing for reporting bribery and corruption.
How Does The Delhi Police WhatsApp Campaign Work?
The WhatsApp marketing campaign was launched on August 6, 2014. The campaign itself is relatively old school, no fancy targeting just old school advertisement. To make people aware of the campaign the Delhi Police took out ads in major newspapers and on FM Radio.
The idea of the campaign is to make it easy to send pictures and videos of any police you are acting inappropriately or illegally. Although the concept sounds great, it seems that the process after sending the message is quite bureaucratic.
According to the deputy commissioner of police Sindhu Pillai, "Once we get an audio or video clip, we ask the complainant to come to our office and give a written complaint. We get the recording checked at the forensic science laboratory to make sure its genuine and once the authenticity is established, action is taken against the errant policeman."
Hopefully, the process can become more streamlined in the future, so cases do not depend on people coming to the police station after the submission.
Was The The Delhi Police WhatsApp Campaign A Success?
According to the BBC, the police had received over 3,700 messages from August 6th to August 10th, 2014. We've been unable to find any articles that shed light on the current situation.
However, we have sent messages to the number ourselves, but we never received any reply. This leads us to believe that this anti-bribery campaign is probably no longer ongoing. Was it because there were too many reports? Perhaps, but we'll likely never know.
12. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) WhatsApp Election Campaign
A WhatsApp marketing campaign in its truest sense. With the highest number of WhatsApp users of any country, in the worlds biggest democracy, sooner or later WhatsApp would become a tool in India's elections.
How Does The BJP WhatsApp Election Campaign Work?
The primary use for messaging apps in an election is reaching out to constituents on a personal level, especially on election day. WhatsApp has a ton of potential in this arena. The concept is quite simple, collect voter phones numbers, which a political party probably already has and then broadcast to them. Easy right?
You wish. WhatsApp Business API is still mostly closed to all but huge brands, so the only choice is to use WhatsApp Business App. Remember that WhatsApp Business App is limited to 256 contacts per broadcast group. That is a lot of groups for a country of 1 billion plus. If there was ever a story that highlighted the need for WhatsApp marketing software, it's this one.
How does the BJP do it? They use about 900,000 cell phone pramukhs – party volunteers that man polling stations, to add potential voters to broadcast groups. These volunteers are then tasked to send our party election materials over these groups.
Although it sounds like a natural disaster waiting to happen, if you have enough reliable manpower it may be simpler than you think. Using forwards and broadcast groups, you'll be able to forward any message in just three forwards to all the pramukhs. The person responsible for creating the content can forward to a group of 256 provincial nodes, each of those 256 can forward to 256 regional nodes. Then each of those regional nodes can forward to 256 polling stations.
256 x 256 x 256 = 16,777,216. Just like that you've got more than enough leeway to reach a pramukh at each polling station with three forwards. Then they can forward it to constituents.
An article was just released detailing one of these pramukhs. According to Inuth, Dipak Pas – a BJP Social Media Convenor manages 1,124 WhatsApp groups in the state of Kolkata. He claims to help the party reach corners of India were "social media is a silent weapon."
Was The BJP WhatsApp Election Campaign A Success?
We're not sure yet because the election will be held in several phases from April 11th to May 19th. In the meantime, there has been quite a lot of reporting on the topic and even a reaction from WhatsApp.
Carl Woog, head of communications for WhatsApp has said political parties are attempting to use WhatsApp in a way which it was not intended to be used. There have also been reports of misinformation being spread in this manner. This has prompted WhatsApp to set up a Checkpoint Tipline. An account that users can forward their content to for real-time fact-checking.
We'll keep watching and update this article when the election is over.
13. Sorabel WhatsApp Shopping & Customer Support
This isn't a WhatsApp marketing campaign, but Sorabel does use their WhatsApp Business Account to increase customer loyalty and drive revenue. Sorabel, formerly known as Sales Stock, is an Indonesian eCommerce retailer that has been around since 2014. Since then they've grown to 600 staff of which 200 are focused on direct customer interactions.
Indonesia is a mobile-first market, you'll notice even on the desktop the Sorabel website shows up in a mobile-optimized view. Chatting is key because e-commerce is not as straight forward as in the USA. You can just put in their credit card and pay. That is why Sorabel has made themselves available on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Line.
How Does The Sorabel WhatsApp Business Account Work?
Sorabel was one of the original brands that Facebook had accepted to test the WhatsApp Business API. Interestingly, we found a Twitter post from 2015 detailing that Sorabel had changed they're WhatsApp number. It seems like they were rewarded for using WhatsApp for Business before there was a WhatsApp Business.
Sale Stock: Now Sorabel@SaleStockID
Sorabel uses its WhatsApp Business Account in two main ways. They help their customers look for products when they're not interested in browsing on their own. They also use the account to send notifications about shipping & payment.
For Sorabel the payment process can get complicated as once check out is complete the company allows the customer to complete the payment via bank transfer and gives 48 hours to do so. Once the bank transfer has been made the company asks the customers to forward them the transfer information.
We suspect this process may be prone to hiccups, so it is quite helpful to be able to talk to an actual person on WhatsApp in real time to resolve any payment problems.
Is the Sorabel WhatsApp Account A Success?
According to Wahyu Saputra, the head of customer-facing products at Sorabel, the introduction of WhatsApp was a tremendous success. It has become the number one source of inbound traffic and has good engagement with 90% of outbound messages read, which is twice as high as SMS.
However, when we tried to send a message to their verified WhatsApp Business Account, we didn't receive any response. We'll keep you updated on this situation.
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