Big companies spend hundreds of billions in advertising every year. However, many of them do not enjoy the desired results. According to a Gartner report, less than 30% of companies are truly successful in their marketing strategies. Is it necessary to ask whether your advertising is producing good results? For businesses that utilize WhatsApp click-to-chat ads (CTWA) to generate leads, the answer is— yes.
Getting to Know WhatsApp Ads (CTWA)
Click-to-WhatsApp Advertising (CTWA) is a new form of advertising which allows businesses to redirect potential customers directly from social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram, to their corporate WhatsApp accounts.
Once a potential customer or lead clicks on a WhatsApp click-to-chat ad, a conversation between the customer and business can be initiated on WhatsApp. Businesses are also able to set templated messages and implement automatic replies to customer queries so that customers can begin a conversation with the business or brand right away. As an example, a business can set up an automated message such as: “How can I help you?” accompanied by preset button options such as: “Browse products,” “Ask a question,” or “Talk to an agent.”
Why are WhatsApp Click-to-Chat Ads Effective?
WhatsApp click-to-chat ads are effective because customers love message-based communication tools. People see chat apps as a way to communicate with friends, family, and brands. In a research carried out by Kantar, 66% of consumer respondents reported that they were more likely to purchase a product from a business if it was available to communicate via messaging or chat.
Promoting businesses can become more sustainable since chat platforms contain many features to help businesses save resources, such as message automation and chatbots. However, to take advantage of messaging apps like WhatsApp, you need to let your customers know that they can contact you via WhatsApp. This is where WhatsApp click-to-chat ads come into play.
Let’s read further to learn how you can use WhatsApp ads (CTWA) throughout your marketing pipeline to generate leads and stay engaged with customers!
Awareness: Introduce Your Business Using WhatsApp Ads!
Click-to-chat WhatsApp (CTWA) ads leave the first impression on potential customers. Therefore, the ad must be attractive so that potential customers are enticed to click on the ad and start a conversation with your brand or business. These advertisements may highlight the value of your business or can even direct leads to your website based on trust built towards your business.
Whatever the focus of your advertising purpose is, the goal is only one: to provide leads with a reason to continue connecting with your business.
However, CTWA don’t just highlight what makes your business different and direct leads to your product pages. Conversations in WhatsApp allow you to gather useful information about your customers so your team can engage and convert them.
What happens if a prospect isn’t a good fit for your business? You’ll find out immediately through asking on WhatsApp instead of wasting time later engaging leads who will never buy.
So, how do you set up WhatsApp click-to-chat advertising targets at this stage?
At the awareness stage, you want your ad to reach as many people as possible according to your ideal target market. Facebook Ads allow businesses to target audiences such as current customers via Core or Lookalike.
By targeting your Core audience, you can create target groups with similar characteristics to your ideal customers—including location, gender, age, interests, and behavior. Meanwhile, Lookalike targeting directs your ads to people who are similar to your existing audience source. This option is best if you have an existing audience of 1,000 to 5,000 subscribers.
Consideration: Encourage Potential Customers to Ask Questions
Have you ever walked into a shop and told a shop assistant that you were “just looking”?
However, 10 minutes later, you decide that you actually wanted to talk to the shopkeeper about an interesting product. Online shoppers behave and think in often the same manner. Give them the option to ask you questions through WhatsApp click-to-chat ads to encourage them to ask your business questions.
This promotional method usually invites leads to contact you with a CTA button that states: “Start a conversation.” Once potential customers launch the WhatsApp app after clicking the ad, your team or chatbot can begin responding to their questions about your products or services right away. This way, lost leads are minimized.
Here’s how to place WhatsApp click-to-chat ads at the consideration stage
People at this stage are familiar with your business but have not yet made a purchase. One way to target these potential customers is by using Facebook’s retargeting option.
You’ll probably direct promotions at this stage to everyone who has visited your business’ Facebook page, Instagram profile, and website. You can also set-up Facebook to exclude lads who have already made a purchase so that you can focus on targeting potential customers.
Purchase: Get Closer to Potential Buyers Through Offers for New Customers
Even after talking to your agents and chatbots, potential customers may still feel hesitant to take the next step and make a purchase from you. You can help them make their final purchasing decision with WhatsApp click-to-chat ads that offer great discounts or remind them of products they have left in their shopping cart.
When buyers click on your ad and open a conversation, you can make it easier for them to convert to become customers by giving them the option to purchase within the conversation itself via WhatsApp Commerce. You can also allow buyers to ask any questions they have about your products or services directly within WhatsApp.
A way to get closer to potential buyers at the purchase stage
Leverage Facebook’s retargeting feature to redirect your WhatsApp click-to-chat ads to individuals who have expressed an interest in purchasing but have not yet completed their order. With the help of Facebook, you can track those who have clicked the “Add to cart” button or visited the Cart page on your site but have not yet completed a purchase.
If your products are sold on Facebook, you can also target those who have added items to their cart and started the checkout process but did not complete the purchase.
Care: Solve problems to build lasting relationships
Once a potential customer is converted, it’s time to continue engaging them. WhatsApp click-to-chat ads can help by encouraging customers to resolve issues with your business by contacting your support team.
These ads usually have text welcoming customers to contact businesses via messaging if they have questions about products or services. Customers who click on these ads can obtain answers as quickly as possible by speaking to an agent or chatbot, who can share links to help center pages, product pages, tutorials, and more.
Loyalty: Give Customers Ad-Based Offers
It’s easy to focus only on dissatisfied customers but loyal customers also need your attention. Give your customers a reason to stay loyal to your business by targeting them towards special offers placed via WhatsApp click-to-chat ads
You can send your customers discounts through other channels, such as email. However, you will miss the opportunity to strengthen your relationship directly with buyers. Customers who interact with WhatsApp click-to-chat ads can always get to ask questions about the offer, and your team will have the opportunity to thank your customers for their loyalty.
At the stage of maintaining loyalty, you also still need to maintain engagement with your customers. Read more about one method below.
First, collect a list of customers who match your business goals, such as those who shop with your business over a certain number of years or have accumulated a certain average number of orders. If you use an e-commerce platform, you should be able to filter customers based on these criteria and export the list in just a few clicks to a CSV file.
After that, use this file to create a Custom Audience on Facebook. The social platform will try to find your customers based on the identification details in your list so you can target WhatsApp click-to-chat ads appropriately. Keep in mind that Facebook only allows businesses to upload Custom Audiences with users who have already given permission to use their data.
Make WhatsApp Click-to-Chat Your Marketing Channel!
So you have read all about the various benefits that can be obtained from using the WhatsApp click-to-chat function applicable to all sales funnels.
However, the question now is, will your team have enough resources to support an increase in incoming chats?
The answer is: Yes! Messaging app platforms provide a variety of features, such as chatbots and automation, that can help you save time, so your team can keep customers engaged throughout the process. Moreover, if your business is integrated with Qiscus Omnichannel Chat, this entire process will be even more seamless because Qiscus Omnichannel Chat can be integrated with various third-party applications.
Want to make your sales process more seamless? Find out more and contact Qiscus here now!
