BFCM WhatsApp strategy [PART 1/3]: HOW TO PLAN

As part of our BFCM WhatsApp strategy series, let's look at how you should get ready for this critical time of year for marketers when you run cross-channel campaigns including WhatsApp.

The WhatsApp strategy we advise customers to adopt for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) consists of three steps:

1. Plan: lay the right foundations for future WhatsApp success
2. Convert: make sales with your Black Friday campaigns
3. Retain: keep reengaging customers long after Black Friday is over

Here we look at step number 1: HOW TO PLAN.

Introduction

When kicking off a WhatsApp channel for Black Friday, the groundwork you do now will set you up for future success – and the earlier you start, the better.

Brands are starting their BFCM promotions earlier and earlier to avoid competition, high ad costs and the need for heavy discounting.

Many use events like Singles Day and even Halloween to get ahead and test campaigns.

For example, our customer BRAINEFFECT successfully turned Black Friday into Black Month using WhatsApp to ease the marketing load on customers and extend the revenue period.

Key steps 

These are the three areas of focus we suggest to prepare the right foundations for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) in WhatsApp:

1. Set goals and messaging

By setting clear goals and messaging, you'll ensure all your efforts are focused on the same business outcomes, and your teams are clear on what's expected from their campaigns. It's likely these will correspond to your overall goals across all your marketing channels.

Goals

Here are some typical goals our customers set during BFCM for their WhatsApp channel:

• Expand their WhatsApp subscriber list: Use BFCM as an opportunity to capture more leads for future marketing, offering exclusive deals or early access in exchange for sign-ups. This helps maximize sales volume as well, by driving a significant increase in purchases with special deals, discounts and promotions.
• Boost average order value (AOV): Encourage customers to spend more per transaction through upselling, cross-selling and bundling products.
• Capitalize on cross-channel integration: Strengthen omnichannel presence by ensuring consistent messaging and a seamless shopping experience across all customer touchpoints, whether online, in-store or through mobile apps.

Brands can also combine their goals during BFCM. These three goals are what our customers typically work on together:

• Maximizing sales volume
• Boosting AOV
• Combining online-offline shopping experiences

Note: Full campaign messages are shown only for visualization purposes. With a recent WhatsApp update, messages longer than 5 lines will be truncated.

messaging

Your messaging will depend on your industry and your customers.

Here are common ones chosen by the brands using charles that are focused on encouraging purchases via exclusive, time-bound and WhatsApp-only perks:

• Pre-access: Offer early access to select customers, such as VIP members and WhatsApp subscribers to create a sense of exclusivity, encouraging immediate engagement.
• Exclusive discounts: Provide special WhatsApp-only discounts to help customers feel valued and incentivize them to shop directly through this channel, increasing conversions and brand loyalty.
• Extra perk: Add additional perks – like free gifts, extended returns and bonus loyalty points for purchases made via WhatsApp – to enhance the overall shopping experience and motivate customers to take advantage of offers.

2. Accelerate subscriber collection

In the months before Black Friday, use all possible opt-in channels to gain subscribers using basic sign-up rewards like 10% off.

Here's how to convert your four main traffic sources:

And warm up existing subscribers

Don’t forget your existing subscribers. They’re already open to your brand and offers. Warm up your existing audience through content, creatives and incentives:

• Let your existing WhatsApp subscriber base know about the upcoming deals
• Ideally communicate the discount they can expect
• Give them an extra incentive like a free gift or additional 10% off when they sign up for BFCM deals via WhatsApp
• Define your WhatsApp segment, especially if you have a large audience base: use segments like “90 days active” to drive conversion rates

Create campaigns for your WhatsApp subscribers that have recently interacted with your communications – using segmentation capabilities within your WhatsApp platform

3. Set up your tech stack

Your tech setup matters. Make sure your platform is ready to send, analyze and automate WhatsApp campaigns:

Onboard with a WhatsApp platform

Medium to large businesses often use a WhatsApp Business Solution Partner to access the WhatsApp Business API. Alternatives are to develop in-house software or use a Tech Partner or Tech Provider (see the difference here).

Solution Partners provide the necessary infrastructure to handle high message volumes and assist with compliance towards WhatsApp's security and data privacy standards like GDPR.

They also have close contact to Meta, as only Meta can give a provider the Solution Partner status. Your Solution Partner should have strong business acumen and deep expertise in WhatsApp marketing to help you develop, execute and optimize your messaging strategy.

Look for this logo when choosing a WhatsApp partner

Integrate with existing platforms

Through integrations with CDP/CRM systems like Emarsys and Klaviyo, businesses can use valuable customer data like purchase history to send targeted WhatsApp campaigns and make use of automations like abandoned cart and win-back flows.

Integrations with customer service tools like Zendesk and Gorgias allow businesses' customer service teams to manage interactions within a single interface, streamlining workflows, and reducing response times and effort by avoiding multiple interfaces for handling customer requests.

This can be helpful during BFCM campaign sendout when some customers may reply and expect a fast, personal response from your brand.

Get set up to track and test

Prepare to monitor and analyze key metrics like conversion rates, open rates, click-through rates, revenue per recipient (RPR) and more.

Ensure your software platform provides robust analytics to track performance. Use the period before Black Friday to test campaigns with your customers, fine-tune your messages, and optimize your processes for maximum impact.

See more on WhatsApp KPIs.

Your analytics dashboard should report on key WhatsApp and marketing KPIs

Brand example: ABOUT YOU

Our customer ABOUT YOU shared their expertise about how to plan for Black Week on WhatsApp. Take a look at their advice here:

Read on

See the other parts of our 3-part strategy for BFCM in WhatsApp:

Download the full WhatsApp BFCM playbook for a shareable, printable guide to our 3-step strategy:

Talk to charles

Partner with charles to find out how WhatsApp can add value to your Black Friday efforts. We're an approved WhatsApp Business Solution Partner and specialize in WhatsApp marketing within the European consumer landscape.

Talk to charles to find out how to get started and learn how to use this opportunity to build your WhatsApp audience – and retain them long-term.