7 hacks for successful content marketing on WhatsApp

Messenger communication is more popular than ever. Messaging apps like WhatsApp are now the leading channels for content marketing, with KPIs that leave e-mail marketing and traditional ad formats in the dust. But how exactly can you use messaging apps for great content marketing? We show you seven hacks for successful content marketing on WhatsApp!

"Content is king" has almost become a platitude for digital marketing, but it's still true! Consumers are tired of receiving the typical calls to action such as, "Buy this!", or "Get that deal!", but are looking for more engaging ways to directly interact with brands. 

Depending on the marketing channel you use, this might look different. E-mail marketing has its own rules, so does social media marketing, and messenger apps work yet again differently. 

Content marketing on WhatsApp: Questions you need to answer first. 

Establishing the right content strategy for your WhatsApp communication is crucial to your success. Businesses should ask themselves the following questions while deciding on a concept:

1. Who am I creating my WhatsApp content for, and what do I want to achieve?
2. How can I create value for the customer? What content can be communicated exclusively on instant messaging apps, making it even more relevant for my target groups?
3. What kind of content is particularly suited for WhatsApp? What information needs to be received immediately and directly, what kind of content is viral or shareable, and what is best suited for messaging app usage?

Based on an internal analysis of our customers' data, we have put together seven hacks to improve your content marketing on WhatsApp. 

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7 hacks for successful WhatsApp content marketing

Our analysis shows that a majority of customers (78%) are interested in receiving WhatsApp content, especially exclusive deals or new product updates, but also interesting news content. Sending out bulk messages or broadcasts on WhatsApp is therefore no longer perceived as spam (especially because now users actively opt in to receive these notifications). 

So, how can you get the most out of your WhatsApp content marketing? 

1. WhatsApp content marketing: It's all about timing

The number one content marketing hack is, naturally, all about timing. Think carefully about when you want to send your messages! The best timing also depends on your industry and target group.

We've seen good results in click and opening rates for media newsletters from Monday through Friday, and in the morning between 7 and 10 AM. For B2C brands, on the other hand, sending out after 5 PM is usually the best option (when customers have time to sit down and look at the deals), and in the B2B sector messages during working hours receive the best open and click-through rates. 

2. Spam or not: Customer acceptance depends on how often you message them!

How many messages should companies send daily? You need to find the sweet spot between sending too many messages, or too few, and that depends in large part on the industry. Media companies send three to five messages daily, on average, B2C brands send content in about five to ten messages weekly, and B2B companies usually send WhatsApp updates about  three to seven weekly.

📣 Check out some successful WhatsApp broadcast examples from India!

3. Pick the best day to distribute your WhatsApp content

In addition to frequency, the day of the week is also important. For news, it's great to start the week off with a news report on Monday. Thursday is a great day for tips, and Saturday is a good day for deals or specials, to encourage weekend shopping.

4. Know your customers, know the right tone!

Some of our most-frequently asked questions are about the tone on messaging apps. Should businesses stay formal, like in e-mails?

From our experience: 95% of companies keep an informal, friendly tone, and even use emojis. The two most-used emojis are 👍 and 😀, and about three to five per message have the best effect. Customers actually prefer it when companies use emojis, and it's part of the classic way of chatting on WhatsApp. 

5. Take advantage of multimedia! How about a Podcast?

What types of media can you actually use for WhatsApp content marketing? Messaging apps typically support almost all types of multimedia. You can send photos, animated GIFs, videos, or audio files. Right now, podcasts are especially popular. We recommend shorter clips that are somewhere around 15 minutes.

6. Social post or newsletter: Choose a format, then choose suitable content!

For the content format you can essentially choose between two main types: the social post style, and the newsletter style. The first is, as you can guess, created essentially like a post on social media: there's a bit less content with one central topic, and you usually include a visual (photo or GIF), a short text, and a link. The newsletter format offers more content, and usually has a variety of topics, each with their own link.

7. Text length: keep it short and sweet.

Finally, let's talk about message length. We can characterize three different types of WhatsApp content: messages with a focus on marketing, messages with a focus on sales, and PR focused messages. Marketing content is usually fairly short, with a maximum of 15 words. Sales messages are even shorter, with around eight words and a product description.

In PR, you should make to include all important information, but still keep the message not too long!

WhatsApp content marketing: Keep testing and optimizing

There's not one single way of being successful with WhatsApp content marketing that'll work for all brands and purposes. That's why it's important to measure and analyze your results. Maybe your customers do prefer messages for the best deals on Tuesdays and not on Fridays, and maybe audio content gets better click rates than video content. 

It's even possible that WhatsApp is not your target audience's preferred messaging app, and you have better results on Telegram or Facebook Messenger. Test and optimize! 

We recommend A-B tests where you always exchange one variable (for instance the day you send out your content), and then compare what works better. That'll help you to get the best results for your content marketing on messaging apps. 

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