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Table of contents

1. What are WhatsApp channels?
2. These are the advantages and disadvantages of WhatsApp channels
3. How to integrate WhatsApp channels into your marketing strategy
4. These are your options now for your WhatsApp Marketing
5. Conclusion

WhatsApp has long been considered a powerful channel for marketing purposes. Companies can stay connected with their customers through various functions, answer burning questions via chat, or send convincing newsletters. The hurdle here is particularly low, with around two billion active users WhatsApp is one of the most relevant messaging services worldwide. Above all, companies benefit from high opening and clicking rates.

With its new feature, WhatsApp Channels, the Meta service has been offering another option for direct customer communication since September 2023. What this means for companies and how to integrate WhatsApp channels into your marketing, we explain in this article.

What are WhatsApp channels?

WhatsApp channels offer you a new way for your customer communication. With the function, which was rolled out worldwide in mid-September 2023, you can reach all followers of your channel with one message at a time. The channels do not enable direct interaction, followers can so far only react to your updates with emojis or vote in your surveys. More features will follow. Similar to Telegram or Instagram’s Broadcast Channels, users can follow WhatsApp channels from companies or individuals and stay up to date.

The WhatsApp channels are located in a separate area of the app and are thus separated from private chats. This created the new tab “Current”, where you can find status updates of your private contacts in addition to the channels.

These are the advantages and disadvantages of WhatsApp channels

The quick and easy sending of messages to a large group of people makes WhatsApp channels particularly interesting for marketing activities. Overall, the new feature offers some advantages. However, it also comes with restrictions that you should consider before setting up WhatsApp Channels for your marketing.

These are the advantages of WhatsApp Channels:

• Direct customer communication, especially for content such as product announcements, special offers or company news
• Real-time interaction and fast, low-threshold feedback from customers
• News can be sent to a large number of customers at the same time, saving resources
• Effective push communication through the sending of regular push messages in the style of newsletters
• For companies free via the WhatsApp Business App currently (as of: December 2023)
• Depending on the objective, channels can be used by influencers, private individuals and companies to share everyday life, photos or company news

These are the disadvantages of WhatsApp channels:

• Recipients cannot reply to messages, so there are less opportunities for conversational commerce
• No possibility for automation of features like chatbots or templates, which restricts the scaling and planning of campaigns
• Data protection hurdles must also be observed here: The lack of end-to-end encryption raises concerns about GDPR compliance and Meta can process usage data for recommendations
• Similar features such as broadcast lists and WhatsApp newsletters are competitors to WhatsApp Channels as marketing channels
• Updates are only visible in the “Current” tab and the chronology can affect the visibility of individual news
• Followers must activate notifications for each channel separately, in order to be informed directly about news, which can lead to decreased performance
• In WhatsApp Channels, neither targeting nor personalization is possible and the tracking options are also limited
• The creation and use of WhatsApp channels is only via the WhatsApp Business App possible and not via API, which restricts usage

The new feature, WhatsApp Channels, can be found in your WhatsApp app under the tab “Current”. Here you will also find the status updates of your private contacts.

WhatsApp channels are an excellent addition to your omnichannel marketing and should at least be considered as a possible part of your WhatsApp marketing strategy. They offer a good opportunity to push important content and quickly and easily contact many people. However, limited interaction options make WhatsApp Channels a very one-sided marketing channel. The very limited tracking also provides little insight into how successful your marketing is via WhatsApp Channels.

How to integrate WhatsApp channels into your marketing strategy

Depending on the orientation of your company or brand and according to your marketing goals, you can consider integrating WhatsApp channels into your multichannel marketing strategy. They offer versatile usage options and help you communicate offers and important updates more easily and exclusively to your community. In WhatsApp Channels, you can easily provide your followers with information or take them into your day-to-day business. This can make the channels a good addition to your WhatsApp marketing.

This is what you should consider if you want to include WhatsApp channels in your marketing strategy:

1. First deal with your target group: Is WhatsApp a relevant communication channel and can you reach enough people here so that the additional effort is worthwhile?
2. Define clear goals: What do you want to achieve with your WhatsApp channel? What kind of content do you want to play out?
3. Choose a profile picture and channel description that reflect your company.
4. WhatsApp Channels are a good way to capture the mood of your community. Create content that encourages interaction via emojis. These can be, for example, votes or surveys.
5. Note the non-guaranteed data protection and the usage guidelines for WhatsApp channels.
6. Remember that WhatsApp channels only offer strongly limited features. Targeting, chatbots, and analytics are not possible here, so channels are not a suitable basis for performance-driven marketing measures.

Companies can use WhatsApp channels exclusively via the WhatsApp Business App. Your shared updates are publicly visible, people who do not follow your channel will only see the posts of the last 30 days. You can share pure text, links (incl. link preview), photos and videos. Keep in mind that your followers can save your shared content.

These are your options now for your WhatsApp Marketing

A well thought out marketing strategy is crucial if you want to fully exploit the potential of WhatsApp Marketing. In the preliminary consideration, think about how you can integrate WhatsApp into your marketing mix and familiarize yourself with the various formats and opportunities. If you primarily want to inform your community widely, you can use broadcasts or WhatsApp newsletter besides WhatsApp channels. Marketing via messengers like WhatsApp is not only an attractive opportunity for retailers to reach their readership and to inform.

WhatsApp broadcasts offer you a wide reach with restrictions

A broadcast allows you to send messages to many users at once and, unlike in channels, also engage in direct dialogue with them. Your messages end up in the direct messages of the users and not in the tab “Current”. This ensures high attention and enables an One-to-one interaction. However, a broadcast list is limited to a maximum of 256 recipients. With the help of recipient lists, you can send broadcasts to specific target groups, but you do not benefit from automations.

• Broadcasts can only be sent via the WhatsApp Business App and only to people who have also saved you as a contact.
• The dispatch of broadcasts is also free for companies.
• However, broadcasts are not GDPR-compliant.

WhatsApp newsletters provide professional scaling with GDPR conformity

The WhatsApp newsletter is a professional way to send messages to an unlimited number of recipients at once. The function is similar to the broadcasts, but offers more features and is the only way to operate WhatsApp marketing 100 % GDPR-compliant. If users have previously agreed via opt-in, you can also send them newsletters if they have not saved your company in their contact list. As with broadcasts, WhatsApp newsletters end up in the direct messages of the recipients. So here too, you benefit from high opening and clicking rates and can enter into direct exchange with individual followers.

• WhatsApp newsletters can only be sent exclusively via the WhatsApp Business API, not via the regular WhatsApp Business App.
• Using the WhatsApp interface also enables the connection of your CRM system or other tools. So you can personalize your newsletters better and set up professional campaigns.
• Compared to the free WhatsApp Business App and its features, the use of WhatsApp newsletters is only possible via the Business API and chargeable.
• About the WhatsApp Business API you can chatbot templates and other automation possibilities for your WhatsApp newsletters.

What works particularly well with WhatsApp newsletters, you can read in theNewsletter Report by Sinch Engage.

WhatsApp offers companies several ways to connect with their customers. Which one is right for you depends, among other things, on your marketing strategy and your budget. Graphic: Sinch Engage

GDPR-compliant WhatsApp marketing using tools

Also when marketing via WhatsApp, data protection regulations are particularly important. You can only guarantee compliance with the GDPR regulations if you use the WhatsApp Business API. If you use the WhatsApp Business App, you can indeed open WhatsApp channels and thus also benefit from this feature, but you must also pay particular attention to data protection regulations. So the API offers a safe alternative, especially if you use it through a Business Solution Provider (BSP). A provider that allows you to safely and effectively execute your WhatsApp marketing in this way is Sinch Engage. The software not only provides secure access to the WhatsApp Business API, but also the integration of chatbots and CRM systems and provides you with analysis tools and personalization options. This is how you canoperate GDPR-compliant WhatsApp Marketing and – unlike the pure use of WhatsApp channels for your marketing – benefit from comprehensive tracking and analysis possibilities.

WhatsApp Marketing Tools like Sinch Engage allow you to:

• always comply with WhatsApp guidelines
• a regular analysis and adjustment of your campaigns based on real-time data
• efficient use of an all-in-one platform for WhatsApp and other messenger apps via a central mailbox – so your team has everything in view
• broad application possibilities, e.g. for marketing, sales, customer service and HR
• an infinite scaling of your campaigns so that your WhatsApp Marketing can grow with your company
• the dispatch of planned newsletters
• AI support in text creation and the setup of chatbots

About WhatsApp, you can get in direct dialogue with your customers and therefore quickly and answer important questions easily. Photo: Sinch Engage

Conclusion

WhatsApp has long been a central marketing channel that gets new momentum with the introduction of WhatsApp channels. With over two billion users worldwide, the platform offers a good basis for direct customer communication and interactive marketing strategies. The new WhatsApp channels enable you to address customers exclusively and conduct effective push communication. Limited interaction possibilities and tracking, data protection concerns and the exclusive use via the WhatsApp Business App can be a disadvantage when choosing WhatsApp channels for your marketing. In addition, some users already seem to be annoyed by the new feature, as suggested by Google Trends –

Suitable alternatives can be – depending on marketing goals and general alignment of your company or your brand – WhatsApp marketing features such as broadcasts or newsletters. The latter can only be disseminated via the WhatsApp Business API, which, on the other hand, offers you more security regarding data protection law and significantly broader scaling possibilities, however, it also incurs costs.

Whether WhatsApp channels, broadcasts or newsletters: It is important that you think about your WhatsApp marketing strategy in advance and so find out which format is suitable for your plans. You are particularly professional, scalable and secure when you resort to business tools for your WhatsApp marketing. Software like Sinch Engage ensures data protection conformity and helps you to always keep an overview of your campaigns and target groups. This way you get the most out of your WhatsApp marketing measures and have an effective complement to your Omnichannel strategy.