You may have a large number of subscribers, but how easy is it to keep them engaged? Hey Marly found out it's much easier on WhatsApp than email.
Challenge: low email engagement
Hey Marly has a large subscriber base, but was finding it hard to reach and engage with them.
Getting high email open rates in email had become increasingly difficult, as was creating active and engaging relationships with retention potential. Hey Marly wanted to explore if WhatsApp could be the answer.
Goal: get closer to customers
In the long term, Hey Marly's goal was for charles to account for 7-10% of its total online turnover and establish itself as a strong sales channel in the mix.
But first it wanted to test WhatsApp for its business. It wanted to see if WhatsApp could beat its current email KPIs and be a profitable new marketing channel.
charles enabled Hey Marly to test the value of WhatsApp quickly in the short term: through thank you page opt-ins and marketing campaigns.
The aim for the WhatsApp marketing campaigns was for customers to feel as if they're receiving great deals from a friend.
Result: more revenue and engagement
WhatsApp proved itself as a strong channel, beating Hey Marly's email KPIs. Conversion rates through WhatsApp were 4x better than email.
WhatsApp is now included in Hey Marly's marketing plan as a strategic pillar, with regular campaigns planned.
How Hey Marly uses WhatsApp
1. Incentivizes customers into WhatsApp
The first step was to encourage customers to sign up to WhatsApp on the thank you page after a purchase.
Hey Marly makes sure to make the value of WhatsApp clear here – offering customers tracking links and order updates, and highlighting the fact they don’t have to search through emails anymore.
2. Keeps building audience
It steadily collects opt-ins through the thank you page.
This page was activated during a period of expected high traffic (mid-season sale).
3. Sends marketing campaigns
Hey Marly then sent a WhatsApp campaign to these thank you page opt-ins.
Hey Marly worded this send-out for maximum response – using “biggest ever sale” and creating a sense of urgency by saying products are only available “as long as we have stock.”
What's next?
1. Scale audience and build a community
2. Grow WhatsApp channel further by exploring different use cases
3. Improve post-purchase experience
After seeing the power of WhatsApp marketing, Hey Marly has made WhatsApp a key pillar for driving sales and business revenue.
Its next goal is to further rollout the charles solution towards a commerce-driven solution – with marketing, service and sales, all in chat.
