WhatsApp Marketing ROI: Measure Your Success

Almost every industry and business in the world today runs on cash flow. Welcome to capitalism - we love it! But, there’s a catch. At the smallest indication of a downwind, you’re all but sure that businesses will close down on their spends, keeping the taps open just enough to keep the gears grinding.

If you’re in marketing, you’ll feel this burn a lot more than any other team - you’re the closest to the tap of course. Businesses, and marketers, are feeling the cash crunch to get more bang for their buck through their marketing strategies nowadays. This is where resourceful channels like WhatsApp Marketing become pivotal.

Without proper metrics and key performance indicators to measure the WhatsApp marketing ROI, marketers may feel like navigating a ship in a storm without a compass. And they cannot just throw an ocean of data in front of stakeholders and try to piece it together. For it would seem like the marketing ship is swinging aimlessly in a vast ocean filled with a ton of potential.

That’s precisely why the holy grail for all marketing teams is calculating their campaigns' accurate return on investment (ROI).

Yet, the world of WhatsApp Marketing ROI isn't as simplistic as it sounds.

In real life, it’s a dynamic concept that can lead to heated debate and confusion amongst marketing leaders and other stakeholders about how to assess the effectiveness of their campaigns most accurately.

When steering the marketing ship amidst these choppy waters of campaign performance tracking, how can you ensure your KPIs are truly meaningful?

And how can you demystify the complexities of ROI calculation?

The beacon lighting the way is a comprehensive understanding of the WhatsApp Marketing metrics. This blog post will walk you through the strategies that industry leaders employ to calculate their WhatsApp marketing ROI and the measures they take to improve it effectively.

Why WhatsApp marketing ROI matters?

The essentials of marketing wisdom, such as the age-old adage "what can't be measured can't be improved", is relevant even today.

Evaluating the effectiveness of your WhatsApp marketing campaign is more than just a business necessity; it's an essential job for driving success, particularly in the current economic climate.

Indeed, while cost-effectiveness and high-quality lead generation are key objectives, a WhatsApp marketing campaign brings much more to the table.

When we rigorously measure the outcomes of a WhatsApp campaign, you as a marketing leader, gain crucial insights to answer pivotal questions such as:

1. Which of our initiatives are generating desirable results?
2. Where do our strategies need fine-tuning for better optimisation?
3. How do our efforts fare in comparison to competitors?
4. Are our marketing KPIs on an upward trajectory, or are they dwindling?
5. Could there be a way to optimise spend while reaching a broader customer base?

Key Metrics to Track for WhatsApp Marketing ROI

The key to finding the right performance metric is pretty simple. An ideal WhatsApp Marketing KPI is relevant to your marketing goals and simple to track.

While you’re drafting your first set of WhatsApp Marketing KPIs, it can be a bit overwhelming. You could identify KPIs that better serve your needs by better understanding their purpose, industry benchmark, and performance.

Let's dissect nine major WhatsApp Marketing KPIs to see which metrics can propel your marketing activities on WhatsApp.

Delivery KPIs: Ensure Reach

These KPIs form the cornerstone of your marketing campaign, showing you the campaign’s reach by accurately measuring the number of messages successfully delivered to the target audience.  

1. Open Rate

Most marketers may already be aware that WhatsApp is the platform you need to be most active on, as WhatsApp automated messages have a 5x higher open rate when compared to traditional marketing channels like email, SMS, and more.  

• Benchmark: 85-90%
• Best: 95% and above

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-through rate (CTR) shows the percentage of recipients who engaged with your WhatsApp marketing campaigns or broadcasts by clicking on the links in a message. A higher CTR usually means higher conversions, making this KPI a crucial success component of a campaign.

• Benchmark: 15-25%
• Great: 30% and above

3. Opt-Out Rate

The opt-out rate is used to gauge the percentage of recipients who decided to stop receiving your WhatsApp messages. If your opt-out rate is high, it may signal a dire need to refine your content, target demographic, or even the frequency of your messages.

• Benchmark: 0.3 - 0.6 %
• Ideal: 0.2% and below

Revenue KPIs: Optimise Spend

These KPIs help assess the financial dynamics and profitability of your marketing campaigns. However, it is imperative to proceed cautiously, as misunderstanding these metrics can result in missed opportunities, overspending, and more.

4. Conversion Rate

This KPI, perhaps the most important one, tallies the percentage of recipients who completed your desired action(s). Some actions may include submitting WhatsApp Flows, aka Forms, completing a purchase on WhatsApp Shop, or booking a service appointment.

• Benchmark: 30 - 45 %
• Best: 50% and above

5. Revenue Per Conversion

This specific metric measures the amount of revenue generated from each successful conversion. It's helpful in understanding the individual value each conversion adds to your campaign and comes in handy when calculating the average order value (AOV) and other associated metrics.💡

How do you calculate revenue per conversion (RPC)?
RPC = Total Revenue / Number of Conversions

6. Return on Campaign Spend (ROCS)

The ROCS is a crucial indicator of any marketing campaign's profitability. Primarily, it compares the revenues generated from a specific campaign against the amount spent. A higher ROCS reveals a successful, profitable campaign.

• Benchmark: 5-7x
• Great: 10x

7. Cost per Qualified Lead (CPL)

By monitoring the cost per lead (CPL) metric, you can calculate your average spend on attracting every qualified lead. This KPI shows how effectively you are using your budget and will be your north star for planning upcoming campaigns.💡

How do you calculate cost per lead (CPL)?
CPL = Total Spend / Number of Leads Generated

Retention KPIs: Keep Customers Happy

While this may not seem like a marketing-focused metric, keeping the customers happy and satisfied in the long run is the entire organisation's responsibility and not just a team like "Customer Success."

8. Customer Feedback

Customer feedback may not be a numeric metric, but it will provide qualitative insights into a marketing campaign. It may include recipients' comments, complaints, or suggestions, which can help formulate more effective strategies.

Collect Customer Feedback Effectively with a WhatsApp Chatbot

9. Retention Metrics

Retention metrics help marketers understand how many customers continue to interact with their messages over time. This metric can indicate customer satisfaction, the effectiveness of marketing strategies, targeting and segmentation accuracy, and more.

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Learn how JuttiChoo, an e-commerce business, accelerated its sales cycle and improved their customer communication using Gallabox WhatsApp Business API

How to Calculate WhatsApp Marketing ROI

To understand the performance of your WhatsApp marketing campaigns, you need to track the right metrics. These indicators give you a peek into what’s working well and what needs improvement:

1. Delivery Rate: The delivery rate tells if your messages are reaching the audience without any hiccups. The higher the delivery rate, the better as it shows most of your messages are successfully landing in your customers’ inboxes.

2. Engagement Rate: This metric shows how the recipients are interacting with your messages. This includes replying or reacting to your messages, downloading media, participating in surveys, etc. You can calculate it by dividing the number of responses by the number of messages delivered, and multiplying by 100.

3. Conversion Rate: This is the ultimate metric that directly affects your ROI. It tracks how many recipients completed a purchase, signed up for a webinar, or downloaded something.

How to maximize WhatsApp marketing ROI 

You’ve created a solid WhatsApp marketing campaign and are ready to go all in. But before you launch, it’s important to confirm your efforts actually deliver results. Here are a couple of things you should focus on to improve your ROI.

1. For better message delivery and open rates

To improve open rates and make sure your messages land well, try to-

• Send messages at the right time when users are most active
• Segment your audience so you are speaking to the right people
• Write preview texts that spark interest from the first word
• Write effective, personalize content based on different user actions or search behavior
• Check your API setup to avoid any delivery issues

2. For better click through rates

Design needed: Phone screen with a visual message (image/video) + a rising arrow showing engagement.
If you want more people to click on your messages, you must-

• Add visuals like images, GIFs, or videos to make your messages more engaging
• Personalize each message using customer data and past behavior

3. To reduce opt-out rates

To keep people interested and avoid drop-offs-

• Adjust how often you message them so it doesn’t feel overwhelming
• Share content that speaks to their real needs and interests
• Follow all privacy and security rules on WhatsApp

Also, see to it that people can unsubscribe easily. If the process is confusing or difficult, it could lead to penalties or fines. You see, a smooth experience shows respect for your users and helps build trust.

The tips above will help improve your ROI, but if you really want to level up and stay ahead of the curve, using a WhatsApp Business API solution like Gallabox can make a big difference. Its highly advanced features like user segmentation, AI-powered conversations, and personalization can help you fine-tune your marketing efforts.

1. Segment Audience: Create a customized audience list based on past conversations and interests, considering demographics and behaviours.
2. Implement A/B Testing: Experiment with different message elements to optimize campaign effectiveness and improve conversion rates.
3. Automate engagement: Set up automated conversation flows with message templates and instant responses for a smooth communication experience.
4. Connect with existing systems: Access customer data swiftly, avoiding redundant questions and enhancing overall satisfaction.

Case studies and examples of WhatsApp marketing ROI

You might be thinking, “Everything is okay, but has any brand ever benefitted from WhatsApp marketing?” The answer is a big YES. Below are examples of two (D2C) brands that have seen strong ROI from their WhatsApp marketing efforts. This includes a high number of leads, increased conversions, improved customer satisfaction, and better campaign performance.

1. GoIreland

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GoIreland is a top study-abroad consultancy for students heading to Ireland. They were having a tough time turning inquiries into actual leads. Their long forms were tiring people out, and follow-ups were all over the place. They needed a faster, simpler way to talk to students who were serious about applying.

That’s when they gave WhatsApp Marketing a shot.

With Gallabox, GoIreland integrated WhatsApp into both their marketing and support workflows and it changed the game. GoIreland used-

- Instant chats over long forms: They added a WhatsApp widget to their site, so students could start chatting right away. This reduced drop-offs and helped them connect faster. 

- Smart follow-ups: They used  broadcast campaigns to reach out to cold leads from offline events. That personal touch helped turn interest into real applications.

- One shared inbox: All WhatsApp messages came into a single inbox, so the whole team could reply quickly and stay coordinated.

The results? Solid and measurable:

• 43% better campaign performance
• 39% jump in lead conversions
• 32% increase in response rates
• 20% rise in event-based conversions
• 54% boost in customer satisfaction

With over 5,000 chats a month, WhatsApp quickly became one of GoIreland’s most powerful channels. Fast replies, personal conversations, and regular follow-ups helped them build trust and speed up the entire sales process.

2. Pickyoutail

Another brand that has achieved remarkable ROI is Pickyourtrail, a popular DIY holiday booking platform. They knew their audience was active there, but struggled with limits on broadcasts, clunky forms, and inconsistent follow-ups. That changed once they brought in Gallabox. Here’s how they did it:

- Broadcasts that really connect: They started sending personalized travel offers and updates through WhatsApp broadcasts. It helped them get better reach, higher engagement, and skip the noise of email or SMS.

- Automated flows to keep leads engaged: Instead of chasing leads manually, they built automated flows to keep the conversation going. These timely nudges made it much easier for customers to go from browsing to booking.

- Click-to-WhatsApp ads for instant chats: By ditching slow contact forms and using ads that led straight to WhatsApp, they made it easy for users to reach out with one tap. 

As a result, Pickyourtrail was able to achieve-

• 77% increase in lead generation
• 70% growth impact on business
• 40% improvement in team productivity

By fine-tuning everything from sending tailored offers to setting up automated flows with Gallabox, WhatsApp became a fast, personal, and highly effective channel for Pickyourtrail.

Amplify Your Marketing ROI Effortlessly

The process of monitoring WhatsApp Marketing KPIs and measuring accurate ROI isn’t always a clear-cut task.

But, when marketing leaders take the time to identify their business needs and understand the nature of KPIs, it is easy to pick not just measure but also improve those KPIs that are in tune with their marketing and business goals.

WhatsApp Automation can help businesses measure KPIs, gain actionable insights, mitigate risks, and increase profitability. Looking for ways to improve the efficiency of your WhatsApp marketing campaigns without making a dent in your IT investments?

Sign up for a free trial

Sign up today and see how effortless it is to track WhatsApp Marketing metrics that matter.

FAQs on WhatsApp marketing ROI

1. How often should I review WhatsApp marketing ROI?

It’s a good idea to review your WhatsApp marketing ROI every month. This gives you enough time to see what’s working, spot trends, and make better decisions without jumping to conclusions. If you’re running short-term campaigns or testing new features, you can even check in every two weeks. Regular reviews help you catch small issues early and make quick fixes before things go off track

2. Can small businesses achieve significant ROI through WhatsApp marketing, and what strategies should they employ?

Absolutely. WhatsApp is actually a great fit for small businesses. It’s personal, direct, and doesn’t need a big budget.  To get the most out of it, just keep things simple and responsive. Add a WhatsApp chat option to your website or social pages, use broadcasts to share updates or offers, and set up quick auto-replies so leads don’t go cold. Even these small steps can help you build trust and drive conversions without much effort.

3. Are there any industry-specific considerations for maximizing ROI with WhatsApp marketing?

Yes, there are, and it’s really important to know your business and customers. For example, if you’re a travel brand, you might see better results with special offers during holidays and fast booking help. But if you’re in retail (like selling trendy clothes), regular updates on stock or order status can work really well. The key is to make sure your messages fit what your audience wants and to keep it helpful, not pushy

4. What tools can I use to track WhatsApp marketing ROI? 

If you're serious about tracking your WhatsApp marketing ROI, Gallabox is a great tool to have. It offers dashboards, automated chatbots, and over 50 integrations to help you track performance without all the manual work. 

You can monitor things like broadcasts, drip campaigns, and more in real-time. Plus, it integrates with tools like Google Analytics 4 and your CRM, so you can focus on quality leads and stay on track with your marketing goals.