WhatsApp - Most Trusted For Customer Engagement

WhatsApp most trusted for customer engagement

Customer engagement is paramount for businesses to acquire new customers, retain existing customers and to build lasting relationships and foster brand loyalty. For the past two decades, SMS and Email have been the two most prevalent communication channels to nurture and engage customers for B2C brands, as well as social media engagement. Their prevalence was their ubiquity (everyone has SMS and Email on their phone/device) and relatively low cost. However, these are now being challenged and two influential reports from (Gartner and Mobile Squared) are showing that Business Messaging apps such as WhatsApp Business are taking up the mantle of the most trusted and favorite channel for customer engagement by businesses. With advent of GenAI this will become more the case, engaging customers on their favorite communication channel with AI assistances and intent based workflows.  

SMS and Email have trust issues !!

Before discussing the findings of the reports, the effectiveness of WhatsApp Business versus SMS and email very much depends on the end user perception of the end users when receiving a message. SMS and email success is their ubiquity i.e. email and SMS is on every phone. However, due to price increases for businesses to send SMS, the prevalence of SPAM and increasing fraud on these communication channels these channels are falling out of favour.  One of the biggest issues for SMS is the sender can be spoofed and end users are never sure if they are talking to the business. In WhatsApp and other Business Messaging apps, there is a verified sender and business tick, which mean the end customer knows they are talking with the business. No such sender verification exists on SMS (with exception of short codes which are used infrequently due to their costs) and email. Also, SMS is one way and not interactive (list, quick reply to buttons etc.) compared to business apps like WhatsApp.  Finally, there is strict opt-in policies for WhatsApp which means the channel is less associated with Spam.  

Gartner –Forecast Analysis: CPaaS, Worldwide

Gartner released their updated forecasts for the CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) market, showing a CAGR of 15.7% between 2023-2028, demonstrating a healthy market.  

‘Companies will invest in richer conversational experiences, advanced messaging (including WhatsApp, WeChat ..) will grow with a CAGR of 34.4% through 2028, outpacing the growth in basic communications’ source Garter Global CPaaS report.

Some of the key findings from the Gartner report:  

• Enterprises will invest in GenAI and engage customers via omnichannel conversations, increasing advanced messaging CPaaS share from 8.6% in 2023 to 18.2% by 2028.
• As companies invest in richer conversational experiences, advanced messaging (including WhatsApp, WeChat ..) will grow with a CAGR of 34.4% through 2028, outpacing the growth in basic communications.
• Basic messaging (SMS) will flatten off due to the expanding enterprise demands for richer communications for CX … As a result, enterprise spend share of basic messaging will reduce to 29.7% by 2028, with a CAGR of 4.2% between 2023 and 2028.
• Consumers now demand the ability to connect with their business partners in their favorite communications tools. This holds true with both B2B and B2C exchanges. Organizations that fail to recognize this fact risk long-term irrelevancy. Notable communications channels include WhatsApp, WeChat, LINE, Telegram, Viber, Google RBM/RCS and Apple Business Chat, along with Instagram, Facebook Messenger
• Advanced messaging enables enterprises to not only build their brands by including logos, websites, addresses and directions but also engage customers through complex use cases like payments, e-commerce, reservations, wealth management and delivery scheduling.

Mobile Squared – WhatsApp Business Messaging Traffic

Mobile Squared is a leading global provider of messaging intelligence, and trusted partner to major brands. In April 2024, they released an excellent report called ‘WhatsApp Business Messaging traffic’, with their key finding that WhatsApp will become the most trusted communication channel by CPaaS providers by 2025.

‘By 2025 the world of omnichannel is likely to undergo significant change, according to the CPaaS providers, with SMS’ dominance reduced and all-but wiped out by WhatsApp, based on our metrics of usage, trust, and effectiveness.’ Source Mobile Squared WhatsApp Business Messaging traffic whitepaper

Here are some key highlights of the report.

• By 2025 SMS dominance will be reduced and all-but wiped out by WhatsApp, based on our metrics of usage, trust, and effectiveness.
• By 2025, WhatsApp will be on the cusp of becoming most trusted channel, likely to be the fallout from the increased levels of fraud blighting SMS throughout 2022 and 2023, and into 2024.

• SMS pricing increases: By the start of 2023, the average cost to deliver an international message had increased to $0.06945, and by 4Q 2023, it had increased further to $0.07076.
• At the end of 2023 there were almost 1 billion (WhatsApp) opt-ins globally, and this will rise to over 2 billion by the end of 2027. In 2024 the WhatsApp Business consumers will account for about one-third of total WhatsApp users, and this will be close to two-thirds of total WhatsApp users by the end of 2027. This means that brands will be able to reach a cumulative figure more than 2 billion opted-in users.
• As brands familiarise themselves with the (WhatsApp Business) platform, their usage will evolve to capitalise on its functionality and capabilities as they increase usage of marketing and utility use cases, and over time, authentication also, therefore reducing the overall percentage share of traffic attributed to conversational services.

Conclusion:

More and more businesses are turning to business messaging apps like WhatsApp for engagement and away from SMS and email due to Fraud, Spam, Costs, Security, and poorer Open rates.

With Business Messaging, like WhatsApp you get:

1. Protect Brand – Verified sender where customers know they are talking to a legitimate business.

2. Grow Sales – 98% open rates, up to 60% CTRs, 4x conversation of email. Everyone can use WhatsApp.

3. Higher Engagement – Upsell products/services, interactive engagement e.g. Leave parcel Yes/No

4. Save money – Cheaper than SMS for most use cases (>1 SMS in 24 hrs to customer),

Sounds Interesting – Get in touch now.

We would love to chat with you about how your business could benefit from OMNI channel messaging and WhatsApp business platform with 4X conversion. Get in touch with us at sales@payemoji.com and we will schedule a call.

So go ahead and join the conversation by taking advantage of the 23 hours that consumers spend per week on their Messaging Apps and use that to grow your Business.