The essential WhatsApp template that helped La Repa generate 9,000% ROI

If you’ve ever wanted to try WhatsApp templates with Manychat, then consider this Black Friday campaign from La Repa de Sueños and TBS Marketing your starting point.

In fact, using this one strategy, La Repa exceeded its projected sales for Black Friday, generating 300% more sales than forecast.

Overview 

WhatsApp is a popular option for businesses, boasting 2 billion users. It allows companies to cultivate relationships with customers, engage in two-way conversations, and sell directly within the platform.

In several countries, this is the most common way to communicate with friends, family, and businesses.

For companies, this messaging app presents a significant opportunity: You can leverage the untapped potential of WhatsApp’s user base, reaching a large audience at low cost.

Costa Rican mattress store, La Repa de Sueños, and their marketing agency, TBS Marketing, recognized this opportunity. So, they decided to experiment with WhatsApp templates inside Manychat for a Black Friday marketing campaign. 

Their results were nothing short of astounding – achieving a staggering 9,000% ROI.

Let’s take a look at the strategies La Repa implemented to generate these results, including WhatsApp templates.

First, let’s learn more about WhatsApp API and how you can apply WhatsApp templates to your next campaign.

What’s the WhatsApp API?

There are 3 different types of WhatsApp accounts you can use:

1. WhatsApp Messenger: The personal app you can download on the app store, primarily used for communication with family and friends.
   
2. WhatsApp Business: A separate app you can also download, which offers business-oriented features such as product catalogs, and limited automation and broadcasts. It’s perfect for small businesses that wish to provide more personalized customer care on a channel customers prefer.
   
3. WhatsApp API: This allows medium and large businesses to communicate with their customers at scale. Businesses can build systems to connect thousands of customers with agents or chatbots, enabling both automated and manual communication. Additionally, you can integrate the API with numerous backend systems, such as CRM and marketing platforms, like Manychat.

WhatsApp API does have its differences. Most notably, you won’t be able to have WhatsApp Messenger and WhatsApp Business running on your phone’s app, and conversations are only open for 24 hours on WhatsApp API. 

So, this is where WhatsApp templates come in.

What are WhatsApp templates?

A WhatsApp message template is a message format that you can send to users once they have opted-in and given your app permission to send them messages. Templates can include videos, images, buttons, and more.

Before using a message template, you must submit it to Meta for review and approval. This process can take up to 48 hours, to ensure high-quality content and avoid spam. 

Once your template is approved, you can send the message template to your entire WhatsApp list at a cost. The cost varies per country. For example, in Costa Rica, sending out a template outside of the 24-hour window costs only $0.08 per contact.

The challenge 

Using WhatsApp Messenger and WhatsApp Business, La Repa would have to manually reach out to each potential customer who requested more information on pricing.

So, TBS Marketing had an idea – proactively contact their WhatsApp list of 11,800 contacts and let them know about the special Black Friday discount, using a WhatsApp template through WhatsApp API so the process of customer care could be done using their CRM system.

“We refused to do a generic marketing campaign,” explains La Repa CMO and TBS Marketing CEO, Trilce Jiron Garro. “Past leads are your best future customers, but sending out a massive SMS feels impersonal and money-grabby.

“On a normal WhatsApp, we would’ve had to send a message lead by lead. With Manychat, we were able to overcome the scalability challenge.”

The goal 

La Repa wanted to connect with their audience in the most personal way possible – and on the channel they prefer. 

“Usually, holiday campaigns are sent in cold emails or dreadful SMS campaigns,” says Trilce.

“For a Latino audience used to engaging with La Repa’s founders on TikTok, this would feel off. So we decided to try the newest toy in the box: Whatsapp templates.”

The strategy 

La Repa wanted to do something different from their usual ads, so the video invitation seemed the best option.

So they created a WhatsApp template, which was approved by Meta, that included:

• A 40-second vertical video (Instagram and Facebook Story format). The video script explained the benefits of buying a mattress from them as well as the Black Friday deals. Here’s the exact script:

“Hi there! It’s Tril from La Repa, and we have a romantic date this weekend. We are going to host a special Black Friday weekend with amazing discounts, and I’d love to see you there. We both know we’re gonna have great prices, but that’s really not the important bit. Every single product has a 100-night sleep trial and of course, we take care of your old mattress to avoid pollution. Also, I bought you eggnog! See you in a few days!”

• After this message, La Repa sends a text message with the store’s opening hours.
  
• Lastly, there is a closing opt-out message that reads: “If you want out of our VIP messaging list, text us the word ‘squash’.”

This message was sent to 11,800 of La Repa’s WhatsApp contacts. They had an investment of $880 for retargeting and used the broadcasts feature within Manychat.

For context, WhatsApp Business API limits daily broadcasting according to your quality rating:

• Unverified accounts can send 50 business-initiated messages per day
• Verified accounts have a 1000-message daily limit
• Accounts that send 2000 business-initiated messages in five days receive an increase to 10,000 daily messages
• Accounts that send 10000 business-initiated messages in five days receive an increase to 100,000 daily messages
• By sending 100,000 in a week, accounts reach unlimited messages.

These amounts scale automatically based on your phone number status, phone number quality rating, and how often you initiate conversations with unique customers.

At the time, La Repa had a 10,000 daily limit. So, in order to send out a message to each person on their list, and not overload the sales team, they used Manychat’s Randomizer and Smart Delay features to divide the audience into three groups.

The results

La Repa could never imagine the impact this campaign would have. In fact, projections showed sales at $30,000 over the weekend. 

This strategy was so popular that the business had to call for emergency sales help and stay open after closing hours. La Repa exceeded their projected sales target by almost 300%, reaching sales of $85,000.

Month by Month clients. Nov 2021 had 189 clients, 2022 had 464:

In addition, out of the 11,800 people who received the message, only 88 opted out.

Key takeaways

The use of WhatsApp API and its messaging template feature is an effective way to reach out and engage with customers. Not only can it be used as a retargeting tool, but to broadcast messages quickly and efficiently.

If you’d like to try WhatsApp API, take note of these three takeaways from La Repa’s ultra-successful Black Friday campaign:

• Take WhatsApp templates for a test drive. Try something new with your WhatsApp list. Remember, you can use templates again and again with your audience.
  
• Get creative with your WhatsApp template ideas. With WhatsApp API, you’re not limited to text. Videos, buttons, and images can be used.
  
• Engage with your audience in a manner and on a channel they prefer. For La Repa, connecting with their audience via a personal video invitation on WhatsApp proved to be a smart investment.

La Repa’s success shows just one way to leverage WhatsApp API for time-sensitive campaigns, so the possibilities for this platform are endless.