How Barò uses WhatsApp to build customer relationships

Barò proved the value of WhatsApp marketing for improving customer outreach, simplifying customer service, and making direct sales via product-related conversations.

Challenge

Barò Cosmetics needed a better way to create closer relationships with customers. In its first years, they built up an impressive community and newsletter subscriber base. However, they were finding it increasingly difficult to reach, engage, and reactivate those customers through their traditional outreach channels.

Barò Cosmetics is a leading digital-first cosmetic brand based in Langhe, the UNESCO-recognized heart of Italy’s Barolo wine region. They recognized that the local grapes contained an unparalleled source of unique and extremely high quality polyphenols – antioxidants with a high value – which could be used as additives to beauty products. Due to the rigorous quality standards of the local vineyards, these polyphenols were organic as well as silicone and paraben free.

Goals

charles and Barò Cosmetics jointly developed a strategy to leverage the power of WhatsApp direct messaging. As short-term goals, they decided on improved campaign performance and the implementation of automated services for customers such as order tracking notifications.

Improve campaign engagement
Improve direct sales from emails and WhatsApp newsletters
Automate some aspects important customer processes like order tracking

Results

charles and Barò Cosmetics launched a lightning speed campaign in just 8 days. While Barò’s customer service agents received training in the new processes, charles implemented Chat-ins across Barò’s website that started to collect opt-ins at a high rates. Opening rates for WhatsApp newsletters have topped 90%.

How they did it:

Chat-ins

The first step was lowering the barriers between the customers and the chat. This was done by placing chat-ins in various points across the Barò Cosmetics website: welcome pop-up, thank you page, and floating bubbles to name a few. These immediately started collecting customer opt-ins.

Opt-ins and tags

With any kind of chat, a single click takes mobile users into the chat and allows them to directly sign up for the newsletter. Automation of the opt-in flow minimises the need for manual inputs by agents.

Messages are written in a highly personalised fashion, helping build an intimate rapport with the customer and paving the way for the agent to jump in at the right time. Barò segmented their audience through extensive use of tags in order to further personalise their offerings.

Interactive campaigns to re-engage and build community

Interactive campaigns featuring links, buttons, and multimedia content designed in charles’ Journeys have been the way to go for Barò Cosmetics. In the interactive campaign developed by charles, customers enthusiastically engage with the brand by answering questions about their preferences.

These answers are automatically translated into tags for segmentation. At the end of the quiz, they get a reward of a special offer or discount.

Roadmap

Scale WhatsApp opt-in collection and hit 1M opt ins milestone

Expansion to new countries (Spain, Czechia)

Synchronising their shop data to segment the audience in a more detailed way

Barò Cosmetics and charles’ collaboration proved the value offered by WhatsApp newsletters in all of the use cases they chose to examine (customer service, sales and marketing). After these initial successes, Barò Cosmetics plans to keep charles as a strategic partner as it expands and gains market share in other European countries such as Spain and Czech.