Research from Gallup has shown that businesses which create an emotional connection with their customers outperform their competitors’ sales growth by 85%. A study by Genesys showed that 1 out of 3 customers is willing to pay more if it means that they will receive better service.

The statistics are clear – today’s customers expect a great customer experience and will not hesitate to take their business elsewhere if they are not satisfied.

To aid this continuing push towards a better customer experience worldwide, WhatsApp has recently introduced support for more message types that businesses can send out to their customers and improve the quality of commercial communication. People should have opted in before brands start sending them these messages to ensure you do not generate a reputation as a spammer.

Specifically, the new message types can be used to address specific use cases over WhatsApp such as

Product recommendations 

Let us consider a case where a customer has purchased a necklace from a retail brand. Now, the brand can recommend more products based on the user’s past purchases and behavioural history.

New product announcement

Brands can send their customers a quick message letting them know that they have something new in their store that customers might be interested in.

New product announcement

Brands can send their customers a quick message letting them know that they have something new in their store that customers might be interested in.

Personalized offers or promo codes

Brands can offer discount codes that correspond to a personal milestone for the customer, such as a birthday or reaching a certain level of loyalty points.

Price alerts 

This type of notification is used a lot in the travel and aviation space since prices fluctuate often.

Price alerts 

This type of notification is used a lot in the travel and aviation space since prices fluctuate often.

Abandoned cart reminders

Retail brands can use this type of notification to combat their most pressing issue – cart abandonment – without needing users to scroll through their email inbox.

Back-in stock alerts

If customers have expressed interest in a previously out of stock item, these notification types can prompt them to revisit your brand’s store and make a purchase.

Back-in stock alerts

If customers have expressed interest in a previously out of stock item, these notification types can prompt them to revisit your brand’s store and make a purchase.

Appointment reminders

Brands can use these nifty notifications to convey important and time-sensitive information to their customers, such as an impending booking date.

Best practices for sending marketing messages and notifications

At Karix, we believe the most important rule brands need to follow for WhatsApp communication is – Consent.

Has the customer explicitly asked to receive these messages from you through a clear opt-in with your brand name clearly displayed? If the answer is anything other than a resounding YES, do not start sending them promotional messages.

You will only end up hurting your own sender reputation, people will start marking you as a spammy brand and the word of mouth that gets shared about you will not be great.

On the other hand, once customers have opted in to receive your communication, you now have an equally important responsibility – to honor their commitment and send them vital, actionable information that is relevant to them at the right time.

Be transparent, keep it short and keep providing value to the customer as the foundation of all your campaigns, and you will set yourself up for success.

These new message types represent a major step-up in the WhatsApp marketing paradigm because before now brands could only send transactional messages on WhatsApp such as letting the customer know that a product they have ordered is out for delivery.

By allowing more types of brand messages to be sent out, WhatsApp has enabled businesses to provide a more robust and comprehensive customer experience while enabling opportunities for revenue generation. Brands and customers can now strike up deeper conversations over WhatsApp that span every stage of the customer journey.

To keep yourself updated with all of the latest changes in the WhatsApp marketing landscape, make sure you bookmark the Karix blog and check back often to get more industry insider secrets, tips and tricks!