10 Excellent WhatsApp Marketing Examples to Learn From

Table of Contents

• How WhatsApp Has Grown Into a Marketing Platform
• Benefits of WhatsApp Marketing for Your Business
• How to Create a WhatsApp Marketing Strategy
• 10 Excellent WhatsApp Marketing Examples
• Key Takeaways 
• Conclusion 
• FAQs

We live in a world where every other person around us uses WhatsApp: be it your neighbor, colleague, friend, family, customer, competitor, or anyone else. It is no surprise that you can find several excellent WhatsApp marketing examples to follow as a marketer. With more than 2 billion users of WhatsApp across the world, the possibilities are limitless. The trick lies in promoting your brand and business on WhatsApp, and you have some fantastic WhatsApp branding examples to draw inspiration from.

Do you plan to use WhatsApp for business promotion and customer support? The first thing you need to do is sign up for a WhatsApp Business API account. It will take hardly ten minutes for you to open an account (via express sign-up), and you can check out some WhatsApp marketing campaign examples before you start messaging your customers.

How WhatsApp Has Grown Into a Marketing Platform

WhatsApp is probably the most used chat app worldwide. With the average open rate at an astounding 98%, WhatsApp marketing is one of the most sought-after ways of distributing content around the globe. Just as chatbots work more effectively for companies on their websites, messaging makes WhatsApp one of the most engaging channels, drawing millions of customers.

The best way to turn WhatsApp into a marketing channel for your business is to have a mobile phone with your business number. The best part is that you can engage with your customers without advertising, and on top of that, you can easily manage your account. WhatsApp has grown into quite a successful marketing platform due to its uncomplicated approach.

In addition to messaging, WhatsApp marketing allows you to send your customers images, videos, documents, voice messages, GIFs, and location information. 

Businesses can use WhatsApp to make voice and video calls, and this feature poses a real threat to other messaging platforms. You must, however, build up an enormous following and engage with users on WhatsApp before your competition does.

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The availability of WhatsApp on Android and iOS is another plus point. It is easy for businesses to interact with their customers with the help of some tools for automation that lets them respond to messages quickly.

Benefits of WhatsApp Marketing for Your Business

Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, WhatsApp marketing can help boost your revenue. WhatsApp marketing examples are one of the best to follow as they help you reach your customers directly, and interact with them on a personal level. WhatsApp helps improve your visibility online, and you can automate your communication. It also allows you to organize your workflow, and above all, it is free. Here are a few more benefits of marketing through WhatsApp. 

Privacy and security

With data misuse being a major concern among companies operating online, WhatsApp offers security and privacy and lets you focus on your business peacefully. It is one of the most trusted platforms to encrypt messages. A point worth considering is how WhatsApp never shares data with any third parties. No annoying ads pop up frequently as is the case with other platforms. 

Round-the-clock accessibility

Customers like it when a business, whose products they use regularly, is accessible at any time. Two ticks on a message mean their message is delivered, and when the ticks turn blue, it means the message has been seen by the recipient. WhatsApp provides one of the most efficient, quick, and reliable services that are used by billions across the globe. What’s more, you receive notifications and reminders in real-time, and all customer inquiries are handled within the shortest time span possible.

Customer engagement

WhatsApp makes it easy for businesses to communicate with their customers. Direct contact between sales personnel and customers can considerably help build a lasting relationship. With mobile users growing by the day, businesses can keep adding customers to their messaging list, because all that is required to be on WhatsApp is a mobile device and a good internet. WhatsApp allows brands to send stunning photos and videos and build an irresistible marketing campaign.

Advertising and promotion

One of the best WhatsApp branding examples is how easy it is to launch a new product with promotional discounts. You can send your customers creative copy, digital photos, or videos of your products with clear instructions to unbox and use. The same applies to the ads you want to include, which you can share as e-brochures. WhatsApp also has a feature that lets you adjust your status to display specific products or services.

WhatsApp groups

You can create any number of groups, which helps with better communication with a group of like-minded people. It helps with internal communication as you can build exclusive groups for each team and convey updates and other important messages quickly. Businesses can also join private WhatsApp groups (by getting invited) and promote their products and services to target audiences belonging to a niche group.

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Quick responses

A quick response time is highly appreciated by customers whose concern is often the delay in sending and receiving messages. WhatsApp enables businesses to respond almost instantly: all that is required is for the customers to opt-in for the messages once. 56% of people prefer to interact with customer care personnel through messages instead of calling them up? WhatsApp’s “quick replies” feature allows you to retrieve commonly sent messages, send them to customers instantly, and win their trust. 

Reminders

WhatsApp Business has a special feature that lets you create reminders and tasks with the Any.do integration. You can send your customers reminders and updates of important events, activities, product launch dates, time-bound discounts and sales offers, and more. You can inform your customers of orders, refunds, and payment statuses as well. Delay in flights, flight status, departure and arrival details, etc., can also be shared with customers who can access the information on the go. The best part about any WhatsApp marketing campaign is that you can send any number of text messages, videos, images, GIFs, ad-media, etc., at no extra cost. You may, however, incur a fee in order to get the Any.do integration. 

How to Create a WhatsApp Marketing Strategy

You cannot win customers without a proper marketing strategy. Here are some steps to create a winning WhatsApp marketing strategy. 

Define your goals

You need to determine your marketing objectives, which will help you focus on result-oriented activities. Check your marketing funnel for weak spots and fix them first. You must set goals that can be achieved using WhatsApp. Identifying your key performance indicators (KPI) helps you understand your status, and how far away you are from your goals. For example, if customer retention is the issue you face, you must focus on sending promotional messages through WhatsApp, which lets you measure your KPIs and see if they have been achieved (clicks, customer retention rates, engagement, etc.)

Know your target audience

The success of your WhatsApp marketing efforts revolves around identifying your target audience. Developing a customer profile or buyer persona might be a good first step. It pays to ponder on why people prefer to use your product (or your competitor’s). Ask yourself what they expect from your product value-wise, and how badly they need it. One great way to understand your target audience is to review the purchase history of a handful of clients to detect a pattern. You can determine your customers’ demographics and other characteristics using social media surveys or Google Analytics data. Understanding your customers’ pain points and what steps you need to take to solve their problems is another way to identify your target audience.

Leverage WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is a standalone app created specifically to cater to the needs of small businesses, while WhatsApp Business API was created with medium and large businesses in mind. Both apps provide your customers with vital information such as your business description, address, email address, and website link. You can create a product catalog to display to your customers. You can create labels for chats to categorize them. Labeling conversations help decide at what stage of the sales funnel your customers are. You can automate your replies to make them reach your customers quickly. You can even track your messages, including those that were sent, delivered, received, and read. 

Build a brand persona

People don’t like talking to a robot; they prefer interacting with a human, and expect a personal touch. Hence, to be successful with your WhatsApp marketing efforts, you must identify your brand persona. A brand persona is nothing but a greater understanding of your brand: its traits, goals, and values. The trick lies in identifying the personality underlying your brand and finding people with matching thoughts. These are the people who will identify with you and would want to interact with you via WhatsApp.

Create a contact list

If you have decided to run a WhatsApp marketing campaign, the first thing you must do is create a contact list. It is easy to create simple subscription forms to capture customer details. You can leave a call-to-action (CTA) button on your website with an attractive offer like an e-book or one-time discount to attract customers. Leave the choice with your customers for receiving updates via any mode, such as email, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc., because it is easy to communicate with your customers via the channels they prefer. It leads to higher engagement and helps with faster conversions. Once you have your contact list ready, split it into segments, and start sending customized messages to each segment in the list.

Use relevant content

WhatsApp has one of the highest open rates. However, customers merely opening your messages does not serve any purpose. People must read your content, for which it has to be relevant and meaningful. Be sure of your topic, but don’t be too promotional, otherwise, people may delete your message instantly. Keep your messages short and precise as your users may not have a lot of time to read lengthy text. Most importantly, don’t flood your customers’ inboxes with messages and annoy them. 

Pay attention to customer service

Did you know that 50% of users are convinced that they get better advice and find businesses caring more when using messaging channels? When using WhatsApp as your content distribution channel, you can respond to customer queries immediately, and customers are happy with the real-time support they get. While many expect to be serviced within an hour, others expect immediate responses. With such customer demands, using WhatsApp makes a lot of sense. It is easy to create chatbots with a set of FAQs and answers, which helps cut costs by 30%.

In a nutshell, building a WhatsApp marketing strategy involves setting goals and KPIs, getting to know your target audience, providing excellent content, and maintaining harmony in your relationships with your customers.

10 Excellent WhatsApp Marketing Examples

Several brands have made it big through sustained marketing campaigns. While they use several channels to reach their customers, the latest trend is to use WhatsApp Business to engage with customers at a personal level and create brand consciousness. Here are 10 brands that were successful in their WhatsApp marketing campaigns:

1. Clarks

Clarks is a leading footwear manufacturer catering to the millennials. They wanted to drive sales for their Desert Boot and it is probably the best of WhatsApp marketing examples you can come across. Clarks created a live chat wherein customers could talk to people responsible for the creation of Desert Boot and the cultural events that showcased the footwear. Titled “From Rats to Rudeboys”, it featured a YouTube video trailer that creatively told the story of the brand.

Customers could interact with non-fictional characters who had close links with the history of the Desert Boot. The first character was Steve Barrow, the second was Bruno Barbey, the second character, and the third Stitch. WhatsApp customers could message and interact with all the characters on different days. Such interactive marketing on WhatsApp is one of the finest WhatsApp marketing examples depicting a success story.

2. Netflix

Netflix, the OTT streaming company, is known to have a large following. The company has a knack for keeping viewers engaged, which it accomplishes by sending personalized recommendations via the mobile application. Soon, the company’s India arm decided to integrate WhatsApp Business with its app to reach more users. It tied up with WhatsApp Business in 2017, in order to reach more people effectively and quickly. The campaign has proven to be one of the best WhatsApp marketing examples that other competitors are trying to follow. Netflix movie watchers get personalized recommendations through WhatsApp messages via their mobile devices. All the viewers have to do is click on the “I’m in” button on Netflix to get notifications about movie suggestions. 

3. Hellmann’s

One of the classic WhatsApp branding examples is Hellmann’s, the leading mayonnaise brand that ran a WhatsApp marketing campaign to attract more Brazilians to the brand. The campaign was kick-started back in 2014 when WhatsApp was still in its nascent stages. Hellmann’s Brazilian arm set up a website called WhatsCook, and users could easily opt into Hellman’s WhatsApp marketing campaign by entering their mobile numbers and hitting enter.

As soon as a user signs up, they get a personal WhatsApp message from a chef at Hellman’s, who asks them to upload details of the ingredients they plan to use (images welcomed). The chef then offers expert advice on how to make a delicious recipe using the ingredients and Hellman’s mayonnaise. Such direct interaction via WhatsApp made this campaign one of the most excellent WhatsApp marketing campaign examples ever. The campaign drove an incredible 4 million people to the website and resulted in numerous registrations. 

4. Absolut Vodka

In 2013, Absolut wanted to launch limited-edition vodka (called Absolut Unique), for which it launched a WhatsApp marketing campaign. Celebrities were invited to an exclusive party, and there were two tickets available for the general public. It was probably the first WhatsApp campaign by a leading alcohol brand that turned into a success and set the trend for others to follow. 

In order to get access, interested participants had to convince a fake doorman named Svense. The campaign directed users to send messages in the form of video, audio, and images. The campaign lasted for just 3 days but created a fantastic response (nearly 600 users contacted Sven with about 1,000 messages.)

5. Klook

WhatsApp messaging probably serves air travelers the best by giving them updates on flights and other key information. It is not surprising that Klook made a classic WhatsApp marketing campaign, delivering utmost customer satisfaction with timely messages. Another reason why Klook makes one of the best WhatsApp marketing campaign examples is the amazing customer retention it resulted in. It was a marketing campaign based on notifications about air and hotel bookings.

Klook was looking for a convenient platform to keep its clients informed at all times. WhatsApp messages proved to be the best, as they reached customers while they were on the go, and any questions could be answered almost immediately. WhatsApp served a large clientele spread across the Asia-Pacific region, where WhatsApp users are concentrated. Klook also took the website route to invite its customers to subscribe to WhatsApp notifications by registering their mobile numbers. It resulted in its WhatsApp opt-in rate increasing by 63%, as compared to the traditional push notifications the company usually sent.

6. Agent Provocateur

Leading lingerie brand Agent Provocateur decided to give personal recommendations to clients through WhatsApp. The company launched the Ménage à Trois campaign during the Christmas season a few years ago. Couples were invited to initiate group chats with a dedicated assistant via WhatsApp. The assistant offered personal recommendations via messages and suggested the best buys for Christmas. More than one-third of the conversations resulted in conversions and people walked into the store to purchase lingerie. This WhatsApp messaging campaign also helped increase the traffic to the website by 61%. The campaign proved to be one of the best WhatsApp campaign marketing examples and convinced the company to make personal WhatsApp counseling a feature for select customers.

7. Adidas

The popular sportswear brand decided to use a WhatsApp marketing campaign when it launched its new shoe range (Predator Mutator 20) last year. The brand wanted to target a niche audience: amateur football players. A player not turning up for a crucial match because of last-minute complications is a nightmare every team dreads. 

Adidas decided to help out teams by helping find substitutes using a WhatsApp hotline called Rent-a-Pred. The idea was novel and caught on immediately. All the teams in need had to do was send a WhatsApp message to a dedicated number with details of the team’s requirements. Adidas would suggest skilled players from its pool. It was a short campaign, but the results were impressive, as Adidas witnessed unprecedented traffic to its website, and its blogs found more readership.

8. Saffola

Saffola, a cooking oil brand, wanted to create a special campaign to turn junk food eaters away from unhealthy food habits. With the campaign titled “Beat the Crave”, the brand developed a special WhatsApp chatbot to help people fight their craving for junk food. Users could seek counseling by sending WhatsApp messages to a dedicated number. The chatbots were programmed to wean the person away from the craving by diverting them with rap songs, puzzles, and other distractions. Through the campaign, the brand promoted the Saffola Active Slimming Nutri-Shake, which promised many health benefits, as a substitute for junk food. 

9. Delhi Police

In 2014, the Delhi police department hit upon a novel idea to curb corruption amongst its forces through an anti-bribery campaign. The police department advertised the campaign on FM radio and in the country’s leading newspapers. 

Anyone could send pictures or videos of police personnel violating the rules or taking bribes from the public. On receipt of a complaint message, the sender is contacted by the police department and convinced to walk into the police station to lodge a formal complaint against the police personnel in question. The department confirms the message’s authenticity by sending it to a forensic laboratory. The BBC reported that the Delhi police department received 3,700 WhatsApp messages in four days. However, the novelty of the campaign probably wore off, or people did not muster enough courage to walk in to give formal complaints. The campaign was short-lived and fizzled out gradually.

10. Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran a WhatsApp campaign before the 2019 elections. The highlight of the campaign was collecting the phone numbers of eligible voters and canvassing them for their votes through personal WhatsApp messages. The political party roped in 900,000 party members who are already on WhatsApp and deployed them to distribute video-, audio-, and text-based content to prospective voters. 

Key Takeaways

• WhatsApp marketing campaigns are easy to set implement, and they don’t cost the company much. 
• The initial problem involves collecting the details ( phone numbers) from the target audience. Once that hurdle has been cleared, communicating with users is easy. 
• More and more people are preferring instant messaging, and WhatsApp is probably the best way to execute this effectively.

Conclusion

If you have a company, you can create a WhatsApp Business account to communicate effectively with your customers and generate leads. WhatsApp is instant and accessible, making it one of the most preferred mediums of communication by people. We hope that after reading this blog, replete with WhatsApp marketing examples, you will be able to reach your audience at a minimum expense.  

FAQs