Whatsapp Marketing Strategy for Festive Season (By Expert)

Want to use WhatsApp Business API for diwali and the festive season sale promotions? Here's a plan for you.

The festive season is right around the corner and Diwali is that one time that each one of us is trying to grab the best deals and discounts on electronics, decor, jewelry, clothes and more, to mark the beginning of a new year.  

Statistics have found that around 1.2 lakh crore worth of sales were made online during the Diwali season last year. Considering the rapid increase in online purchases, this year is definitely slated to have more!

This also means that there is going to be a lot more competition for online businesses when it comes to grabbing consumer attention. And that’s exactly where WhatsApp comes into the mix!

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about using WhatsApp for Diwali and the festive season to get more sales.

Why Do You Need to Have a Diwali WhatsApp Strategy?

If you think about it, the festive period is when practically every business launches new products, collections and deals/ discounts. It’s the one time when the competition to even entice buyers with offers becomes challenging owing to the noise on common channels like social media platforms and emails.

That’s where WhatsApp comes into the marketing stack of leading online brands.

According to statistics, around 1.5 crore Indian businesses use WhatsApp Business to promote their business and reach out to customers. If statistics are to be believed, these companies also saw a 1.5 lakh crore in revenue with 23% YoY sales growth in 2021 using WhatsApp as a marketing channel - which as compared to other channels and platforms, highlights vast opportunity.

To put things into perspective, a few other numbers we noticed after running thousands of WhatsApp broadcast campaigns for DTC brands include:

• An average of 98% open rate
• A click through rate of 45% and higher
• Messages get opened and read in less than 2 minutes
• 37% higher response rate as compared to other channels

But the above results are only possible when you get started with the WhatsApp Business API with a strategy in hand.

Having the right WhatsApp marketing strategy in place, you can not only build strong relationships or boost your sales, but also reap some added benefits from the messaging platform:

• You don't need to keep aside a lot of marketing budget: WhatsApp is highly affordable. It only costs a minimal amount which is nothing compared to the ROI you'll get from this marketing channel - especially when you compare to the increasing CAC on other channels like social media.
  
• Quickly provide excellent customer support: Using WhatsApp as your marketing channel gives you enough flexibility to empower your customer support (24x7 customer support with chatbot integration, live human chat support) with WhatsApp Business API platforms such as QuickReply.ai.
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• Get increased conversion rate up to 7x: By reaching out to customers with the latest offers and personalized messages, WhatsApp can help your business to increase your conversion rate by up to 112%.

To help you put things in place and get the most out of what the WhatsApp Business API and conversational commerce has to offer, we have your Diwali and festive marketing plan in place.

How to use WhatsApp before, during, and after Diwali to get more sales?

In the following sections, we’re sharing some campaign ideas you can make use of - getting started earlier so as to build excitement amongst your consumers and keep them hooked to your festive offers.

WhatsApp Use Cases Before Diwali

1. To announce your latest offers and sales

Diwali season is India's most significant sale period, which is an ideal time to start your sale announcements in advance – around a month or so before. To make upcoming sales announcements, WhatsApp is one of the best channels to widen your reach to a large demographic.

Making any announcements of upcoming offers and discounts is very easy. It will help customers to keep up-to-date with the latest offers, which they can check out on your website anytime.  

2. Provide a glimpse of the discounts you'll offer

Every eCommerce brand – big or small is going to hold a Diwali sale. All the brands will do their best to offer something unique. What are you going to do in this massive surge of offers and discounts to attract your customer's attention?

Give glimpses of your offers, product deals, and discounts to draw more attention. Tell your customers what they can expect in the upcoming Diwali sale. Though, don't open your cards all at once. Put them in front one at a time to create excitement for the new deal.

Some of the things to plan are:

• Make Diwali sales plan ahead of time and send teasers
• Build teasers for your marketing campaign
• Start sending teasers early
• Give a glimpse of a few of your discounts

Example:

3. Invite pre-orders on items

Organizing pre-order campaigns can help you to build excitement in many ways:

• It allows you to secure more sales
• Enhances customer experience
• It helps plan your inventory in advance
• Attract more customer
• Gauge the demand for products

Many customers look forward to the Diwali sale to buy things on their wishlists. Creating a pre-order sale campaign on WhatsApp helps you to build more demand for your products.

Depending upon the number of shoppers that show interest in your product or pre-order, you can have a good idea of its demand. This can help you to plan things and manage your inventory better.

Pro tip: With the help of QuickReply.ai, you can also send WhatsApp checkout links. This helps consumers complete the purchase on the messaging platform itself, helping you secure and get paid for orders much faster.

4. Share Diwali return/exchange policies

Diwali sale time is often busy, with lots of things to work on simultaneously, which usually increases the chances of missing out on essential items. In advance, wouldn't it be better to inform your customers about the return, exchange, and refund policy? This will help your customers to shop worry-free.

5. Send reminders to create excitement for the Diwali sale

Diwali sale is also a time of intense competition. You need to promote your offers more than any other day to stand out from the crowd. If you want your customers to remember you, you must send multiple reminders to create excitement for the sale day using smart automations with the WhatsApp Business API.

Pro tip: Make the most of interactive messages like quick reply buttons and list messages to make it simpler for recipients to respond to your campaigns.  

WhatsApp Use Cases During Diwali

1. Share announcements of ongoing deals and discounts

To keep building excitement during Diwali, you also need to send sale announcements when the sale is live. If you don't keep reminding your customers, they can easily forget about your deal.

Example:  

Hi Sarah,

The Diwali sale is now live.
Here's your first coupon to get 30% off all major deals.

SARAH30
Happy shopping!

2. Send a reminder about products that are going to stick out soon

During the Diwali sale, customers would look on many different sites to get the best deals. It's your duty to remind them that your products will stock out soon, and if they don't hurry up, they can miss out on an important deal.

To convey your message through WhatsApp broadcasts, you can:

• Share the product's image
• Create urgency by informing your customers only two items are left in stock
• Offer an extra discount
• Encourage them to check out the product‍‍

3. Provide excellent customer support

Another thing that customers want from business owners is to get their problems solved. They might have questions about shipping, exchange, size, or product quality, and it's your job to help them out.

To make things easier, you can set up commonly asked FAQs, which will save time, and you can focus on solving more complex things with the help of a WhatsApp Business API solution provider like QuickReply.ai.

Different WhatsApp Business API solutions, such as QuickReply.ai, have a solid inbox dashboard to help manage your other support queries. Also, set up various automation to answer incoming questions more efficiently. Learn more about it here.

4. Cart recovery messages

Around 69% of carts are abandoned for various reasons. And during the Diwali or festive season, it goes up by at least 5%. It is common for customers to leave their carts without checking them out in the hope to get better deals.  

Some of the common reasons for cart abandonment during Diwali sales are:

• High shipping prices
• Price comparisons with other brands
• Better deals with other competitors
• Not enough payment options

Below are some of the kinds of card abandonment messages, you can send out to your customers:

• Create urgency by letting them know that the product will stick out soon
• Offering more discounts and deals
• Give support if they are facing any issues

5. Transaction alerts and updates

Customers end up buying lots of things during the Diwali season. Though you're sending them information through push notifications and email, it's also good to send them updates and alerts on WhatsApp.

Sending out purchase updates and confirmations on WhatsApp will help them to continue shopping without checking their emails again and again.

Example:

Hi Sarah,

Your Order no. 3324 is just confirmed. Look forward to updates about shipping in the following message.

Got a question? Ask us.

6. Send shipping alerts

As soon as your customer places an order, you should send them a shipping update within the next few minutes. This reduces their anxiety and they can focus on doing more shopping. Giving them shipping updates through WhatsApp will help them keep all the information in one place and check on the details whenever they like.

Some of the shipping alerts you can send to your customers are:

• Tracking number with a link
• Order picked up by the shipper
• Order shipped
• Out for delivery
• Order delivered

Example:

Hi Sarah,

Your order no 3432 has been shipped. It will be delivered to you within 3-5 days. Please share the code XYZ on delivery with our partner.

Track your shipment here.

7. Share product recommendations

Sending out product recommendations of similar purchased or checked items is a great way to increase sales. Based on your previously collected data, such as interests and likes, you can share recommendations during the entire Diwali/ festive season sale.

• Send out personalized product recommendations
• Share relevant product recommendations
• Up-sell or cross-sell products based on their order history

Example:

Hi Sarah,

We hope you liked the sharara set you bought from us. How about getting this set of beautiful bangles to complete the look?

Check them out!

WhatsApp Use Cases After Diwali

1. Request product reviews/feedback

Since the customer has completed the purchase, it's time to ask for product reviews—a perfect opportunity to get positive reviews, gathering social proof to convert other store visitors and at the same time, keep existing customers engaged.

Pro tip: Use quick reply buttons to first gather information on whether a customer is happy with the purchase or not before asking them to submit a review on the website. This will help you identify unhappy customers and keep negative reviews to a minimum.

2. Share remaining products from the sale  

Even though you are running the best of offers, it’s common to not be able to sell out your entire festive sale inventory. But you can always try to promote the leftover items once the sale is over. Share different incentives like discounts, free items, and fast delivery to attract more customers - you’ll be surprised how many customers have items left from their wishlist, waiting to bag them at throwaway prices!

Example:

Hi Sarah,

A last post-Diwali sale is going on with an extra 25% off. Grab your favorite items and get super-fast delivery.

Checkout products

3. Send sale extension announcement

Many eCommerce businesses extend their Diwali sale by a day or two. They do it to attract more customers and sell out the remaining products. It's also beneficial for customers to buy the items at better deals.

4. Run surveys to understand your customer needs

There will be many new customers, who will try out your products for the first time. This is where you should develop and nurture a strong relationship with them.

Send your surveys through WhatsApp broadcasts. Ask them a variety of questions about their likes and interests to know them better.

Example:

Hi Sarah,

Since you're a part of our family, we would like to know you better by offering personalized experiences.

Complete this survey to make our relationship stronger.

Fill out this 30-second survey and get a special gift just for you!

Take Survey

Pro tip: With QuickReply.ai, you can actually set up a series of messages to make participating in the survey more conversational and convenient for your customers. Remember, the easier it is, the higher the participation rate.

Get Started with WhatsApp Marketing For The Festive Season!  

Setting up different types of campaigns and automations on WhatsApp requires using WhatsApp Business API. But more importantly, it needs your business to get started with the campaigns early.

This is where using a WhatsApp Business API solution provider like QuickReply.ai comes into play.

With pre-built ecommerce chatbot workflows and an extensive library of WhatsApp templates, QuickReply.ai makes it easy for businesses to get started with using WhatsApp for marketing, support and sales.

Learn More:- https://www.sendinblue.com/blog/benefits-whatsapp-business/‍

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