We’ve seen a big boom in direct response campaigns among brands. In particular, Click-to-WhatsApp campaigns seem to be showing up in more social ad strategies.
Because these campaigns take users from an ad to a chat, they’re a great way to drive conversations and conversions. That being said, Click-to-WhatsApp campaign effectiveness is still affected by some limitations.
What are direct response WhatsApp ads?
This type of WhatsApp social advertising is fairly simple. It’s basically an ad that will lead customers to a WhatsApp chat if they click on it. It goes from click to direct contact.
To create the ad, a brand needs to link its WhatsApp Business account to the ad platform. Then, it should create an ad with a call to action such as “Contact via WhatsApp”.
From there, the ad only needs to go live. Anyone clicking on the call to action or CTA will open a WhatsApp chat window to talk to the business.
Given that most customers expect a real-time conversation, these chat channels are typically manned at all times. Alternatively, they may be equipped with autoresponders.
This allows customers to get a quick response, even if only for submitting enquiry details until a live agent gets back to them. In addition, smart autoresponders can attempt to provide answers to FAQs in advance.
Why use direct response WhatsApp ads?
These ads are getting more popular for several reasons. Below are the top benefits of using direct response WhatsApp ads.
1. Direct engagement
The real-time chat gives businesses opportunities for direct conversions with their target audience. It can synergise very well with businesses that have strong Sales personnel, in particular.
The system also allows brands to give instant support to customers. This can reduce cutomer drop off and increase conversion chances as well as repeat purchases.
2. Low effort for customers
One of the best things about this strategy is that it shortens the conversion funnel. It means fewer steps for the customer to contact someone in the business. They don’t even need to fill in a form and wait for a response any longer!
3. Higher conversion rate
A customer who contacts you through this channel is technically a qualified lead already. After all, few would go through the trouble of contacting a brand for a chat unless they were already in the consideration stage.
The numbers bear it out too. WhatsApp has a conversion rate of about 45-60%, compared to email and SMS conversion rates of 2-5%.
4. Enhanced personalisation
Because you can answer questions directly through the chat, you can offer a personalised experience on contact with the customer.
Compare this to pushing them through a generic page or funnel that wouldn’t directly attend to their specific concerns. The tailored approach is more likely to get you a sale and lets the customer skip the usual slog of trying to find the category they want.
5. Simple setup
Because the system and platform are already there, there’s no need to create a custom system for it.
This is particularly beneficial for small businesses, as they no longer need to have a complex website conversion or CRM setup.
The limitations (and solutions)
As with every other marketing technique, however, WhatsApp ads have their problems. Still, there are things you can do to address most of them.
Scalability | If you receive a lot of enquiries (which is a good thing!), it might be difficult to manage the volume, particularly if you’re a small organisation. The solution? Try chatbots or autoresponders. They can filter out FAQs before sending the customer right to a human agent. |
Low-quality leads | It’s a fact of life: you open a communication channel, and at some point, spam will come in. The solution? Try using pre-qualification questions. The automated filters can help you remove bots and uninterested parties from the queue. |
Tracking of actual conversions vs CTR | This is one thing you should be careful about when getting metrics for Click-to-WhatsApp campaign effectiveness. People can click to start a WhatsApp chat (bringing up CTR) yet not send an actual message (which means they don’t even qualify as leads). The solution? Try to use WhatsApp Business API and CRM integrations. They help with end-to-end tracking. HubSpot is one example, but many other CRMs offer the same thing. |
Privacy concerns | Some customers might not be so keen to share their personal details via chat. This is a normal concern now as more phishing and scams appear online. The solution? Reassure your customers about what the info will be used for and be fully transparent with them at all times. |
Get started on your WhatsApp direct response ads today
WhatsApp’s direct response ads offer a lot of possibilities for the savvy marketer. They’re just one of the many tools the platform provides to brands.
In fact, WhatsApp social advertising campaigns can be used effectively at every stage of the funnel to support your business strategy. It’s just a matter of knowing how to deploy them to support your goals.
If you need help with that or with the overall planning for your digital marketing strategy, talk to us. At ROMI, we’ve run hundreds of campaigns for SMEs in Singapore looking to boost their presence, credibility, or sales.
We can even advise you on which ad to use for which part of your funnel, optimise your funnel, and so on. To find out how we can support your digital marketing needs, schedule a no-obligations call with us today!
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