WhatsApp marketing to take 15-20% of digital spends in 7 years: Here’s how brands can manage consumer fatigue

Experts anticipate that WhatsApp marketing to account for 15-20% of all digital marketing spends in the next 7 years but sending out messages on a private platform may lead to consumer fatigue, here’s how brands can manage it better

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Vishesh Sharma
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New Delhi: With 2 billion users and an estimated more than 1 billion users who connect with a business account across WhatsApp every week, WhatsApp is emerging as the new battleground for businesses.

Kantar’s research says that 66% of respondents said they’re more likely to buy from a brand they can connect with over messaging.

Additionally, experts anticipate that “Approximately 7-10% of digital marketing expenditures are currently allocated to Whatsapp marketing; however, this percentage is estimated to rise to anywhere between 15% and 20% over the 7 years as more and more brands will learn to appreciate the platform.”

Moreover, Bain & Company says conversational commerce on WhatsApp can help elevate the purchase intent by approximately 20%.

Despite these benefits, the issue that pops up here is fatigue. If more businesses start communicating with brands on WhatsApp, a customer’s inbox will soon look like their mailbox—full of deals and offers.

Sharing his thoughts on managing this situation, Delphin Varghese, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer of AdCounty Media said, “Branding on WhatsApp risks consumer fatigue but it can be minimised by using reasonable approaches. Brands can categorise their target audience and tailor messages to specific groups. 

It is wise to send messages at times when people are more active, preferably, during the day and not too often. In addition, campaigns can become more appealing by using engaging content that allows audience participation, such as polls and quizzes, or even incorporating multimedia.”

While Varghese highlighted the importance of categorising your target audience, Rooshabh Doshi, Co-founder of Nuance Consultancy threw light on achieving it. 

“If someone has shown interest in a collection, target them again by pushing that collection to previous buyers or related categories. For example, if someone bought tops, they might need bottoms. Send messages about bottoms to those who bought tops. Segment based on average order value to understand user preferences.

Also, segments based on location, especially for restaurants, send messages only to people in that city. Avoid sending WhatsApp messages to inactive users, as they are not a warm audience. Segment based on regular buyers or one-time buyers to target the right audience with relevant messages, improving engagement and reducing fatigue,” Doshi said.

When it comes to WhatsApp marketing, “timing is king.” Imagine a car brand reaching out to you thrice a week when you plan to upgrade your car in the next few years.

To avoid such mistakes, brands need to determine the optimal frequency and timing for sending WhatsApp messages.

How can brands do that? Doshi has some advice.

“To minimise the frequency of WhatsApp messages, we aim to send them only once every 15 days. This frequency may vary during sales or festive seasons, increasing to once every 10 days. However, even with segmentation, it's best to limit broadcasts to once every 15 days to avoid being intrusive and annoying, which can lead to users blocking the messages. 

We've noticed that increasing the frequency results in more people blocking us, so maintaining a lower frequency is highly recommended,” Doshi noted.

That said, brands also need to give users the option to opt out of certain campaigns as it gives them more control over the messaging they receive.

Elaborating on this argument, Doshi said, “One of the things we do is provide easy opt-out options. At the end of each broadcast, we include a simple message like "Reply STOP to opt out" or reply ‘UPDATE’ to change your preferences. We implement automatic keyword triggers, so responses like "stop,’ or ‘pause,’ are instantly processed. 

Furthermore, once people opt out, we don't re-engage them. This is important because repeatedly contacting customers who have opted out can irritate them and negatively impact their perception of your brand.”

Do’s and don’ts

The do’s and don’ts of the game are simple and Kumaar from NP Digital summed them up perfectly by saying, “To enhance relevance, personalise messages based on customer behaviour and preferences. Maintain a balanced frequency to avoid overwhelming customers. Use rich media like images and videos to make messages more engaging. Respond promptly to customer queries to build trust and satisfaction.

Avoid sending frequent, irrelevant, or overly promotional messages. Never use WhatsApp for unsolicited marketing. Do not overlook customer feedback or complaints.”

A challenging opportunity

While the challenge of fatiguing the customer is real, brands should not shy away from WhatsApp.

Because “WhatsApp messages have an average open rate of 98%, compared to email open rates, which hover around 20-30%, also WhatsApp messages have an average engagement rate of 40-50% with conversion rates hanging around⁠ 10-15%, outperforming traditional marketing channels,” said Ankit Grover, Business Head & Lead Integrations at Wondrlab Network.

While a long list of brands from sectors such as e-commerce, banking, finance, insurance, and travel are the top users of WhatsApp marketing using the platform to share personalised offers, and updates, and provide customer support, Prady Kumaar, CEO and Co-Founder of NP Digital India advised companies in highly regulated industries or with privacy-sensitive customers to be careful with WhatsApp marketing to avoid losing trust.

What does GenAI bring to the table?

Brands today are using GenAI and enabling quick and efficient creation of personalised message templates using simple prompts.

Speaking of what the impact of GenAI will be on WhatsApp marketing, Delphin Varghese, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer of AdCounty Media said, “Gen AI is a game changer for WhatsApp marketing, helping brands to deliver highly adaptive customer experiences. AI-powered message templates can be created in seconds and guarantee contextually relevant communication based on users’ preferences and behavioural data. 

AI-powered chatbots allow accessibility to customer service 24/7, which helps manage inquiries and assists in purchasing decisions using interactive and engaging conversations. Innovative messages that dynamically evolve based on user responses in real-time are now revolutionary for brands that want to increase user engagement while enhancing the user experience.”

Moreover, Grover also mentioned that GenAI-generated messages are often of higher quality, with better grammar, syntax, and tone.

What the future holds for WhatsApp marketing?

While WhatsApp seems to be an area of interest for brands such as Amazon, Nykaa, and HDFC Bank the question of the hour is whether WhatsApp will remain an attractive advertising channel for brands in the future as well or come up just as another channel in the media mix.

Answering the question, Varghese said, “WhatsApp marketing will continue to advance towards conversational commerce in which the bots seamlessly combine interactions with transactions. Such integrations include an Artificial Intelligence Neural Processing Unit (a specialised hardware component designed to accelerate AI computations, particularly for tasks involving neural networks and deep learning. , payment gateways, and voice messaging). 

Currently, WhatsApp is slowly evolving into a powerful customer engagement tool. Approximately 7-10% of digital marketing expenditures are currently allocated to Whatsapp marketing; however, this percentage is estimated to rise to anywhere between 15 and 20 over the 7 years to 2027 as more and more brands will learn to appreciate the platform. Focusing on personalization, permission, and innovative approaches will lead them to effectively use WhatsApp as a marketing device.”

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