If you are aware of WhatsApp Business API, you may very well know that businesses have to get approved for all of their template messages directly from WhatsApp.
For more than 3 years, these message templates can be sent only after a user opts in for updates.
Also, message templates should include only transactional messages, delivery messages, and messages that can be categorized as an ‘update’.
That was to ensure that businesses can not spam unnecessary notifications and provide complete personalized communication with their customers on WhatsApp.
What is a WhatsApp promotional message template?
In the last three years, customers communicated with multiple businesses on WhatsApp and asked for certain items, perks, and offers/discounts before making a purchase.
Considering that, WhatsApp has recently started to approve personalized promotional message templates that can be used for remarketing & re-engagement.
To be precise, A promotional message template will be a non-transactional message that will allow businesses to update their customers when certain products come back in stock, certain offers & discounts, App promotions, cart-recovery messages, etc.
Here are some possible use cases of WhatsApp Promotional Message Templates:
- Direct promotions- businesses may be able to send messages based on the past purchases of their customers.
E.g. Hey Laura, We hope you would like to see our new collection of black and white shoes- {Link}.
App Download- A business may ask users to download their App from app stores.
Our clients managed to recover more than a million USD with these remarketing messages in 2021.
Here are a few examples of WhatsApp Promotional Messages to start with.
1. Festival Sale Offers
With such templates, you can provide a personalized shopping package to your most engaged buyers during a festival or special season. These offers are really effective when a user searches for coupon codes on your website.
2. Monthly Sale Offers
These non-transactional promotional messages should be sent for a limited period when customers would love to buy certain trending items.
Valentine’s week is here.
Check out our latest collection for Teddy Day which can make your partner fall in love with you more than ever.
Apply ‘20TeddyOff‘ to avail 20% discount on selected items.
3. Discount Offers
You can offer discounts to upsell certain items when someone makes a purchase on your website. These promotional messages should be sent when customers are actively communicating with you regarding the status of their items.
Sending these promotional messages as a cold promotion may annoy your users.
OMG!! 🔥🔥🔥
The biggest Electronics Sales starts from 19th October. 💻📱🎧
Get up to 50% Off on selected laptops & accessories.
Pre-register before 10th October to participate.
Hi { {name} },
Thank you for ordering 1 Medium Pan Pizza with us.
Reply with ‘Off20Next‘ in the next 30 minutes to get an instant 20% off on your next meal.
Send ‘STOP’ to opt out.
How To Broadcast Promotional Messages With WhatsApp Business API?
WhatsApp names these message templates as ‘non-transactional message templates’. You can send promotional messages to your list of contacts using WHATSTOOL.
WHATSTOOL has a self-service dashboard to allow you to send template messages for approval.
When you create an account on WHATSTOOL, you can use the Broadcast module to send these promotional messages.
Note: To get a promotional template approved, select ALERT_UPDATE as the category.
Step 1: On the WHATSTOOL Dashboard, navigate to the ‘Broadcasts’ tab.
Step 2: Click on the ‘New Broadcast’ button on the top-right side.
Step 3: Add the broadcast name, choose the WhatsApp message template and choose the time when you want to send the message. Click on ‘Next‘.
Step 4: Choose from a list of your contacts or upload your list of contacts. Click on ‘Add Broadcast’.
Step 5: Track your broadcast status and analytics. Inside Team Inbox, You can track how many users read your messages and how many replied to your messages.
Eligibility To Send Non-transactional Template Messages On WhatsApp
If you want to broadcast promotional messages to thousands of your customers then you must Apply for the WhatsApp Business API.
If you already have the WhatsApp API-approved number, you can start a promotional/non-transactional broadcast.
Prerequisites to start a broadcast for promotions on WhatsApp:
- Businesses must have the access to WhatsApp Business API.
Considerations & Restrictions
- To send promotional templates, Businesses must get opt-in from their users and opt-ins need to adhere to WhatsApp opt-in policy guidelines.
- Every promotional template message will be reviewed. Daily Newsletters and unnecessary notifications are still not allowed.
- Businesses must follow WhatsApp’s policies.
WhatsApp Promotional Messages: Do’s & Don’ts:
Great powers come with great responsibility.
Now, as you can send offers/discounts on WhatsApp, you must ensure a good customer experience through WhatsApp communication.
Here are a few points to ponder:
1. Always broadcast personalized offers to customers.
2. Avoid pushing remarketing messages to less engaged users.
3. Do not over-broadcast promotional messages as it may result in account reporting and your Quality Rating may go down.
4. Establish continuous & helpful communication with your customers on WhatsApp.
Future Of Promotional Messages On WhatsApp
For now, all I can say is WhatsApp does not want to make its platform a place of spam.
WhatsApp understands that users may want to get some kind of updates from the business hence it is proceeding in that direction where it’ll allow businesses to favour their customers by following certain WhatsApp Template message guidelines.
Businesses should continue providing a rich experience to their customers on WhatsApp. With these non-transactional promotional messages, they can continue to grow, keeping their users’ interest on priority.
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