Marketing On WhatsApp: Pros And Cons

One of the best feelings in the world is when you’re a “regular” at a place.

You go to a coffee shop, and the barista has already started making your coffee because they remember when you usually come in. You visit a restaurant, and the server knows what breakfast you’ll have and how you like your eggs cooked. Or the best one of all: when you go to cut your hair and come out with the same result every time.

Being a regular is the best customer experience, and brands can recreate it by marketing on WhatsApp. People are already talking to their friends and family in this messaging app. Now, you can use it to improve customer care and create that feeling of “being a regular” online.

Like any marketing channel, WhatsApp has its pros and cons. Let’s take a look at them and see if this is the new strategy you should use.

The Pros

Personalized Messages

Here’s a fun fact: when you send a WhatsApp message, there’s a 98% open rate! That’s better than any other marketing channel. Compare it to email, where the average open rate is 21.5%, and you see why so many brands add WhatsApp to their marketing.

You can build stronger relationships and consider it a place for personal communication. You can send every file format like GIFs, images, videos, PDFs, and emojis.

To increase conversions, you can add CTAs and bulk broadcast promotions. Since 2021, businesses can send unlimited promotional messages to people who have started communicating with you.

Cost-Effective

Marketing is expensive, and many businesses don’t have the budget to go all out. Social media, direct mail, SEO, and content marketing expenses add up quickly. The good thing about WhatsApp is that it’s cost-effective and easy to implement. One person can run it when you’re testing it out, and the Business Platform provides a thousand free service conversations per month.

Quick Communication

No one likes waiting for a reply email that can take an hour to a full workweek. When you’re texting, the answer comes in minutes, if not seconds.

There’s a great feature with predefined answers to FAQs. You can have 50 messages as answers in the form of text, videos, images, or media files.

When you receive a customer query that doesn’t have an answer, you can pull up your phone, text back, and keep doing what you’re doing. It builds credibility and trust.

Increased Customer Satisfaction

Many websites have chatbots, but they lack a human touch. When you’re talking on WhatsApp, it feels familiar. The same user interface you use to speak to your family and friends makes you feel closer to the brand. Unless it’s all prompt-based, you know there is a person on the other side of the screen trying to help you. That’s what increases customer satisfaction and builds loyalty.

It’s Convenient

Chances are that you’re already using WhatsApp on your phone. The beauty of this app comes from its ability to connect users. Businesses use the familiar feel to support sales and marketing with a personalized touch. Everyone knows how it works, and you can build long-lasting relationships with it. What’s not to love about it?

The Cons

Limited Automation

As a marketing channel, WhatsApp is still new. Much less automation tools are available than things like social media or email. But you can use it to send promotional messages, appointment reminders, shipping updates, and order confirmations. However, you might need to use a centralized system and send these automated messages through the WhatsApp Business API. You should set up port forwarding to ensure you can connect your messaging system and the API server through an open port. The exact process works if you plan to connect a CRM system and gather data.

Takes Time

The bigger your customer base, the more time you’ll spend on WhatsApp. It’s the most powerful way to create personal connections with clients, but the cost is time. Ensure you have that in mind when you figure out how to position your strategy.

No Analytics And Reports

Marketing is all about data. You need to know how many users you’ve reached, converted into leads, and brought down in the sales funnel. Marketers rely on data, and WhatsApp doesn’t provide it. You have to guess which messages work best with customers and manually input data from promotions.

Security

WhatsApp suffered from a malware exploit in 2019 that allowed hackers to install malware. It was patched quickly, and a similar event happened in 2022. Because it has more than 2 billion users, it can be a target for hackers. Like any other platform, vulnerabilities, exploits, scams, and breaches are always expected.

When it comes to data protection, the app has a drawback. It reads saved contacts and their phone numbers. It can suspend your business account or disable Business Products because of data protection issues.

Limited Reach

WhatsApp needs to be one part of your entire marketing strategy. Even though it has a large user base, you won’t be able to target all of your potential customers. Some people prefer Messenger. Others don’t like to text and browse social media all the time. Ensure you evenly distribute your efforts for maximum impact and return on investment.

A Great WhatsApp Marketing Example

While weighing the pros and cons of marketing on WhatsApp, here’s a great example to get your creative juices flowing – The World Health Organization.

During the pandemic, the internet turned into complete chaos. People didn’t know what was happening, and there was fake news all around. Because of that, WHO created a WhatsApp hotline in several languages to help people.

You could enter the location-specific number and start messaging.

There were several prompts, and you could message a number to get more information about things like news, health topics, how to protect yourself, the myths, questions and answers, and care at home.

It was a perfect way to offer live support and self-service to people in need at the right time.

The Conclusion

WhatsApp is a new way for brands to connect with people. It’s a perfect blend of customer care and marketing that makes it unique.

If you’re looking for something to help you build stronger relationships with your customers, feel free to integrate it. However, be prepared because it can take up a lot of time, especially if you receive loads of queries.

Consider the pros and the cons, think of a good marketing strategy, launch, and improve it over time.