WhatsApp Ecommerce: Effective ways to drive sales and growth

The remodeled version of WhatsApp has reshaped the way things happen online. The branching WhatsApp Business API offers a brilliant way for brands to grow and drive sales online.

Mostly labeled as a personal communication application, WhatsApp has reintroduced itself to the World with the advent of WhatsApp business API. Because Facebook now owns the messaging giant, it also controls the way things happen and develop at WhatsApp.

All for the better, users on WhatsApp can now connect not only with each other but with businesses too. Businesses need to be where their customers are, and WhatsApp offers exactly the same opportunity.

The most popular online property ever, WhatsApp now offers market space to brands and businesses looking to leverage the digital room for business promotion and expansion.

Considering the fact that over 2 billion people around the World regularly connect on WhatsApp, any brand or business can use the power of this connectivity to boost engagement and improve sales.

Though haltingly, Facebook still went forward with their decision to acquire WhatsApp and has been since making changes to the idea behind just a personal communication application.

Knowing it has to be done and knowing how to do it are two different things. So, worry not if you don’t know anything about it. Here’s how to start:

  • Acquire WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp has grown into such an entity that no business wants to stay away from this inescapable opportunity that can help them rebrand, remarket, and improve the overall brand value just like that!

While some might call this opportunity redundant (those who think that WhatsApp is just for chatting with cousins), most business holders understand that they now have to have a presence on WhatsApp.

To put it in a better manner, marketing and selling on WhatsApp are now indispensable tools for good business growth and better revenue generation.

WhatsApp ecommerce Business API is the door through which you’d be able to access the World of sale-purchase on WhatsApp.

From offering you a multi-agent inbox, shared portal, key performance and metrics tracking, to offering integration abilities, and more, WhatsApp business API is an amazing tool.

Download and install the application and consult a business solution provider like Convex to get things started for you.

  • Your eCommerce page needs a WhatsApp chat button

While known and used by billions around the globe, the WhatsApp marketplace is relatively new; rightly so, as many of your consumers would be shopping on your website.

To make the most of this opportunity, you can direct your website visitors to WhatsApp by installing a WhatsApp chat button on the page.

You can choose what happens next as the user clicks on that button. The button can be set to redirect users to the WhatsApp web portal or land them on the WhatsApp application.

A better idea is to let them find you on the application on their phones, adding to their convenience and helping you see the sales through.

  • Abandoned carts recovery is now possible via WhatsApp

One of the most stinging sights is to see a customer start buying a product and then leave the cart abandoned. This might seem unnoticeable when the number is small, but day in and day out, this statistic grows. So much so that around 7 out of 10 carts can be abandoned.

You can recover abandoned carts either through a WhatsApp plugin for Ecommerce connecting your Shopify account or by just sending reminders and notifications for abandoned carts.

However, this is only possible via WhatsApp ecommerce Business API. Other than that, there’s no way to make it happen.

If you can ensure that the abandoned carts ratio plummets, we can guarantee that your sales will increase.

  • Your Facebook business page needs a WhatsApp button

Facebook has been around before WhatsApp and is essentially the pioneer for Ecommerce, so you don’t want to miss out on a lot of incoming business by not linking your WhatsApp to your Facebook page.

Moreover, there’s no unnecessary hassle in integrating WhatsApp with Facebook. Creating and attaching a button isn’t the only way to cater to your Facebook audience on WhatsApp. You can also use a performance marketing tool to direct your Facebook ads to land on WhatsApp chat directly.

Mostly, ECommerce businesses target age groups that are neither very young nor too old, making WhatsApp the perfect match for channeling your efforts.

  • A virtual assistant is good for your business

WhatsApp Ecommerce isn’t just an ordinary promotion bandwagon but one of the most advanced ways for a business to interact with its customers. Automating your customer service messages will open new opportunities for your business.

Convex can integrate the WhatsApp chatbot with WhatsApp Business API to ensure that incoming messages from your customers are greeted right away.

Such a resource is specifically helpful when there are no agents on the board to receive customer calls or answer queries. A customized WhatsApp chatbot can tackle simple questions and even forward the complex ones to agents, if any are present, or schedule a callback.

From customized emojis to images, all can be included, easily push-rolling your WhatsApp automation process.

Now that you know what needs to be done, the question is how to do it. Here’s where Convex steps in. Convex can provide excellent pre and post-integration support for your ECommerce business, helping it acquire new customers, grow, and drive more sales.

So, this is all about WhatsApp eCommerce. If you still have any queries, you can ask us right away or drop a comment below. We’d be more than happy to help you out.

What is Conversational Marketing? Statistics You Need To Know

What is Conversational Marketing? 

Conversational marketing, a term first coined by an American company, denotes the one-on-one approach a business takes to amplify its sale-purchase cycle, gets to know its consumers, and creates a more user-friendly buying experience.

Focusing on the highlighted words, one can easily think that conversational marketing is more human-centric, focuses on conversations in real-time, and emphasizes real exposure.

Conversational marketing relies on modern-day digital tools like messaging applications, social media platforms, and so on.

Because conversational marketing utilizes a relatively different approach than traditional marketing methods, it is considered something that is in development, which it is.

Here, Chatbots act as the core component that makes the ‘magic’ happen, and the power to respond in real-time is what makes chatbots unique and fairly interaction-ready.

The development of such a marketing strategy stems from the need to solve queries quickly and answer customers accordingly.

Examples Of Conversational Marketing

You can read the definition to find out about something, but to know it, you need examples. So let’s find out what conversational marketing does in real life.

Conversational marketing has been instrumental in bringing reality to brands, specifically for consumers who wanted a one-on-one buying experience.

Sephora’s Brilliance

Take the example of Sephora’s Virtual Artist, which was a brilliant way of allowing consumers to try on makeup through the messenger bot. Augmented Reality has been gaining acceptance over time, and Sephora used it to help consumers see what they were buying.

Take the example of Sephora’s Virtual Artist, which was a brilliant way of allowing consumers to try on makeup through the messenger bot. Augmented Reality has been gaining acceptance over time, and Sephora, with the help of a development company, used it to help consumers see what they were buying.

People were able to find and share their new looks instantly through screenshots, stories, and pictures. The whole try it before you buy it the experience was shifted online with this one step, which was possible only because of conversational marketing.

Adding to the user’s convenience, conversational marketing allows the user to make a buying decision in the same window. No matter where the prospect lands, once the user has decided what to try and buy, they can do it from the same window.

This perspective-driven implementation of the Chatbot helped Sephora secure an 11% more conversion rate than the brand used to do, previously.

Conversational Marketing Statistics That You Should Know

 

1- Consumers now expect quick replies

Gone are the days when people used to wait hours and days before a brand could reach them. Instead, consumers now want quick and prompt replies to their queries so that they can make decisions as soon as possible.

It was found that the number of users who want quick answers has been increasing since 2019 and that consumers now want brands to be more responsive.

Whether through other live chat tools or with Chatbots, users expect that they will not have to wait. This entails the importance of having Chatbot integration which enables the brands to not only reply quickly but also create a user-friendly experience.

2- Poor user experiences on live chat could leave bad impressions

Where, on one hand, consumers might love the idea of live chat and quick replies, there, mismanagement and improper replies could also compel them to form everlasting bad impressions.

No matter which platform you use for Chatbot integration, Facebook, WhatsApp API, or other tools, you need to be super precise and relevant in what your brand is offering.

About 40% of consumers felt frustrated after having an experience with Chatbots, and though this might not be a large percentage, but it also isn’t a negligible one.

You really don’t want an angry consumer banging their head against a chatbot that won’t just grab the essence of what the consumer is asking for.

No reply upon multiple attempts of contact, slow and sluggish or irrelevant replies, or repeated disconnection can lead to bad experiences.

3- About 51% of companies reported quick response times

One of the biggest benefits of conversational marketing is that it allows the brands to be present all the time, every day. This means a more comprehensive and dedicated space for customer queries.

About 51% of companies reported better response times, and more than 36% of these companies were able to reply in a more humane and compassionate way than they would have previously.

4- Conversational marketing saves time

The most important factor that makes conversational marketing indispensable to a successful marketing strategy is that it is time-saving.

Brands using AI chatbots or WhatsApp API chatbots for business reported faster response times which helps them cut the time required to solve a query by half. This also takes the load off your human agents when they have their hands full.

Automated messages are a great way to greet consumers, point them in the right direction, and even initiate and close sales.

5- Good chat support creates repeat consumers

Conversational marketing inspires customers to come back for the same brand a second time because of the convenience it helps to associate with the business.

About 80% of businesses, when asked, reported an increase in sales and improved customer loyalty due to their use of Chatbots.

Consumers also find it more convenient to buy from a brand that offers live chat support rather than a business that does not use chatbots.

A great number of consumers, roughly 50%, reported that live chat support is a factor that helps them make a decision when choosing a business.

How can Convex help you?

Convex can help you enjoy the same convenience and improved sales that its associated brands and partners are enjoying with the help of Convex WhatsApp Business Solutions.

To know more about the process and if you have any queries, drop a comment below or contact us right away. We’d be more than happy to help you out.

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You Can’t Ignore These Digital Marketing Trends in 2023

We are finally done with 2022 and all the unwelcomed surprises that it threw at us. With good hope for 2023 and positive anticipation of what’s coming next, we’d like to brief you in on some digital marketing trends that you’d surely not want to miss.

Phew! What a year was 2022 and we aren’t just talking about those 365 days but mind boggling events that brought the world to a halt, literally. The unprecedented political chaos, that threw the World in to a frenzy, made us question our very existence because we believed that developments within the field of foreign relations had come so far as to not the World seeing all the turmoil, again.

“However, the year of uncertainties, as many are calling it, kept turning it up month after month until everybody started saying, its 2022 and anything is possible!”

Just as 2020 familiarized us with the concept of new normal where people started working remotely, students started learning and teachers started teaching from home, people started to stay 6 feet apart, and everybody wore face masks to stop the spread of novel coronavirus, 2022 told us to stay vigilant as anything could happen anywhere. Marketers, as year progressed, understood that spending on conventional advertising is going to take a nosedive as businesses around the world feared closure.

  • It was estimated that the advertising sector saw a decline of 11.8 percent in 2022 when compared with that of the previous year which equates to an estimated spending of 517 billion US dollars in 2022.
  • Well, New Year calls for a new game, we can expect to see some major changes in 2023 when it comes to marketing and associated sectors. Which is why, you should tie your laces and ready yourself for a long run because this year everyone will want to make up for the time and money that they lost in 2022.

Packaging companies also suffered the most due to halt in transportation and problems in supply. So If you wish to make up for your packaging company’s loss through accepting the rapidly changing digital landscape in 2023 then you should follow these digital marketing trends or risk your online existence.

“Traditional norms were defied in 2022 and that made us realize that online is the new Face-to-Face. What a time to be alive, isn’t it?”

  1. Artificial Intelligence Rules!

But under the reign of humans, no need to worry about machines taking over because that isn’t even remotely possible… the rapidly changing consumer behaviour has compelled marketers to adopt the latest in technology such as artificial intelligence. This adaptation has helped businesses make things easier and implement marketing methods relevant to user demands creating better conversions.

“It’s magic but only more beneficial than we initially anticipated”

From data collection to personalized user journey and usage of behavioral data to improving Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Now, agencies can automate their email campaigns, SEO outreach, sales pipeline and almost every business processes with the help of CRM for digital marketing agencies, AI is making everything happen.

When you have concrete insights such as what your user prefers, from where he/she likes to buy, and what are they searching for, you are able to create unique shopping experiences for customers thereby helping them find the right product and increasing sales on your end.

Ai and advertising have come a long way but if you are still struggling to find faith then know that future belongs to businesses that are taking advantage of AI.

  1. The World of Chatbot Marketing

With the help of Chatbots, businesses can now care for customers proactively and ensure online presence 24 x 7, which in turn builds up confidence in brand and helps the business to outgrow competition.

“Fast, Easy, and Reliable”

These Chatbots are actually bots that ‘act’ as a part of your customer support team to respond to common customer queries as set down by a conversation tree or by using AI. Your conversation tree doesn’t require much coding and provides your Chatbot with pre decided answers for prompt response to customers.

“Chatbot market may touch figures as high as $ 7.5 billion in 2024 with a CAGR of 34.75%”

For example, a shopping bot can help customers buy the right product as best price while only marketing your product to the right audience. These bots are widely used in Ecommerce and became the talk of town due to recent surge in pandemic. Additionally, integrating a POS system can further enhance the shopping experience by streamlining transactions and improving efficiency.

  1. Personalization – A Consumer’s Paradise

Consumers now want to buy and browse products they like without having to deal with unnecessary hovering and pointless scrolling. In fact, customers now prefer online stores that can provide them with the product they are looking for directly without making them go through a conventional shopping experience.

“This calls for nothing but personalization and strengthens the perspective that providing users with a human like experience can help you sell product quicker.”

Personalization is nothing short of an extraordinary marketing technique which uses AI and data insights, that can not only make your brand more visible to customers but relevant too. Personalized marketing will help you convert more and struggle less because consumers nowadays love a unique experience and are also willing to share data for that purpose. Talk about a no brainer!

  1. Video Marketing in 2023

Your video marketing strategy may act as an anchor point for your digital marketing efforts in the year 2023 as it’s believed that a user may spend an average of 100 minutes a day watching online videos this year. For people thinking that this strategy is obsolete, we’d advise that it’s time to rethink your preferences as online video watching might soon replace conventional television.

“Video marketing has entered a new realm on social media as the trend for short videos is quickly catching up.”

15 second videos appeal more to the new-age internet user as people now don’t want to spend 5 minutes watching a video for a product that they intend to buy. You can show the user if your product is worth it in 15-30 seconds and that’s the timeframe consumers require to make up their mind. Once they are convinced, you can later create a short video tutorial explaining how to use your product so they get the most out of their purchase.

Now imagine combining video marketing with a personalized experience; the possibilities are literally endless!

One way to enhance the personalized experience through video marketing is by incorporating a custom QR Code generator into your strategy. By embedding QR Codes in your short videos or video tutorials, you can offer users the option to quickly access additional information, exclusive offers, or even interactive elements related to your products or services. This seamless integration of QR Codes will not only engage the viewers further but also provide valuable insights into their preferences and behavior, allowing you to tailor your marketing approach even more effectively

  1. The Year of Visual Search

A rapid shift in acceptance of brands that have adapted visual and voice search to their websites is expected as we move into 2023. People love visual search so much so that roughly 600 million searches are carried out each month on Pinterest alone and a large percentage of population especially gen Z and Millennials prefer to get the whole look rather than searching for single object.

Searching what you see and seeing what you search – An infinite loop that guarantees conversion

Big names and giant brands like AmazonForever 21eBay, and Wayfair have already embraced the shift as customers now like to match their searches with what they are buying. Visual search is the perfect fit for your business if you are someone who caters to an audience that ‘searches with their eyes’ and loves contemporary trends. Ensure your logo design is featured in the visual searches people are in. Additionally, utilize an AI logo generator for marketing to create innovative and trendy logos that catch the eye. This tool will help you stay ahead in the competitive market by delivering unique and visually appealing designs, ensuring your brand stands out in visual searches.

Google lens and Pinterest lens help you make searches online by using offline images, screenshots, camera snaps, and other images.

Pakistani eCommerce stores need to incorporate visual search because it would become really easy for their consumers to directly buy products from their store when the consumer’s search leads to their online shop.

Jump onto this trend if you haven’t yet because early steps can ensure you a leading position in 2023.

  1. Expansion of Augmented Reality (AR)

According to statistics, the whole AR entertainment and media sectors may share an increase of 90% growth in between each other for the year 2023 as marketers press to juice technology a little further.

AR technology enhances interaction between the consumer and products helping users to physically experience products rather than just believing the seller. This also simulates a real time exposure of the product making it easier for customers to buy.

The top 5 trends for augment reality marketing are:

  • Business in-house applications
  • Customer support
  • Augmented reality Shopping
  • AR indoor visits
  • AR vehicles

This enhanced interaction would mean better benefits for seller and buyer both as the middle wall of disbelief will be brought down. If you are an real estate agent, property seller, builder, smart house innovator, or sell products that can use better exposure to clients then augmented reality is for you.

  1. Core Web Vitals – Brainy yet Effective
    Source:https://addyosmani.com/assets/images/core-web-vitals-addy.png

Marketers have been yearning to create user journeys that resonate with their clientele since times known and that is in fact the whole purpose of marketing a product. So what is core web vitals (CWV)?

Simply put, Google Core Web Vitals help you to analyse where you are going wrong, what areas of your website need improvement, how is the content behaving (images + texts), how are the page elements holding out?

Core web Vitals include:

  • LCP – Largest Contentful Paint
  • FID – First Input Delay
  • CLS – Cumulative Layout Shift

If you have a strong grip on these performance metrics you can easily improve user experience and decrease bounce rate which would in turn mean better rankings, increase organic traffic, and so on… you know the drill.  It would be a good way to start 2023 by keeping CWV in mind while developing your online business.

  1. Influencer Marketing

It’s just not going out of style!

Yes, many marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budget in 2023 because there are no cons to this marketing method.

Before we continue, we recommend checking out our detailed article on  Influencer Marketing vs PPC Advertising, as most people need clarification on the two.

Everything revolves around influencer marketing, from the brand endorsement you see on print media to the vivid ads you see on social media.

The trend is more evident in Instagram influencer marketing, where blog posts, sponsored stories on Insta, and short videos help market the product.

People now accept community celebrities, AKA micro-influencers, much more than the familiar faces they are tired of seeing daily. A micro-influencer is a person who is considered an authority on a specific niche and has 1000 to 100,000 followers.

Brands are quickly picking up on this trend, an example of which was Saad ur Rehman AKA Ducky Bhai telling people how to game on Samsung S10 lite in a video shared by Samsung.

You get the gist, so roll up your marketing sleeves and search for people that can make your brand more welcome in the region you are trying to sell.

  1. Micro-Moments and how can you keep up?

Micro moments as defined by Google are small powerful moments when a user reflexively picks up a device and starts searching for something they intend to buy and then makes a decision the very instant their eyes stuck up on something relevant.

Today it’s a new breed of users that marketers are trying to please. They are impatient, demanding, and more research-oriented.

This means that people are now taking more informed decisions which mean that brands need to cultivate data smartly if they are to grow and expand in 2023. Insights are there for you to learn and analyse but if you wish to succeed than you need to make your product visible, relevant, and informative in that micro moment when people are searching for:

  • How to do things
  • What to buy
  • Looking to know

Things are rapidly changing and we all know that fortune favors the brave! And with that, we sum up the trends that can make your brand more visible in 2023. It’s all about creating unique user experiences and relevant product visibility.

Connect with us to get more details on digital marketing today.

Meta Announced WhatsApp cloud API for all businesses

Powered by the engine that connects people globally, WhatsApp cloud API can help your brand grow and expand unchallenged

From connecting people to connecting businesses, WhatsApp has changed the way social media users used to interact with each other. People now want a secure, reliable, and quick way to converse, and WhatsApp is just the complete embodiment of that.

What is WhatsApp Business API?

WhatsApp Business API offers two-way communication between customers and small and medium-sized businesses. Utilizing manual and programmatic communication channels powered by agents or chatbots, businesses can fabricate an intricate and extensive system for customer interaction. 

Meta also allows easy integration and linking of API with multiple CRMs and platforms, letting you convey with convenience. 

Regarding the hosting option, you can choose to either have the API on the ground as in on premises, or you can go with the cloud option.

What is WhatsApp Cloud API?

The functioning mechanism of WhatsApp Cloud API revolves around Meta’s Graph API. A type of Remote Procedure Call expressed over HTTP; Graph API utilizes a combination of headers, request body, and URL parameters.

Calls are made via this Graph API from where Webhooks and messages are sent, and different events are received.

Compared to on-premises hosting, Graph API differs in latencies, error rates, Webhook setup process, and authentication mechanism.

Exciting features with a new promise

 With WhatsApp Cloud API, you get to enjoy the following:

  • Business expansion

Expand your business beyond just a few blocks with the Chat management feature that allows chat acquisition and interaction on up to 10 devices.

  • Customer acquisition

Attract new consumers and engage existing ones with customizable click-to-chat links that can be molded upon requirement. 

  • Adjustable mps limit – More availability

Send up to 80 messages per second (mps) with a combined receiving and sending for media and messages. Upon request, mps can be increased to 350 by creating a direct support ticket.

  • Detailed information

See how many messages you sent and how many were delivered, giving you power over important information and insights.

  • Top-notch security

With foolproof security, messages that are sent from and to the user are protected with end-to-end encryption, and even WhatsApp can’t access these chats.

How much will it cost?

WhatsApp pricing is a bit different from what you might expect. 

WhatsApp offers a lot of features that are business specific and customizable to promote business-to-customer interaction across all scales. 

Now, as per Meta’s declaration at the release of WhatsApp Cloud API, businesses don’t have to pay for the hosting charges. However, as new features are being added, users, should they choose to use them, will have to pay accordingly.

Pricing mainly depends upon the initiation of the conversations, which can be:

  • Customer-initiated conversations – When businesses respond to a message sent by the user.
  • Business-initiated conversations – When businesses are the first ones to send a message to the customer.

Changing the digital landscape

From interactions to conversions and from conversations to engagement, everything is easy with WhatsApp cloud API. Experience no downtime with the everyday reliability that WhatsApp offers. 

Find your customers where they exist. Selling your products in a space with no audience isn’t going to help your business. 

That’s why you should set up your shop in a digital space like WhatsApp, where millennials and gen z exist and talk. With WhatsApp cloud API, you can conveniently enjoy higher opening rates and more sales. 

Encryption

Cocooned in Signal protocol encryption, WhatsApp messages in the Cloud API are safe right from the moment user presses the send button.

Because of end-to-end encryption, each business can securely send messages to destinations of their choice. Industry-standard encryption techniques protect the user data dynamically and statically within the Cloud API.

Which one should you choose?

It all boils down to what are your business requirements. 

Whether you want to deal with the headache of hosting the API on your servers and data centers, or do you want the Meta to take up hosting? Additionally, ask yourself if you wish to do the maintenance and upgrade software yourself or do you want someone to tackle the Cloud API.

From message throughput, API protocol, and costs to support and monitoring metrics, clearly, Cloud API is the better choice. 

Convex Interactive boasts a wonderful implementation and support team that will provide you with excellent product-wise and technical pre and post-sales support. 

If you have any queries on how to create your account and set up WhatsApp business API, drop a comment below or contact us. We’d be happy to help you out.

Influencer Marketing vs PPC Advertising: A Comparison

While influencer marketing is growing rapidly, many marketers stay skeptical: PPC ads are much easier to measure, control, and optimize.

However, influencer marketing and social media ads have their place: the preference depends on the goal, product, target group, and marketing strategy. Let’s review the advantages of both advertising options! 

What is influencer marketing? 

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where brands collaborate with opinion leaders or social media users with a significant number of followers to promote their products and services.

Regarding social media and content marketing, influencer marketing relies on influencers’ recommendations and, therefore, is leveraging word-of-mouth marketing.

Advantages of influencer marketing

  • More reliable than traditional advertising

People trust other people more than traditional advertising. Friends, family, opinion leaders, and even strangers on the internet: 79% of consumers trust product reviews on the internet as much as recommendations from friends and family! 

Moreover, if the influencer has built a strong community around them, they have a strong relationship with their followers. Thus, when they share their honest product feedback feedback about a product or service, their fans believe them.

It’s also a two-way communication: followers can immediately ask the creator clarifying questions or specific product recommendations, which influencers are usually happy to share.

  • Reaching a niche target group

Usually, influencers share content about a specific topic: is it cooking, fitness, or self-development. So naturally, their followers are also looking for product recommendations in that field!

Using an influencer search tool you can find influencers in a specific niche using an influencer search tool. For example, if a food brand launches a vegan product line, it makes perfect sense to work with a vegan recipe influencer – their followers are eager to learn about new vegan products on the market and how to use them!

Influencer marketing can be a great way to reach a niche target group – especially in cases where the Google search volume is low, and Facebook targeting is not precise enough.

  • Good impact on the brand image

It’s no surprise that social media is shaping trends. Many influencers are trendsetters: what they wear, where they go, and what they consume is trendy.

The influencer’s reputation, messages, and values are inadvertently associated with the brands they collaborate with. Therefore, working with a well-chosen influencer also positively affects the brand image.

  • Content for the brand’s social media and ads

Creating attractive, scroll-stopping, and professional content is one of the superpowers of influencers. As they do it daily, they know exactly what works on social media. 

Moreover, in this age of technology, various social media automation platforms are available to ensure that your business visibility, awareness, and global reach are extended drastically. 

If agreed so, the brand can leverage influencer-generated content on its channels – as it’s authentic and trendy, it frequently works better than professionally produced content. Not to mention it’s significantly more affordable than organizing photoshoots yourself!

Also, influencer-generated content works wonders in paid ads. According to Meta, ads with ICG have 53% higher click-through rates than ads with business-as-usual visuals.

  • Avoid ad blockers

Much has been talked about the disappearance of banner advertising due to the increasing use of ad blockers, especially among young people. 46% of users worldwide admit to using ad blockers – it’s nearly half of the potential customers! 

As influencers share sponsored posts with their organic content, ad blockers can’t identify or hide these ads.

  • Long-term benefits and discoverability

Traditional ads are up as long as you pay the ad platform. 

“Influencer marketing has a longer-lasting effect,” says John, an influencer marketing consultant. If an influencer likes your product, they will likely recommend it to their followers, even after the collaboration is over – especially if you turn them into brand ambassadors!

Also, most influencers keep the sponsored posts up after collaboration. So when potential customers later search for user feedback about your brand, they’ll reach the influencers’ posts.

What is PPC marketing? 

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a type of marketing where advertisers pay a fee every time their ad is clicked. That includes ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Capterra, and many other platforms.

Most marketers love PPC ads. For a reason: they are easy to measure, control, and optimize, they can be targeted very precisely, and the results can be monitored in real-time.

Advantages of PPC ads: 

  • Measurable and optimizable in real-time

The main advantage of PPC ads is that measuring them is highly accurate, and the ads have a short optimization cycle.

By combining Google Analytics and the data displayed on a social platform (Facebook, Google, etc.), you can see the distribution of each ad (campaign), the number of impressions, website visits, average visit time, conversions, etc. In addition, you can optimize, leverage, or pause campaigns, ads, and keywords in real-time.

The optimization is aided by the Facebook algorithm, which, when properly configured, directs and optimizes advertising to reach more potential customers with lower advertising costs.

In Influencer marketing, the marketer also knows the reach, the number of impressions, and engagement. All the data runs in one place if they use an influencer management tool. However, the optimization cycle is longer: the conclusions can be made only after the collaboration is over.

  • The impact on sales is easier to measure

One of the perks of PPC ads is being measurable in real-time: you see exactly how many clicks came from each ad (campaign) and what people did after clicking on the ad.

When measuring influencer marketing, it is usually done with personal discount codes or trackable links that influencers can add to their profile, blog, or Instagram stories.

  • Very precise targeting (including retargeting)

The main advantage of PPC ads is very precise targeting options: in addition to targeting by demographics, interests, and past activity (for example: watching a video), you can also target users who have visited the website, made a purchase, or completed any other step in the buyer journey. 

Similarly, you can also exclude these audiences from your advertising campaign.

You can also create similar target groups (Lookalike Audiences) on Facebook to find new customers. So the targeting possibilities are almost endless!

Final thoughts

Both well-targeted ads and collaborations with well-chosen influencers can bring very good results. Which one to choose depends on your product, target group, and marketing strategy.

Since both have their advantages and disadvantages, the best results can be brought by combining the two – for example, you can direct potential customers to your website and later catch those users with retargeting ads.

Not to mention that consumer needs several touchpoints to make a purchase decision, which is why the strategy of combining different channels works successfully.

Stunning Social Media Automation Tools to Use in 2023

These days, simple posting isn’t enough. According to research, most businesses use social media platforms for marketing, brand awareness, and visibility. Rightly so, because according to an estimate, more than 5 billion people will be using social media by 2024. 

To leave a mark on your audience, you must be consistently active on all the social media platforms where your target audience spends most of their time. But, keeping up with all the aspects of social media management is a monumental task.

However, there’s no need to worry about it because many social media automation tools can help you out on the social media front. 

The automation tools have many features that secure your online presence and gauge performance. 

So, rather than worrying about what and when to post, you can focus on what matters – your business. Unfortunately, with so many automation tools in the market, choosing the right one for your business can become difficult. 

That’s where our article steps in and helps you make that decision by sharing with you the four best social media automation tools to use in 2022. 

Social Champ

Socialchamp - Social Media Scheduler Only Suite You Need for Agencies

Social Champ occupies that top rank in our list simply due to its outstanding features and ability to allow you to create, edit, publish, schedule, and analyze your social media content from a single place. 

Social Champ’s remarkable features include social media calendar, bulk upload, visual integrations within the dashboard, monitoring Analysis, Sentiment Analysis, Auto-RSS, Team Collaboration, and multiple workspaces. 

With this tool, you can schedule your social media posts with multiple scheduling options, monitor your published posts’ using the Analytics feature, and organize your present & future posts with an all-in-one social Media Calendar. 

The tool offers a forever-free plan with 3 social accounts and 1 user onboard; the other paid plans are also available per business size. 

Social Bee

SocialBee | Social Media Management Tools

At the 2nd spot on our list, we have SocialBee – a social media scheduling tool with all the features you’d need to automate your social media activities. 

What sets SocialBee apart from its competitors is its ability to organize and segregate your social media posts concerning promotions or separate different types of social media content.

SocialBee automation tools also simplify collaboration and teamwork, depending on the size of your business and the subscription plan you choose. 

Managing brands, clients, and projects has become much easier with the ability to operate multiple workspaces and users. 

SocialBee also offers a 14-day free trial and three premium subscription plans, including Bootstrap for $19/month, Accelerate for $39/month, and Pro for $79/month. 

Missinglettr

Missinglettr is an all-in-one social marketing platform

Missinglettr is the third-best social media automation tool and probably the one you’d want to keep your eyes on the most. It promises to get you tons more followers, traffic and leads at an affordable price. 

With Missinglettr, you can schedule social media drip (pre-written social media posts) campaigns that work the same way as an email drip campaign – send out social media posts to your target audience over a period that you set. 

You can pull posts out of any platform that you use to publish content. This includes your blog site, landing pages, and even YouTube. In addition, the platform will detect whenever there’s a new post worth promoting and set it to publish on your behalf. 

People accustomed to the more hands-on approach to their social media posts can keep using the calendar feature that allows you to draft and schedule posts in advance. 

If you don’t want to find articles to share on your social media accounts, that’s fine, either. Missinglettr will do it for you by using its Curate feature. It’ll look for high-quality posts (including videos and GIFs) based on your industry.

You can start using this automation tool for free with limited functionality. But if you are looking to avail all of its features, then you have to subscribe to its Solo($15/month billed annually) or Pro($49/month billed annually) subscriptions. 

Agorapulse

Agorapulse - Social Media Management Software

Agorapulse is a social media automation tool that can do more than just automate your social strategy. 

Its Unified Inbox allows you to organize, manage, and reply to messages across your social media accounts. 

This feature can respond to even comments made through Facebook and Instagram ads. Agorapulse even has a mobile application you can use to get to the messages no matter where you are.

Agorapulse’s Social Listening tool will let you know what people say about your brand and competitors online. You can label mentions and competitor activity based on what you feel are the most important ones. And you can find new leads and opportunities by using saved searches.

Automation allows you to develop a queue category that lets you organize and schedule your related posts.

You’ll see everything you have planned for the week in one place with various content tools such as image cropper, video thumbnail customization, and saved hashtags at your fingertips.

Agorapulse can be used for free with limited functionality but offers all of its features with Pro ($79/month billed annually), Premium ($159/month billed annually), and Enterprise (Custom pricing) subscriptions. 

Oktopost

Oktopost - B2B Social Media Engagement Suite

Going beyond simple publishing and content planning across social networks, Oktopost is a B2B social engagement suite that brings your social initiatives under one roof. 

A time-saver for social media marketers, you can automatically generate messages based on a linked asset and tweak them in seconds to be ready for publishing. Oktopost even features an automatic scheduler to help your social post publish using artificial intelligence at the most beneficial time. 

With Oktopost, you can engage in sophisticated social listening and monitoring to see where you stand among your competitors, better inform your product and marketing roadmap, and understand how your prospects feel about your brand. It’s as simple as creating a query around your brand name and letting Oktopost collect your mentions across social media. 

Their advanced employee advocacy board is built to keep your employees engaged and transform them into social sellers and brand advocates. Sorted by Advocacy Stories, social media managers can create several posts around a single asset for their advocates in a matter of minutes. 

The best part? Oktopost makes social measurement a snap with buildable reports on the metrics that matter most to your brand: engagement, conversions, influenced opportunities, and even ad performance. In addition, you can use their Business Intelligence features to get real insights on where socials are impacting your bottom line. 

Oktopost offers bespoke pricing to best respond to the unique needs of B2B organizations. Simply contact them, and they’ll be able to figure out which plan will help you get the most out of your socials.

Groupboss

Groupboss is an automation software that helps Facebook group admins to generate unlimited leads from the group. Using this tool any group owner can collect the answers to the Facebook group membership questions asked to the new members with a single click. In any of the three questions, emails can be asked for from the new members and those emails can also be saved automatically to email marketing autoresponders and Google Sheets.

Features:

  • One-click Facebook group lead generation
  • Integration with Google sheet
  • Integration with popular email marketing autoresponders like Mailchimp, Lemlist,Snov.io, GetResponse Activecampaign, Convertkit, SendFox, Moosend, Mailerlite, Automizy, Sendgrid, Sendinblue, Klaviyo, Hyros(Markethero), Drip, GoHighLevel, and many more integrations will be added soon.
  • Dedicated Groupboss dashboard.
  • One click custom and lookalike audience creation.

How to Examine Your Coworking Website To Boost Conversions And Leads

More and more individuals are starting such businesses due to the growth of flexible workplaces, and as time goes on, the value of such coworking websites increases.

The rivalry and rising demand have the ideal base thanks to the expanding number of firms. Websites, marketing, and measurements become more crucial in this environment. Therefore, you must continually stress these to stand apart from the competitors.

How can your website help you be effective in an industry that is developing quickly?

Heatmaps and constant measurement are the solutions. You may learn how to use these tools wisely in the paragraphs that follow to end the year on a good note. On a side note, look out for these top digital marketing trends to keep your business ahead on every front. 

Why do you need to measure?

Each analytics tool is crucial, even if you merely want to develop your own remote working space website and you’ve already begun one of these projects.

This is crucial because you can determine what has to be changed on your website, what components you need to add, and what metrics you need to enhance depending on the information you have retrieved.

We regret to inform you that your website won’t be successful if you are unaware of these metrics. However, it will also affect how well your business does.

 Let’s examine the elements you should consider when measuring:

  • Conversion rate
  • Performing components
  • Components that don’t work well
  • Your goods and solutions
  • Website usage
  • And sources

You can be certain that your website, and thus your flexible workspace, will be quite popular if you continue to examine these indicators.

You must be interested in knowing more about the products or services we’re referring to because you are opening up an office to the public.

Keep your product in mind while you evaluate your website. Specifically, the office that you have contracted out. But, of course, you are free to think in this way.

You can be certain that your website, and thus your flexible workspace, will be quite popular if you continue to examine these indicators.

Additionally, concentrate on each of your services to make resources available. This may be a computer, a printer, or even the environment you offer. 

These will provide you with a competitive edge, which you should surely highlight and examine on your website.

But where would you begin the study? First, let’s dig into the main story.Source: https://www.freepik.com/ 

Quantitative data

Quantitative data collection is always the first step in measuring a website. In this situation, you get data on your website’s visitor volume or conversion rate as a percentage.

It’s crucial to remember that the website traffic for a coworking space may differ from your real traffic. For example, the measurement may have indicated that 100 visitors visited your site each month.

300 individuals could have physically used your services as a consequence. In other words, 300 individuals paid you a monthly charge to use your place.

Potential clients are represented by your website traffic. They have an interest in you and a desire to cooperate.

This is crucial information to keep in mind for the measurement and vast volumes of data.

However, what do these facts truly indicate, and why must you cope with them? Check them out one by one: 

  • Conversion rate: Similar to any other website, yours displays the efficiency of your page by its conversion rate.

It displays every activity that is helpful to you. This may occur, for instance, if someone rents space in your workplace. or if a person subscribes to your newsletter.

Being as high as you can with this measure is your objective. The more reservations you have, the more prospective clients you have.

  • Sources: By looking at the available information, you may determine where your website’s visitors are coming from. Priority one when starting any marketing effort should be given to this. In addition, this information will be crucial when redesigning your website from an SEO perspective

You must intensify your social media advertising if you see that most of your traffic comes from these sites. Additionally, it might increase traffic and draw more visitors to your coworking space.

  • Website use duration: The amount of interest you have piqued in visitors is shown by how long they stay on your website. They will learn more about you and develop trust as a result of spending a longer time on your website.

The more people know about you, and how much they trust you, the more probable they will employ your services.

As you can see, your website’s quantitative data may also be quite helpful in the operation of your coworking space. But, again, utilizing Google Analytics, which provides the necessary information, is the simplest option.

The measurement should be a learning process

You may gain a complete picture of the performance of your website by gathering quantitative data. However, before looking into other metrics, make sure you are using an optimized web hosting provider for better speed and performance. What if, however, you see that one of the indicators is not displaying favorable values?

Let’s imagine you notice that visitors to your website only browse for a short period and that your conversion rate is likewise trending downward. Now what?

Some more inventive methods for gathering reliable data are developed at this point. For example, you can use these techniques to determine why a certain indication degraded.

It also offers suggestions on how you may raise each measure. Sound nice, yes?

We strongly suggest using heatmaps if you want to get quantitative data.

Heatmaps display how visitors utilize your coworking office website. Which services or products pique their interest the most? Which subpages do they frequently visit?

This knowledge is crucial since it can increase the number of potential clients that visit your website. Additionally, you may use heatmap analysis to optimize your website, which will encourage more people to visit your coworking space.

Let’s look at the results of data heatmap analysis and how you can use them:

Segment heatmap

Segment heatmaps display the website use patterns of each source of visitors. Different colored markers are used to identify segments from various sources.

Why are you concerned about this? Because every source is an exact representation of the people that visit your shared workplace. You can also learn which platforms you should use to promote your business.

You should use PPC advertisements and hire paid media marketing services to promote your company if you see that the majority of the traffic to your website originates from search engines. Additionally, this may boost visitors to your office and online.

Additionally crucial to website optimization and ad placement are segment heatmaps. You can properly target your banner advertising using this method.

Click heatmap

Use heatmaps to see which areas of your website are most and least popular. In addition, it reveals which areas of your page are most frequently visited by visitors and which receive infrequent visits.

Warm colors are used to indicate popular portions, whereas cool colors are used to show less popular sections.

You may determine which of your services your visitors are interested in using this information. For example, do you like the ambiance at your office and wish to utilize it? Heatmaps display it.

Following the assessment, you must prioritize the popular sections of your website and delete the lower-performing components.

Prioritize your services and set them at the top of that subpage if they did well throughout the measurement. This prevents visitors from having to spend a lot of time browsing your website straight away.

Scroll heatmap

This technique essentially demonstrates how long consumers browse over your page. You may use it, for instance, to provide links to your blog’s interface’s most popular locations.

Links that give details about your coworking space should be included. Giving your potential consumers information is the goal of this.

Always keep in mind that this industry is becoming more competitive. Therefore, giving as much information about yourself to potential clients is the ideal strategy.

People’s feelings of uncertainty are lessened because of this, as it always comes up when renting or buying anything. Additionally, you may hasten the decision-making process and guarantee that they select you over your rivals.

Use scroll heatmaps to do all of this. What a good connection can accomplish, huh?

Conclusion

As you can see, website research is crucial for your online business’s success, for example, if you manage a coworking space.

You may determine your company’s strengths and shortcomings using metrics. You may optimize both your website and your business with this information.

We advise you to combine quantitative and qualitative measuring methods for efficient measurement. We mean, for instance, using Google Analytics and heatmaps together.

We hope we can help.

WhatsApp CRM: 5 Things To Know Before Integrating CRM Into WhatsApp

WhatsApp CRM integration offers several benefits for startups and established enterprises. But first, there are certain things you need to know about these integrations and sort them out. 

Before we continue, we will be making the following two assumptions:

  • You have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
  • You use WhatsApp Business to communicate with your customers. 

While the CRM helps you organize customer data and improve customer service and relations, WhatsApp will allow you to connect and nurture millions of customers worldwide. 

If you have been using the two separately, you’ll probably have a decent idea about how hard it is to switch between the two. The good news is that you can integrate these two into a single service known as WhatsApp CRM to reduce your efforts to a single and effective workflow. 

What is WhatsApp CRM?

WhatsApp CRM is a customer relationship management software integration with the WhatsApp Business API account.

Regardless of the CRM software, you can merge it with your WhatsApp communication efforts. However, using one of the leading CRM services for this purpose is highly recommended. 

This way, your agents efficiently offer better customer service, boost customer retention, and ultimately grow your business. 

5 Things To Know Before Integrating CRM To WhatsApp

1- Registering WhatsApp API Numbers

First, WhatsApp with your CRM requires a WhatsApp API account, and those accounts should be linked to a phone number owned by the business. 

The number that will be linked to WhatsApp API can belong to a landline or a mobile phone number. As long as it can receive calls and text messages, it’s good to go. 

Always remember that once you have linked a phone number to a WhatsApp API, it is non-transferable and can not be used for other WhatsApp API accounts. 

2- Messaging Restrictions

With WhatsApp’s two billion user base, you may think it makes for a great marketing channel, but it’s not that simple. 

First, having a customer’s WhatsApp number on the file doesn’t mean you can message them freely. That’s because WhatsApp API messaging is via opt-in only.

According to WhatsApp, to initiate a message to a person, you must first receive opt-in permission confirmation that they wish to receive future messages from you on WhatsApp. 

WhatsApp also mandates that messages initiated by businesses must be transactional messages in the form of “message templates.” Flight change notifications, shopping updates, and refund confirmations are some of the most common examples of transactional messages. 

In other words, bulk marketing messages are strictly prohibited.

3- Complying with Data Privacy Laws

WhatsApp CRM integration allows businesses to support a team inbox accessible by multiple agents. With several eyes on sensitive information, it’s crucial to ensure that you adhere to WhatsApp’s business policies. 

In a nutshell:

  • You are responsible for acquiring the essential permits to “collect, use and share” customer data. 
  • Data collected must only be used to “support messaging.”
  • Do not send or request health-related information. 
  • Do not share customer information with other customers. 

We recommend you thoroughly read WhatsApp’s Business Policy page for more information.

4- CRMs Offering WhatsApp Integrations

One of the most important things to consider is whether the CRM you are using (or thinking about using) is compatible with a WhatsApp integration. 

The good news is that WhatsApp can be integrated with most leading CRM services. Though CRMs vary from one to another, the benefits of integrating WhatsApp with them are similar. 

5- Accessing WhatsApp Business API

Apart from having an account with the CRM of your choice, you should also have access to a WhatsApp Business API. 

Obtaining access to the WhatsApp Business API requires applying to WhatsApp for an API account and getting it approved. 

While you can do that yourself, the process can be technical, tedious, and time-consuming. Otherwise, you can also apply through an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider. The process will be faster through them, and the acceptance rates will increase.

Final Thoughts

WhatsApp CRM integration is a great way to improve your company’s communication efforts and overall customer experience. 

WhatsApp integrated CRM can set your business toward long-term success by offering various features such as broadcasting media-rich messages and automatically capturing leads. 

Book a free consultation session with us if you wish to learn more about integrating WhatsApp with your business. 

How to Redesign Your Website For SEO

When you redesign your website, its outcome can be both positive and negative. Of course, no one would want to break their website experience or see the conversion rate drop, but unfortunately, it can happen. 

By redesigning your website, you can improve its overall experience, which will help boost visitor engagement and the conversion rate. But, a website redesign can also put your organic traffic at risk. It all depends on how you do it.

Therefore, we decided to compile and share some essential SEO guidelines to follow when giving your website a make-over. 

Examining your website’s current performance

First, you need to analyze your website’s current performance; by that, we mean everything. Analyze the traffic, how people use your website, the user journey, how they interact with your website, and much more. 

For this purpose, a heatmap can offer you the data you need, which indicates what metric is currently working fine and which one needs improvement. 

Analyzing and benchmarking your website’s existing states will offer you an overview of performance from both a holistic and concentrated view. This is important because every web page differs from each other based on redesign risk, and some might even as well be deleted. 

What are your website’s SEO goals?

Once you clearly understand your website’s current performance, it’s time to decide on the redesign goal, primarily how it will support your SEO goals. 

You need to determine the primary purpose of the redesign, the sub-goals, and how you want to improve. 

Some SEO goals could include:

  • Improve Keyword Rankings
  • Increase Organic Traffic
  • Increase Page Duration 
  • Increase Page Sessions
  • Increase Conversion 

When you have clearly defined your goals, it will be much easier for you to achieve a successful SEO redesign. Just make sure that your goals are achievable and have realistic scope. 

Optimize existing content and do outreach

According to the leading SEO services in Pakistan, optimizing your website’s existing and new content based on keyword analysis and search intent is one of the most effective ways to achieve your SEO-based redesign goals. 

You must create and publish user-friendly content on the top-ranking keywords associated with your niche. Don’t forget to optimize your web pages’ titles, headings, meta descriptions, URLs, images, and the main body content. 

Outreaching to relevant websites for link-building purposes is also crucial for better SEO performance. Link-building works like PR did in the old times – by building strong business relationships with other websites. Keep them updated, keep them in the loop, and reach out whenever relevant.

Run an audit and set up redirects

By running a content audit of your content, you can identify the content with low value or the ones that are just draining your crawl budget. This content may not be worth updating, and removing or redirecting these pages would be best. 

If your website has external or internal backlinks pointing at them, you should redirect them and not remove them. Removing these sites would create broken 404-links, which are unsuitable for your technical performance.

Remember these guidelines if you want search engine crawlers to find your content after completing the redesign process. 

Update your site structure and split test

After optimizing the website’s content, it’s time to focus on the overall website structure. First, update your website structure to make it easy for users and crawlers to understand. 

Optimizing your website’s header and footer with the most important pages, such as products/services, about us page, blog, contact, privacy policy, etc., is also included in the website structure update process. 

Underestimating the importance of page speed for an enhanced user experience would be a mistake. Google has introduced a new report in Google Search Console called the “Core Web Vitals” report that focuses on optimizing page speed and overall experience.

Update the sitemap

Updating your sitemap alongside the redesign helps Google and users understand the new website immediately. 

You’ll have to submit your updated sitemap to Google when the new website is up and running. A sitemap is your website’s floor plan, which lists all the essential web page URLs for search engines to understand. 

Stage your plan of attack

SEO is like a living organism; you must keep it alive by feeding it daily. Blindly redesigning your website might risk several months or years of work. 

Several tools help you minimize those risks, such as redirection, content optimization, site structure, and sitemaps that help your redesign achieve your desired SEO goals.

So what should be your next step? First, create an action plan, including timelines, key projects, and individual accountability. You can also use online whiteboards to brainstorm action plan ideas with your teammates. Next, understand who is responsible, what collaboration needs, and how everyone impacts performance and timeliness.

Once your new design is up and running, get back to web analytics tools and measure user behavior, conversion rate, and form efficiency to collect valuable insights. 

WhatsApp Marketing VS SMS Marketing: A Comparison

WhatsApp Marketing VS SMS Marketing: A Comparison

WhatsApp marketing and SMS marketing are two popular text-based communication options for businesses available to them today. However many people think the two of them are the same, but that is far from the truth. 

If you are looking for effective ways to boost your brand awareness or hoping to reach a broader range of customers, both of these ways are perfect for you to increase your business sales and revenue. 

As we mentioned earlier, most people get confused and think of both as a single communication channel without proper insight. 

So, we did some research and compiled a comparison between WhatsApp Marketing and SMS Marketing to help you understand and decide which is better for your business. Similar to our previous work:

WhatsApp Business API or App: What’s the best for your brand?

We will share with you what exactly they are, what features each of them offers, and their respective pros and cons.  So without further ado, let’s get started.

What is SMS Marketing?

Short Message Service or SMS is a type of text messaging used by millions of users worldwide. Though invented in the 1980s, it wasn’t until the 1990s that SMS became popular among people. 

Initially, people use this service for nothing other than just normal chatting. However, it didn’t take long for businesses to recognize the potential of SMS and include it as an essential part of their marketing strategy.

Today, businesses using SMS capitalize on various product promotion opportunities and keep in touch with their customers. Unlike social media or email marketing, SMS marketing solely takes place on mobile phones. 

Advantages of SMS Marketing

Here are some of the most common advantages of SMS Marketing.

  • Cellular Networks

SMS marketing operates on cellular networks. This means that even without the internet connection, text sent via SMS marketing will still be able to go through. 

  • No Smartphone Required

Even though smartphones have become an essential part of customers worldwide, there’s still a significant number of people who don’t own smartphones. However, according to a report, 11% of US citizens own cellphones that aren’t smartphones

  • No Extra App Required

Unlike WhatsApp Business API or App, SMS marketing does not require any additional app. Today, cellphones, smartphones or not, are built with pre-installed SMS capabilities. 

What is WhatsApp Marketing?

WhatsApp Messenger was launched in 2009, and the official WhatsApp Business API and App was launched only as recently as 2018. 

WhatsApp has been a massive success story for both customers and businesses. It is used by billions of people worldwide and has become the go-to message channel for text-based marketing. 

Advantages of WhatsApp Marketing

Let’s look at some of the most significant benefits of WhatsApp marketing over SMS marketing.

  • Multimedia Messaging

Though classified as a text-based messaging tool, there’s much more that WhatsApp can do for you. For example, you can interact with your friends, family, relatives, and anyone with various emojis, stickers, and GIFs to better illustrate the mood. 

It doesn’t stop here. WhatsApp allows you to send and receive rich media files (Audio & Video). A crucial feature for businesses that must offer a 360-degree view of their products. 

Read more: Everything Important You Need To Know About WhatsApp Business API

  • Richer Features

WhatsApp marketing also allows you to use several integrated options, such as sharing live locations, contact info, and different types of files (pdf, doc, etc.).

Users can also place voice and video calls from the WhatsApp app, meaning they don’t need to download a separate app.  

  • Encrypted Messages

According to WhatsApp, all the messages sent and received through the messaging platform are end-to-end encrypted with military-grade encryption. 

This means that only the sender and receiver can read or listen to the messages – not even WhatsApp itself can decrypt your messages. 

This is a handy feature as it guarantees the security of sensitive information such as billing details, addresses, and more. 

  • More Integrations

Visual integration with popular apps like Instagram, YouTube, and Netflix is an exclusive WhatsApp marketing feature. 

For example, if you share Instagram content on WhatsApp, the post appears entirely in the WhatsApp chat instead of just the link. 

Likewise, there are also built-in players in WhatsApp for Netflix and YouTube so that videos from these platforms can be shared and watched within WhatsApp itself when shared.

Final Thoughts

SMS marketing and WhatsApp marketing aren’t mutually exclusive. This means that you can easily do both. 

However, if you’re looking to use just one, you’ll have to closely look at the benefits and limitations and see which one fits your business better. 

If you ask for our advice, we suggest that WhatsApp marketing is a far better option because it can offer much more than what SMS marketing provides.