Let me put it loud and clear, Customer Retention and WhatsApp Marketing are inseparable. D2C brands like Libas, GIVA, Power Gummies, and many more have used this magic wand to win back their customers.
So what’s with the hype? Why is WhatsApp marketing so popular among D2C brands, and what makes it surpass other communication channels for retaining customers?
Email, SMS, Push, Messenger, etc., are equally important. But what separates WhatsApp is its popularity. It is accessible and feasible.
And most importantly, it’s the only channel where most of your customers are.
The data proves the point.
If we look globally, WhatsApp is available in 180 out of 195 countries and is accessible in 20+ languages. 69% of Internet users are on WhatsApp (excluding China).
Talking about India, the craze of WhatsApp is on another level here! India has 390 Million monthly active WhatsApp. It’s incredible!
What does it mean for D2C brands?
It simply means that WhatsApp is where your customers are!
The reachability of WhatsApp makes it a critical customer retention tool for D2C brands.
Now that we know the popularity of WhatsApp let’s understand how D2C bands can use WhatsApp marketing for customer retention.
Why is Customer Retention Important?
“The businesses that understand the importance of effective retention marketing consciously invest in customer retention plans because they see it as the biggest revenue driver.” – KPMG.
Here are a few reasons why companies need to invest in effective retention marketing strategies:
Cultivate customer loyalty: The right customer retention strategy creates a satisfactory customer experience and forges loyal relationships.
Increase customer lifetime value: Retaining customers helps you grow your sales bottom line, earn a steady flow of repeat purchases and improve CLTV.
Build positive word of mouth: A robust customer retention strategy generates loyal customers who are your biggest brand advocates and spread positive word of mouth.
Affordability: Acquiring a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than holding on to an existing one.
ROI: A 5% increase in customer retention can increase company revenue by 25-95%.
Why does your D2C brand need Whatsapp Marketing for customer retention?
Some of the most important reasons that will compel you to automate WhatsApp Marketing for customer retention are as follows:
Better Customer Engagement
Bringing your D2C brand to WhatsApp makes shopping more feasible for your customers. Brands get a chance to talk to their customers directly and resolve their queries via WhatsApp. It is one of the best channels to connect with customers and provide them with all the valuable information in a more creative way.
Sending Personalized Reminders
Since a customer never misses a WhatsApp message, at least 98% of the time, reminding them about an upcoming sale, discount coupons, offers, etc., over WhatsApp is the best way to grab their attention. Several brands also use WhatsApp to send cart recovery messages to remind customers to complete the checkout process, allowing brands to recover lost sales.
Asynchronous Communication
Asynchronous communication is any communication where one person provides information, and then there is a time lag before the recipients take in the information and offer their responses. WhatsApp allows you to be available 24/7. It also gives your customers the freedom to contact you and respond to you whenever they want. Moreover, all your conversations get stored, and you don’t lose the conversation thread.
No additional Customer Acquisition Cost
WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business is a free messaging platform that can be used to personally connect with your customers, market your products and services, and answer their questions throughout their shopping experience. It saves a lot of cost on all CAC components, which gives your brand higher returns. This means WhatsApp helps you retain customers by letting you reach them without any additional cost.
Increased Conversions and Sales
Users opt-in to your WhatsApp messages to show their interest in your brand. If you fulfil all their needs, offer them the best prices and provide a fantastic experience, you can make the most out of such users. Anyone coming to your WhatsApp chat box is a qualified lead who can easily convert into a loyal customer. This is why WhatsApp has a high conversion rate.
5 Best WhatsApp Marketing Strategies for Customer Retention
Let’s see how D2C brands can leverage WhatsApp to retain customers at scale.
Create a Win-Back WhatsApp Marketing Campaign
WhatsApp is a winner at win-back campaigns that helps D2C brand owners to incentivize more purchases. The win-back campaign consists of a series of WhatsApp messages aiming to engage and re-engage the customers.
With WhatsApp marketing automation, you can create a sequence of messages containing offers and personalized recommendations that nudge customers to visit your website. It is essential to run a WhatsApp Win-Back Marketing Campaign because repeat customers are more likely to shop with you again and spend more every time they make a purchase.
Create FOMO around the abandoned product
Sending WhatsApp reminders to customers about the items they have left in the cart is an excellent strategy to recover lost sales. But even more important is creating FOMO or a sense of urgency around the abandoned product.
Data shows that 60% of customers make purchases in fear of losing out on a good product or a discount. Capitalize on this fear and send them a WhatsApp cart recovery message targeted at creating FOMO. You can do this by offering abandoned products at a discounted price for a limited period. WhatsApp serves as the best tool for running FOMO campaigns because its customers tend to read WhatsApp messages and respond as soon as they receive them.
Send custom discount coupons to retain customers
Customers love a good discount on their favourite products. So, why not woo them with discounts to make them come back for more and more? And what’s better than nudging them over their favourite communication channel, i.e., WhatsApp?
D2C brands must use WhatsApp cart recovery to send out an additional discount on the cart total. You can also club this discount with a FOMO strategy and make it time-sensitive so that the customers take action instantly. Sending rewards or discount coupons helps D2C brands to retain customers at scale.
Build trust by asking for customer feedback
Sometimes rewards or discounts are not enough to bring back your customers. That’s where you need to know “why” and get them to share their thoughts. Getting customer feedback is an essential customer retention strategy. Why? Simply because it builds customer trust and boosts loyalty. It gives an impression to customers that you as a brand care about their needs and are there to answer any question and resolve every query.
Many brands prefer WhatsApp when it comes to asking for customer feedback. Customers actively participate in conversations over WhatsApp and send replies promptly. Use WhatsApp automation to conduct customer retention feedback surveys. This will help D2C brands modify their products to cater to customers’ needs and improve customer satisfaction and customer retention.
Deliver a fantastic customer experience with WhatsApp
Boring, plain texts are a thing of the past. Delight your customers by taking advantage of WhatsApp’s rich media capacity and using it to share product catalogs, images, and videos to engage customers and persuade them to come back for more.
WhatsApp is an effective channel to engage customers with personalized 1:1 conversations throughout the customer’s journey. From simple, friendly notifications to engaging customer service, WhatsApp empowers D2C brands to deliver a fantastic customer experience and win their trust.
Upsell and cross-sell to garner more repeat orders
Cross-selling and upselling are the best ways to increase repeat orders. Brands can do this by sending personalized product recommendations based on past purchases.
The best way to send cross-sell and upsell messages are by optimizing transactional messages, like orders, shipping updates, and confirmation. Brands can optimize such messages and include product recommendations or updates. For example, if you are a clothing brand, an order confirmation email for a top can consist of a recommendation for bottoms that go with it. This way, you can incentivize repeat purchases and retain your most-valued customers.
Concluding Remark
WhatsApp permits a seamless flow of two-way personalized conversation, allows 24/7 customer support and makes D2C brands readily available and accessible. As a result, WhatsApp is an important channel for customer retention.
