BFCM 2023 WhatsApp Marketing Strategy Guide
WhatsApp Marketing:
Win Big on Black Friday
and Cyber Monday
Are you WhatsApp-ready, and do you know the secrets to WhatsApp's success?
Slot WhatsApp into your BFCM strategy this year. Here's a complete strategy for you.
Why WhatsApp marketing
for Black Friday 2023?
When it comes to holiday promotions, with social media (22%) and text messaging (19%)
coming in as the second most preferred forms of communication, meanwhile, with a staggering 2.7 Billion monthly active users, WhatsApp isn't just another messaging app, and it's a global marketing powerhouse.
36%
36% of people who
plan to shop online will look for deals
on social media.
2Billions
Meanwhile, most popular
messaging app in the world with
2 billions monthly users by 2022.
90%
And WhatsApp with high open
rates of around 90% compared
with email 22%.
70%
70% of people feel more
connected to
businesses they can message
Miss Black Friday 2023, and you miss a huge opportunity
70%
of buyers plan to shop during this
season in 2023
Black Friday and Cyber Monday WhatsApp Revenue Calculator
- 1.9.
- 15.9.
- 1.10.
- 15.10.
- 1.11.
- 15.11.
Lay the foundations for WhatsApp Marketing Success
Secure your WhatsApp customer contact list
Don't forget to separate WhatsApp business contacts and back up the contact list during this time. This is because the contact list is essential for WhatsApp marketing as it enables targeted messaging, builds relationships, provides a direct communication channel, and offers valuable data for analysis.
Ensure that you have a secure copy of your customer contacts and chat history. Tools like WhatsApp transfer can act as an additional layer of protection against
data loss
or device failure during the busy sales period.
WhatsApp Transfer
Transfer, backup, and restore
WhatsApp contacts, files and messages.
Build your audience and warm them up
Get customers opted in to WhatsApp is the key. This is where to focus most of your time. A FOMO and channel engagement helps make a strong WhatsApp audience. There are many ways to bring people into your WhatsApp chat, including:
- Website popups
- Social posts
- Thank you page opt-ins
- Email newsletters
- Friend referrals
To warm up your opted-in customers, you can even grant early bird sales access exclusively.
Plan your WhatsApp strategy in a early stage
It is so important to take this step because potential customers may not have realized your business is on WhatsApp. By providing an entry point, you make it clear that they will be able to communicate with your brand. Many shoppers are already familiar with WhatsApp, so they'll likely be willing to start a conversation. Also, early planning allows for testing and optimization, ensuring that your WhatsApp strategy is effective and ready to drive maximum results during the peak shopping period.
Send and optimize your Black Friday WhatsApp campaigns
Create a comprehensive
BFCM WhatsApp campaign
It is best to create an overarching concept for all your Black Friday communications. Regardless of whether you're leading with WhatsApp, you'll likely need assets for social media, your website, email, and maybe even in-store posters.
Don't forget to keep your branding and messaging consistent across all channels, whether you do a competition, event, interactive quiz, or simply call it a fun name or add a catchy visual.
Take advantage of
WhatsApp Business API
The basic WhatsApp Business app is excellent for customer service but falls short for massive outreach campaigns. In 2024, WhatsApp Business APIs will be used by enterprises by 5,400%, making it the go-to channel for customer care.
Connecting to the WhatsApp Business API can send bulk WhatsApp and brings scalability, automation, and in-depth analytics to your fingertips. If you’re a small business aiming to reach under 256 people, the free app might suffice.
Make analysis and optimizations
for maximum impact
To further refine strategies and understand customer behavior and preferences, you should constantly monitor key performance indicators for your business objective you set earlier, such as:
- open rates
- click-through rates
- conversion rates
Ultimately, by monitoring and analyzing your WhatsApp marketing results, you can make data-driven decisions, improve your campaign's performance, and ensure you're making the most of the Black Friday sales period.
Plan your retention journey
After the excitement of Black Week, it's crucial to keep your customers engaged and coming back for more. Update your CRM strategy to keep customers engaged. Share useful tips, industry insights, or behind-the-scenes sneak peeks in the long run. By building long-term relationships beyond Cyber Week, you'll be more than just a Black Friday deal.
From retail, e-commerce, and more,
WhatsApp helps businesses drive results
Benefit Cosmetics builds a versatile channel through WhatsApp Business Platform
image source: WhatsApp Benefit's success stories
44.5% uplift in
customers engaging
with Lenovo on WhatsApp, which is over the original goal.
8.2X higher
conversion rates
appointment bookings with WA Flows vs. the website experience
Increased
customer satisfaction
service quality scores and industry recognition
A seamless and flexible support channel
THEIR GOAL
To simplify the process of booking technical service appointments through WhatsApp by encouraging customers to manage them within the app.
HOW-TO ACHIEVE
Lenovo collaborates with Meta to simplify its appointment booking process with WhatsApp Flows: When customers enter WhatsApp to book an appointment, they are greeted by a menu that enables them to choose between local stores for service, as well as available dates and times. As soon as customers confirm their orders, they receive a WhatsApp confirmation message and an email with a QR code linking back to WhatsApp. Simply go back into the app if they want to reschedule or cancel.
EXPERIENCE LEARNED
"We have a philosophy of "One Lenovo," where every member of our team aligns around a goal of delivering transformative customer experiences. Right away, the Meta team became a part of ‘One Lenovo,’ working on a bespoke solution in WhatsApp Flows that increased our customer satisfaction scores while improving internal resource management."
Naveen Buddhar
Sr. Manager, Transition Realization Management, SSG
HQ Strategy - Transformation Office, Lenovo
Use WhatsApp Flows, Lenovo Indonesia expands its existing WhatsApp channel
image source: Lenovo WhatsApp success stories
30% increase in
bookings attributable
brow and lip wax bookings attributable to WhatsApp
200% in
growth in sales
year-over-year sales partially attributable to WhatsApp
60% faster agent
response time
when it comes to WhatsApp vs email
A versatile, creative service channel
THEIR GOAL
To deliver fast, convenient service for customers.
HOW-TO ACHIEVE
As part of the company's arsenal of digital marketing tools, it uses WhatsApp along with Instagram and Facebook. In response to Facebook messages and posts, Benefit Cosmetics invites customers to subscribe to Recurring Notifications for e-coupons. With Recurring Notifications, Benefit Cosmetics can deliver regular coupons, as well as messages promoting sales, services, and product launches - all part of engaging customers over some of their preferred channels.
EXPERIENCE LEARNED
"Using WhatsApp, we put our best face forward to customers as we rebound from lockdowns that significantly impacted our industry. Boosting awareness of our brand through such a popular channel has contributed to a 200 percent increase in year-over-year sales."
Sue Leung
Retail & Operations Manager, Benefit Cosmetics
Omay Foods and WhatsApp for Business: Building personal relationships with customers
image source: Omay Foods WhatsApp success stories
5X increase in
customer inquiries
via WhatsApp compared to previous email contact channel
3X increase in
repeat customers
via WhatsApp in April 2021 compared to March 2020
5X increase in
sales
for retail channels in April 2021 compared to March 2020
A human touch
THEIR GOAL
To create an easy and human way to guide new customers through the ordering process.
To communicate with business-to-business customers (such as retailers and wholesalers) outside of email.
HOW-TO ACHIEVE
It was discovered by Omay Foods that people in India prefer to gain confidence in a new business before placing an order. For this reason, they use WhatsApp for marketing, and added WhatsApp buttons to their website, Facebook page, and Instagram profile, allowing customers to ask questions and start conversations in just a few clicks. To set expectations and turn questions into purchases, Omay Foods used WhatsApp Business features like a business profile, catalogue, and quick responses to build trust with potential customers.
EXPERIENCE LEARNED
"The WhatsApp Business app is a powerful platform to build trust and confidence amongst our customers. The convenient channel plays an indispensable role in our customer care functions along with setting a high conversion rate across business-to-business domains."
Vijay Katta
Founder, Omay Foods
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Don't forget to A/B test your
WhatsApp message templates
You can A/B test WhatsApp message templates to see which ones your customers find most engaging just like you do with other marketing channels.
1.Choose the template for the message you want to test, along with the details that you'll change in the experiment. For example, you might examine whether shoppers are more likely to subscribe when your opt-in template includes a discount code. If there are any differences in the results you can attribute them to the adjustment you made to one aspect of the template at a time.
2. Determine the metrics for evaluating template variations. Cost per click, conversion value, and amount spent are examples. For opt-ins, you'd likely measure how many opt-ins each template generated.
3. Create a test audience that is large enough to generate meaningful results. It is also important to ensure that audience members are similar enough to ensure reliable results.
4. Maintain an equal distribution of template delivery across the variations during the experiment.
5. Check the results.
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10+ Things
About WhatsApp Marketing
ready for ecommerce's big days
Send too many messages
When using a channel like WhatsApp, keep in mind that you don't want to spam your customers. 54% of global consumers said they'd be happy to receive a message up to twice a week in the 2022 Digital Shopping Habits survey. However, only 19% said they'd be happy with a message once a day.
Treat WhatsApp like a traditional marketing / sales platform
Many marketers rely on email for marketing and sales. Send personalized messages, promote your latest products and sales en masse, and more. However, WhatsApp can perform all of those functions as well, but it also offers some additional advantages:
- Get access to rich features, such as quick / suggested replies, buttons, calendar events, and locations
- Customer replies - i.e., two-way communication
- Putting the power back in the hands of customers - with businesses being able to approach customers as well, it gives customers a chance to approach them (as well as businesses approaching customers).
Take advantage of that and engage your customers more deeply. With the most popular messaging platform in the world, you can make your brand seem like a close friend.
1. Have an opt-in and opt-out strategy for the whole BFCM campaigns
2. Personalising your messages
3. Prioritising what you choose to push out via WhatsApp
4. Have an omnichannel strategy, that is to say, combine your online channels with your offline channels, such as in-store signage.
