09/05/2021
Perfect Formula to driving crazy sales with your whatsapp: WHATSAPP MARKETING
WhatsApp Marketing is one of the most effective ways to target your customers and prospects to boost your business.
As an advertiser or a marketer, you market on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the likes but only few leverages on WhatsApp as a marketing tool to drive sales. Why? Simply because, there is no advertising feature on WhatsApp.
According to research, the average SMS text has a 98% open rate, this makes WhatsApp as a messaging app, the most engaging marketing channel on the planet.
Statistics of WhatsApp users in Nigeria
Let us consider a report by Digital 2020 Global Overview Report on how Nigerians are using social media networks.
According to the report, 169.2 million Nigerians have mobile (phone) connections. This represents 83% of the total population of 203.6 million people while 50% of the population lives in urban area. 85.49 million Nigerians have Internet access. This represents 42% of the total population. However, only 27 million of them have social media accounts that they run actively.
According to Business Insider by Pulse stated that WhatsApp is the most active social media platform in Nigeria with 85% of users. The second is Facebook with 78%, Instagram is third with 57%, followed by FB Messenger with 54% and YouTube with 53%.
Now as an advertiser or a marketer armed with this information, just imagine the kind of market share created by WhatsApp. This can not be ignored. But how can you effectively use WhatsApp for marketing? Pay attention as I will show you the strategies and tips below.
Steps For Marketing on WhatsApp
Create a WhatsApp Business Account
You can set up WhatsApp Business account to establish a presence on WhatsApp for your business. After the installation, you can start interacting with customers and prospects and use all the features provided by WhatsApp for your business.
Follow these steps to create a WhatsApp Business account.
Download WhatsApp Business App.
Verify your business phone number.
Add your business name, category, and profile picture.
Build your business profile by adding your address, opening hours, email, website etc.
Now that you have downloaded and launch your WhatsApp Business. Let us learn about building your WhatsApp contact list.
2. Building your WhatsApp contact list
Most people believe WhatsApp is not an easy way to build an audience. Yes! It is permission based marketing in its purest form. Since you can’t search for users or pay to acquire them, you have to follow these tips to connect with people.
Use a website widget.
Add a WhatsApp button on your page.
Use the new WhatsApp QR codes.
Share a direct ‘wa.me’ link.
Run click-to-WhatsApp ads.
By using of any of these simple methods, you can turn your WhatsApp into a new marketing channel for your business. So what next?
3. Interacting with your WhatsApp contact
Let us treat this WhatsApp platform like an email. What do you use email to do? For sending media files to drive traffic to a webpage. Exactly. This is also the most obvious use of WhatsApp. It is the most straightforward marketing campaign – you send a link; they see the message; they click; mission accomplished. The link can be articles, product or service pages, landing pages, audio track, videos, images… anything with a link, you can share it with your WhatsApp contacts.
Tracking
For those who may think the shared link can not be tracked. It is not so. You can create a UTM code with the Google URL Builder and have your campaign link. When you check your Google Analytics, you will see the source as WhatsApp . This is an effective way to test how engaged your audience is.
Now, you have learnt how to interact with your contacts and track the shared link. Let us look into features to use for WhatsApp marketing.
How to market on WhatsApp
WhatsApp may pride itself as non-commercial app but I tell you, you can still use the platform to sell your products or services. The question is, how do you use it?
WhatsApp group
This is a great place to promote your products and services. You can create your own or joining one with an invite link. It is a networking platform where you can not only post links to your product or service but also exchange business insights.
WhatsApp status
This allows users to share media files i.e text, photo or video that disappear after a period of 24 hours with their contacts. You can use this to showcase pictures of your products or quick demo of how your product or service can benefit the user and interested buyers will start buzzing you.
Direct messaging
With direct messaging, you can personally look for a prospective lead or customer and send the person a personalized message about your products or services.
WhatsApp Broadcast
Use WhatsApp Broadcast list to send messages in bulk which include links or invitation in your messages. This reach a big number of people with just one feature and it is designed to increase engagements.
WhatsApp call
WhatsApp has an audio and a video call features that allows you to make calls to anyone for free. This can be a great way to follow up with some of your business leads. It can also be used for customer support purposes allowing customers to call in for free when they need to speak with someone in your team.
Conclusion
WhatsApp is a powerful marketing communication tool. Apart from using it for personal communication, you can use it for your business in various ways. And it is cost effective and you can get started quickly.
