WhatsApp Click to Chat: 4 practical applications
WhatsApp Click to Chat gives leads, followers, and customers the option to start a WhatsApp conversation without the company having stored your WhatsApp number. With 11.5 million WhatsApp users in the Netherlands, Click to Chat is a great method to utilize and benefit from the huge potential of the chat app. In this blog, you can read how to do this.
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Do you want more info about Click to Chat, or you want to know how to implement Click to Chat in the right way? Then be sure to read our blog ‘New WhatsApp feature: Click to Chat’, or check the FAQ on WhatsApp about this topic.’|
SaySimple
Use
Click to Chat & Instagram Stories
WhatsApp Click to Chat is basically a regular URL. So, wherever you can add a URL, you can also use Click to Chat. This also applies to Instagram. Instagram is ideal when you want to reach a younger target audience, so it matches perfectly with the WhatsApp target audience.
A popular way to generate leads and traffic via Instagram is by placing ‘Instagram Stories Ads’. This is a form of Instagram Advertising. You can easily combine Click to Chat with Instagram Stories Ads by using the WhatsApp Click to Chat URL as the ‘Destination URL’ of the Instagram campaign.
When a lead or prospect then chooses to ‘Swipe Up’, he or she is redirected to a WhatsApp chat. This offers interesting applications for, e.g., the travel industry. When a certain destination is highlighted via Instagram Stories Ads, people who are interested can ask questions about the location or accommodation via an accessible and user-friendly channel. The same applies to the automotive branch when it wants to promote a particular model.
Needless to say that Click to Chat can be used for other types of social media advertising as well. An important element is that you use a clear call to action, so leads will understand that they open a WhatsApp chat instead of being redirected to a standard web page.
Inserting Click to Chat?
Redirect URL or a dedicated domain
For consumers, it’s easier to remember a website than a 10-digit WhatsApp number. Because the WhatsApp Click to Chat is also hard to remember (read: https://wa.me/31613558270), you can forward or redirect a custom URL of your website to the WhatsApp Click to Chat URL. This is what we did with the URL
https://www.saysimple.nl/whatsapp. Or you can, for instance, go for https://www.[jouw website].nl/chat, for https://www.[jouw website].nl/messaging, and even for https://www.[jouw website].nl/festival of /prijsvraag. When you really want to go big, you can also register a dedicated domain for WhatsApp, perfect for field marketing applications. For example: www.vierdezomer.nl when you are looking for the best idea to celebrate the summer via WhatsApp. You can then use and communicate the URL wherever you want, like on social media, in print, or in email communication.
Do you want to reach your existing database?
WhatsApp in SMS and email
WhatsApp as a marketing channel has one challenge: you can’t just use the channel proactively and on a large scale. Annoying, maybe, but when you have a database with email addresses or cell numbers, Click to Chat offers a workaround for this.
Include Click to Chat in your email newsletter or use a (shortened) URL in an SMS message. As both SMS and email are (generally) received on a smartphone, the recipient can easily store the number in his or her phone or start a WhatsApp chat straight away.
You can also use Click to Chat when the recipient of the newsletter opens the email on a desktop. In that case, the URL opens web.whatsapp.com.
Ermm…
QR codes
So basically, you can use WhatsApp Click to Chat wherever you would normally add a URL. Behind buttons, images, links, advertisements, etc. That means that you can also place the URL behind a QR code!
Ermm… QR codes? Absolutely. Due to the lack of standard apps, the QR code never really kicked off in Europe. This is very different in China, where you can scan a QR code from WeChat and use it within the platform. With the launch of iOS11, Apple made the QR code much more accessible by integrating the code scanner in the camera app. The latest Android versions have the same feature.
That means that you can also use the QR code to communicate your WhatsApp number and start the interaction with your (potential) customers and followers. Now you can combine online and print even better.
More information
WhatsApp Click to Chat offers great opportunities to communicate more proactively. We’d like to offer you our advice and support to use WhatsApp successfully. Send a non-committal WhatsApp message for more information or contact us via the contact form.
