Is Your Brand Messaging Customers on WhatsApp? Here Are 3 Reasons Why it Should Be

Are you connecting with your customers on the apps where they spend their time each day? Traditional marketing channels are in decline, and it's getting harder to gain the attention of customers in crowded newsfeeds and cluttered inboxes. Why not go to where your customers already are and interact with them on the messaging platforms they use every day?

Today, individuals spend over four hours a day on their mobile devices. More specifically, 44 percent of that time is spent on social media or messaging apps — and your brand should be there, too. With 2 billion users worldwide, if you're not interacting with customers on WhatsApp, you're likely missing out on serving your current customers and depriving your brand of the ability to gain new customers as well.

According to our new report on the "State of WhatsApp Business Messaging," 57 percent of respondents say they regularly communicate with a brand on WhatsApp — and that number increases in regions like Latin America (75 percent) and Asia-Pacific (71 percent). Additionally, half of those respondents have messaged with a brand at least 11 times, and sometimes upwards of 40 times or more.

What other insights did we uncover that can prove to marketers that WhatsApp is where they want to be? Here are three reasons why you should be on WhatsApp messaging with your customers:

1. Build brand affinity on WhatsApp.

Engaging with customers on WhatsApp is a surefire way to create a strong positive impact on your brand perception. Seventy percent of those surveyed say that messaging with a brand on WhatsApp has positively impacted their perception of that brand. The majority of those interacting with a brand on WhatsApp then went on to purchase products from that brand.

But why does messaging with a brand on WhatsApp create a positive experience for customers? The top reason why they like to message is because it's fast — faster than trying to email or call a company with questions. They also like it because it's convenient. Instead of trying to find contact information on a website or fill out a form which may take days to hear a response from, they simply open WhatsApp and type a question. Messaging on WhatsApp is informal and fun, and may prompt customers to ask questions during their exchange that they may not ask through more formal channels.

2. Influence purchase decisions.

Not only can interacting with your brand on WhatsApp increase your customers' affinity for your brand, it can increase their willingness to purchase as well. Those positive experiences they have while messaging with you translate into sales — 69 percent of respondents say they're more likely to buy from a brand if that brand has a WhatsApp option available. Additionally, 64 percent say they're likely to spend more if a brand has the option to communicate via WhatsApp.

This doesn't just mean that messaging with customers on WhatsApp will earn you more sales. It also means that giving customers the option to message on WhatsApp differentiates you from other brands that don't. You can gain a competitive advantage by positively differentiating your brand with a better WhatsApp experience.

Considering that product- and service-related questions is the primary reason customers message with a brand, messaging also gives you the ability to guide customers to the products they're looking for and provide them personalized recommendations on WhatsApp as well. Consider too that 56 percent of customers have abandoned a purchase because the company was too slow to respond to their inquiry — meaning that even responding in a timely fashion can positively influence purchase decisions.

3. Open a new marketing channel.

Finally, with traditional marketing channels in decline, marketers should be looking for new approaches to connect with customers. WhatsApp offers a new channel through which you can engage and convert shoppers by building a directly reachable audience you can continuously monetize.

Not only does WhatsApp messaging help build brand affinity and influence purchase decisions, customers are interested in using messaging for other purposes as well. Other than customer support, respondents want brands to help them find products based on their unique preferences and needs, which brands can do using guided conversations. Similarly, customers also want to receive personalized offers and coupons through their messaging exchange. Use WhatsApp to drive sales by segmenting customers based on their preferences and sending personalized follow-up offers. In fact, 78 percent of customers say they would be more likely to make purchases with a brand if their offers were targeted to their interests and needs. Your WhatsApp channel also provides an excellent opportunity to collect zero-party data — i.e., data customers voluntarily share with you about their purchasing habits that you can later use to personalize offers based on their preferences.

Getting Started With WhatsApp

Brands messaging on WhatsApp are already seeing the benefits listed above, including increased brand affinity and sales. First movers will gain a competitive advantage, and brands not on WhatsApp, or that haven’t yet figured out a responsive WhatsApp strategy, are currently missing out on many opportunities to grow their audience.

Why not get started with WhatsApp today? Add a WhatsApp button to your website — the preferred way of starting a conversation with a brand, as per our respondents — and start messaging with customers on an app they already use every day.

Max Koziolek is the co-founder and CEO of Spectrm, the leading conversational marketing automation platform.