WhatsApp: the new generation marketing tool
WhatsApp Messenger is a proprietary, cross-platform instant messaging subscription service for smartphones. In addition to text messaging, users can send each other pictures, videos, and audio multimedia messages. Client software is available for Android, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, iOS, Series 40, Symbian (S60), and Windows Phone
Competing with various Asian messaging services (such as LINE, KakaoTalk and WeChat), WhatsApp handles ten billion messages per day. According to the Financial Times, WhatsApp “has done for SMS on mobile phones what Skype did for international calls on landlines. The service is free for the first year and then costs $0.99/year.
Everyone knows that WhatsApp is a great tool to send messages to friends; however, what you didn’t know is that WhatsApp can be used as a campaign tool to generate marketing opportunities. The app is free and can serve as a strong marketing channel with the potential to get customers for your business more than anything else.
Why choose WhatsApp for your marketing campaign?
The app is almost free!
You can send a large number of messages without limits. It is available for all smartphone platforms including iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Nokia, Blackberry, Symbian. Everyone uses it because you don’t have to go to a website to fill in the details or confirm your identity to use it. All you need is your mobile number and you’re done!
Better features than traditional SMS/MMS
WhatsApp supports many different types of messages, from simple text to images and audio files. Sending an MMS message would usually cost quite a bit of money, so the fact that you can send them to as many customers and prospects as you like for free is great.
You can also send GPS location from your stores! Product videos, product images, and audio messages (a short personal message from your CEO could be sent to multiple clients and prospects in one go!) this wonderful app supports it all. You can start your own WhatsApp group and invite your customers and prospects to join, or you can create an internal marketing group that will help you stay connected with your fellow campaigners 24/7.
Therefore, WhatsApp as a campaign tool can do everything that a traditional email or SMS campaign could do. To top it off, Whatsapp is close to our heart, people can’t take their hands off their phone because of this app. Hence, any message communicated through this medium has the maximum and immediate diffusion.