By Maxine Hess
Writer | WhatsApp marketer | Creative
WhatsApp Marketing
,Tips
Enterprise brands need to find software to start with WhatsApp marketing. What are the best WhatsApp marketing tools around? We show you 5 we like.
WhatsApp Business is growing in Europe at a rapid rate. With 2 billion global users, 90% open rates and incredible retention potential, it's no surprise that in 2019, WhatsApp added a business offering to the previously consumer-only app.
Brands across the world are now boosting revenue with WhatsApp as a marketing channel. An incredible 50 million business now use WhatsApp Business across the world.
Enterprise brands need to use the WhatsApp Business API through a WhatsApp
Smaller businesses can use the WhatsApp Business app, which is free. But bulk messages are limited to 256 contacts.
Here, we look at 5 of the best WhatsApp marketing tools on the market to help you with this important decision.
5 WhatsApp marketing tools for European brands
WhatsApp Business is relatively new in Europe, but there are some key players emerging that are worth looking at when choosing a WhatsApp marketing platform.
Here are 5 to keep in mind that would suit mid-large businesses looking to scale:
1. charles: the WhatsApp platform built for ROI
Obviously we're biased, but hundreds of leading consumer brands across the world trust the charles WhatsApp marketing tool, including ABOUT YOU and MediaMarkt. Why?
- Leading, passionate, well reviewed Success team
- Laser focus on profitability in WhatsApp
- EU based and GDPR built in to product
- Focus on maximizing revenue
- Reputable founding team and well funded
- Integrations with Klaviyo, Shopify and more plus custom integrations
- Official Meta Partner and WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
- Regular creative ideas for campaigns through our in-house agency, Studios
- Many success cases to draw from
2. Sinch Engage: all-in-one platform for service
Sinch Engage (formerly MessengerPeople) was one of the first WhatsApp marketing tools on the market in Europe. This has made it quite successful.
We believe it was built principally on the service use case of WhatsApp. While this is important for businesses, it's not the most profitable use case of WhatsApp
3. UserLike: live chat done very well
UserLike is a quality product, also made in Germany, focused on live chat and chatbots.
4. Trengo: all channels together
Trengo is a decent alternative to charles, offering a decision-tree builder for automated conversations “Flowbot.”
It doesn't specialize in WhatsApp but covers all messenger platforms.
5. Superchat: do it all in one
Superchat is a WhatsApp platform built on a service use case and is a "universal inbox.".
Low-budget WhatsApp marketing tool alternatives to charles
There are some relatively new WhatsApp marketing tools on the market that are quite inexpensive. Here are a few that we've come across:
- Mateo: "The Omnichannel CX Software" (Germany)
- Zoko: "Making ecommerce on WhatsApp easy!" (US and India)
- Chatarmin: "WhatsApp Marketing Tool for your Business" (Austria)
- Spoki: "The ideal solution for · Marketing · Notifications · Sale · Customer Support" (Italy)
Want to see more WhatsApp tools?
There are many more out there to choose from. As recommended, choose an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP), ideally focused on profit and based in your region.
See what you should look for in a WhatsApp BSP.
As an Official Meta Partner you'll find charles in the Meta directory
To sum up: choose the best WhatsApp marketing tool for greater success
The work you do to research a WhatsApp marketing tool is going to ensure your future, long-term success in this exciting marketing channel.
Look for a WhatsApp BSP and Meta partner that's stable, reputable, EU-based, ROI-focused and that will continually share expertise.
Look for a WhatsApp marketing platform that offers rich features like automation, segmentation, Shopify and Klaviyo integration and detailed analytics.
As a leading EU-based WhatsApp marketing platform with a focus on ROI, WhatsApp, and a passionate customer Success team, charles is the partner of choice for many enterprise brands in Europe, in particular the DACH region – including MediaMarkt, WWF and l'Occitane.
Wondering which WhatsApp marketing tool is right for your business? Just give us a shout. If you like, we'll give you a free demo on a quick call with the sales team.
FAQs about WhatsApp marketing tools
What's a WhatsApp marketing tool?
A WhatsApp marketing tool is a software platform that enables businesses to send promotional messages to customers on WhatsApp at scale.
As opposed to the free WhatsApp Business app for small business owners, a WhatsApp marketing tool is built on the WhatsApp Business API and is designed for mid- to large-sized companies needing scalability, tracking, segmentation and multi-agent use of WhatsApp.
For this, businesses need to pay a subscription for the WhatsApp marketing tool, plus a cost per conversation to WhatsApp and an additional fee to the WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP – software company).
Do I need a WhatsApp marketing tool?
If you're a growing business looking to send promotional WhatsApp messages and WhatsApp newsletters to over 256 customers at a time, then yes, you need a WhatsApp marketing tool.
The free WhatsApp Business app offers limited functionality for mid- to large-sized businesses. It's limited to 1-2 phones and doesn't offer rich tracking or marketing features.
However, as yet, WhatsApp Business is more of a retention than an acquisition tool, so we recommend that you have a good number of website visitors and email addresses you can convert to WhatsApp before investing in specialized software.
See if your business is right for a WhatsApp Business platform with our checklist.
What are the best WhatsApp marketing tools?
The best WhatsApp marketing tools for your business will depend on your business goals. If you're a mid-sized to enterprise brand looking to reach customers where their friends are, with a platform that scales, while making as much profit as possible, charles is a good choice. Especially if you're in the DACH region (we're based in Berlin) or Italy or the UK (our other core markets).
What features should I look for in a WhatsApp marketing tool?
Look for an easy-to-use interface, a great success team, unlimited numbers of agents and stability in company and the WhatsApp marketing tool itself. Specific features you should look for are:
- Advanced WhatsApp conversation automation
- Fine segmentation and audience building
- Rich analytics (to include revenue per conversation, open rate and click-through-rate)
- Strong integrations with leading CRM, messenger, shop and email tools like Klaviyo, Shopify and Facebook
- Features to build WhatsApp subscribers that are easy to set up and can be automated and customized to your brand (like website popups and thank you page widgets)