Have you ever heard of messenger marketing, but do not know exactly how to implement this trend in online marketing for your business? No problem! I’ll show you great best practice examples of WhatsApp newsletters. Get inspired.
Where Do I Start?
Of course, before you can even send out your first WhatsApp newsletter, there is still a lot to do. I have summarized the most important points for you:
Responsible
If your company wants to start with WhatsApp Marketing, you should first think about who is responsible for this marketing channel. His tasks include creating the newsletter and looking after the community.
Tool:
In addition to a person responsible you need – as with e-mail marketing – a suitable (DSGVO-compliant) tool. For example, in sociocracy, I use messenger people.
Strategy:
You have clarified the first two points and now want to get to the keys? Stop, stop. One little thing is missing. First, think about what you want to achieve with your WhatsApp newsletter and develop a suitable strategy. Buyer Personas, competitor analysis, or the best practice examples, which I’ll show you later, will help you. Also, check out your website (and social media): Do you want to bet on products or content? And what content already exists?
By the way:
Are you wondering all the time, why I only talk about WhatsApp? Of course, messenger marketing is much more, but user numbers 01/2019 show that WhatsApp is the most popular messenger service in America. WhatsApp is perfect for launching a messenger service.
WhatsApp Newsletters are not Suitable for My Industry
No matter whether you come from the B2B sector, work for a public agency or want to promote an online shop in the B2C sector: Messenger can be used in a variety of ways. I’ll show you how to do that using these examples for WhatsApp.
1st Deal, Deal, Deal (Products)
Ads can be expensive, so why not use WhatsApp as an (additional) cheap advertising channel? So you can address your target group directly and promote your products. I think the WhatsApp newsletter from Thalia is especially well done:
Thalia manages to pack the products charmingly. Because the users get interesting content such as a reference to the in-the-bathtub reading tag (yes, there is really!) Combined with a targeted call-to-action. As another format, the bookstore uses “Wednesday is reading day” with reading recommendations from various genres.
Are you still not sure if you want to read the book? There is also the matching WhatsApp newsletter for this. Regularly you can get free reading samples from Thalia. This works via a simple chatbot. As soon as the user has sent “#leseprobe” via WhatsApp, he can already open the pages.
Thalia combines products with content and perfectly meets the needs of the target group. For who does not enjoy a free reading or a reason to finally relax with a book in the bathtub? And best of all, not every WhatsApp newsletter contains a CTA. For example, the words that complimented me just made me smile and are one of many reasons why I always like to read Thalia’s WhatsApp newsletter.
2nd Mh, yum! (Inspiration)
Do you sometimes ask yourself: What am I cooking today? How convenient, if at this moment a WhatsApp newsletter with recipe ideas appears on your smartphone – ideally, of course, with matching images, so you really mouth-watering.
Among others, the organic supermarket chain Alnatura, the recipe magazine Lecker or the kitchen appliance manufacturer Springlane have perfected this:
The examples of WhatsApp newsletter with recipes score among other things with a personal writing style. At Alnatura, for example, I get delicious recipes from Franzi and Alex and at Springlane Meike provides me with delicious cooking ideas.
To ensure that the recipes always meet my taste, I can also choose at the beginning of the subscription, for what I am interested in. Do I like to bake or do I like vegetarian dishes? No problem, in the categories I can specify which WhatsApp newsletter I would like to receive.
Even with recipes, it makes sense to work with chatbots. For example, this is what made this Valentine’s Day treat this year. After I sent the hashtag (#valentday), I automatically received Valentine’s Day recipes.
And finally, of course, the most important tip, if you want to send recipes: images are the alpha and omega in such WhatsApp newsletters – the eye finally eats with.
By the way: Inspiration topics are not just in the food sector. For example, does a WhatsApp newsletter with furnishing ideas come into question for your company? Maybe your company already has a magazine whose contents you can use for WhatsApp.
2. Always Up-to-Date (News)
If your company relies on news, you should take a look at these examples of WhatsApp newsletters. Because there are different ways to send news:
NEON picks up on the current topics of the day. The special thing about it? In the evening you always get a short podcast. Because yes, you can also send voice messages via WhatsApp. So you stand out from the competition and opens up a new target group: namely, the one who likes to listen.
Mostly you get news as text including a link to the article. Here you can think about what is best for your company in question. For example, t3n produces enough content to send multiple articles in a message twice a day. This is basically what kino.de does. From time to time the news is worth a message as well – as here at the big announcement of the Ice King II trailer.
Important is the frequency when sending the news. If you send messages too often, your users may quickly be tempted to log out again. However, if your news when sending the WhatsApp message is outdated, the newsletter is just as uninteresting for your user.
A general tip: especially if you share many articles or information, a good text structure is worth gold. For example, you can grease by placing text between * asterisks *. Arrows and other symbols help you to organize your WhatsApp newsletter.
4. That Goes Off (Events)
Are you working in the trade fair organization, at a concert organizer or in another event area? Then you should definitely start with WhatsApp Marketing because you have many different options.
Of course, recipes and Co. are also content, but in this case, I mean more or less timeless pieces of content such as guidebook texts. For example, the Versicherungskammer Bayern uses this for itself and sends content such as the magazine “flügge” via WhatsApp.
For the creation of guidebook texts and other articles, you do not have time? We are happy to assist you with content marketing and write the lyrics for you. So you can start soon with your WhatsApp newsletter.
“And what about customer service?”
I’ve already touched on the examples of WhatsApp newsletters: customer service. WhatsApp is an easy and convenient way for many users to get in touch with your company. Therefore, you should be prepared for questions from your customers when you start with a WhatsApp newsletter.
Many companies are already actively using WhatsApp’s customer service capabilities. One example is Brille24, who even advertise on their customer service page with WhatsApp as a communication channel:
Conclusion: Your WhatsApp newsletter is not just a one-way communication tool, but you should enter into dialogue with your users. For simple questions and concerns, chatbots will help you further.
“Are there any basic tips?”
Of course, I also have a few basic tips for your WhatsApp newsletter that you can use regardless of the format you choose.
Here You Can Find all the Tips at a Glance:
Personality
I like WhatsApp newsletters that make me feel like personally communicating with my counterpart. The best way to get to know yourself in the welcome message with your users.
Frequency:
Sometimes less is more, so your subscribers are not annoyed. Maybe you can combine several contents in one message?
Categories: Set categories so that your users get targeted content that they really care about and become loyal readers of your WhatsApp newsletter.
Text Structure:
Greases, bullet points, and emojis help you to make your WhatsApp newsletter clearer.
Chatbots:
With Chatbots you can not only offer fast customer service but also provide content to your users.
Here we go!
As you’ve seen from my WhatsApp newsletter examples, you can make Messenger Marketing very different for your business. It’s best to think in advance about what you want to achieve with the WhatsApp newsletter. Current offers, for example, make sense if you focus on conversions for an online store. Or do you want to inspire your customers with inspirations, for example, living ideas or recipes? Everything is possible.