World Cup Marketing Campaigns To Get Inspired By

The upcoming month of October is full of excitement for all cricket enthusiasts as they are eagerly waiting for the Cricket World Cup 2023. What makes it more interesting for marketers is the timing which coincides with the festive season. Mobile marketing advertisers have to be an extravaganza in capturing the emerging potential of live sports events.

“In India, Cricket isn’t just a sport, it’s a religion.” 

– Steve Waugh, Australian cricket legend

Case in point, The Asia Cup 2023 which was streamed on Disney Hotstar broke the viewership records with 2.8 Cr peak viewership during the famous India v/s Pakistan match. The above stat from the recent Asia Cup 2023 estimates that the ICC Men’s World Cup is expected to break all the records for viewerships, and mobile viewership will be a significant contributor. As cricket fans will be watching matches on their mobile phones it also opens up new avenues for conversational apps like WhatsApp, RCS Business Messaging, Viber, Instagram, and Telegram to create memorable and engaging customer experiences.

While around 1.5 billion people watched the 2022 World Cup final live on television, the live coverage of the 2019 Cricket World Cup Tournament reached a global cumulative average audience of 1.6 billion viewers. Cricket is popular among more people!

Given the game’s growing interest globally, several brands get on the cricket bandwagon to run their ads and marketing campaigns. From cola companies to automobiles to service providers, every brand wants a piece of the advertising pie during the World Cup to make the most of the cricket fever.

And it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but there are only a handful of brands that get to advertise on Television or OTT platforms, and yet everyone has a cricket campaign that they’ll float on their respective apps / websites / social media and so on.

So while the real match is played on the pitch, business owners, brand managers, marketers, and sales professionals across industries need to start planning well in advance to capture, connect with, and convert your audience to win the game of conversations. 

Here are some ways in which you can leverage WhatsApp Chatbots to increase your Acquisition, Engagement, and Sales.

Part 1: Acquire New Customers

As cricket teams prepare to battle it out on the cricket field during the World Cup, enterprises across industries will be competing with each other to get their customers’ attention. Moreover, modern consumers have the liberty to reach business through multiple channels. Hence, it is imperative for brands to deliver consistent experiences across channels. 

Here’s how can enterprises attract and retain new customers during the World Cup:

#1 Make Ads Conversational with Click to WhatsApp Ads

Integrating WhatsApp Click-to-Chat with online paid ads enables brands to build deeper connections with their audience. It not only boosts engagement metrics but also a fantastic conversion opportunity. 

#2 Go Beyond Email Marketing

Emails have long been the go-to engagement tool for brands, but it isn’t the most potent solution today. Short messages on WhatsApp with a quick reply option are a great way to engage and expect a quick response from your target audience. Brands can leverage the WhatsApp Business API to send sign-up messages, or product information with clickable buttons. Moreover, they allow real-time options for customers to talk to a chatbot or connect to a live agent. Brands can also run drip campaigns on WhatsApp by sending out monthly newsletters to their customers and ensuring consistent brand visibility.

#3 Personalize Customer Touch Points

AI-powered conversational solutions help brands achieve personalized experiences on a broad scale, spanning multiple communication channels and touch points. By analyzing extensive volumes of customer data encompassing demographics, behavior, preferences, historical interactions, and feedback, brands can derive valuable insights, offer recommendations, and initiate strategic actions. 

For instance, brands can use the WhatsApp Business Solution to communicate with their customers in multiple languages while running communication campaigns during the World Cup. This allows businesses to effectively engage with a diverse audience and empathize across geographical and cultural contexts.

Part 2: Engage Existing Customers

Getting new customers can cost an organization over five times as much as customer retention. To understand its impact on revenue, a 5% uptick in customer retention, can accelerate business profitability by up to 75%. 

Brands can leverage Conversational AI-powered platforms like the WhatsApp Business Solution to run re-engagement campaigns to revive connections with prospects who are inactive to increase engagement and boost sales. 

Here’s how you can bring existing customers closer to your brand this World Cup:

#1 Leverage Omnichannel Engagement

Since customers operate across multiple devices and engage on myriad platforms which they prefer, businesses too have had to adapt to meet their evolving requirements and expectations. The WhatsApp Business Solution allows brands to deliver omnichannel communication across the entire buying journey, i.e. from awareness through to purchase. For instance,  eCommerce brands run digital ads that click on WhatsApp, while retailers can use the WhatsApp widget on their websites to enable customers to connect on WhatsApp and share product information, payment options, and delivery details. 

#2 Offer Instantaneous Customer Assistance

The Twitter and Instagram-infused audience are used to instant information, easy access, fast response, and great experience. These expectations run high, especially during peak traffic periods like the World Cup or the festive season. Brands can leverage WhatsApp to provide instant product updates, share purchase information, provide delivery details, and an option to connect with a LIVE agent for further assistance. 

#3 Send Personalized Recommendations and Offers

It’s common for brands to run offers themed around the World Cup and ride the marketing wave propelled by the tournament. But evolved digitally-powered brands can go a step further by delivering exceptional CX and just not dol out offers to lure them. A novel way to engage your audience is through the WhatsApp Business API. 

By leveraging chatbots on WhatsApp, brands can analyze customer preferences, behaviors, and past interactions to deliver personalized recommendations and offers. For instance, a chatbot could suggest cricket-themed merchandise based on a customer’s previous purchases or offer exclusive discounts on match days. This personal touch enhances customer engagement and encourages conversions.

#4 Plan A Consistent Communication Calendar

Disparate communication can result in disjointed customer experiences. When brands try to engage with their customers through multiple channels, keeping communication uniform becomes critical to their effectiveness. WhatsApp for Business can be a powerful platform for ensuring communication consistency for brands. 

By actioning Gen AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, brands can uphold a unified messaging approach, regardless of the channel or time of day. This consistency fosters trust and reinforces brand identity, irrespective of where or when customers engage. Whether on a website, social media, or messaging app, brands can funnel conversations onto the channels that their customers prefer and deliver a consistent brand voice, offering accurate information and personalized assistance. 

#5 Collect Feedback for Quick Resolution

It’s crucial for brands to sustain relationships and provide the same level of service and experience each time. Do keep in mind that 80% of your future profits can come from just 20% of your existing customers, and the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 %. By deploying AI-powered chatbots on platforms like WhatsApp, brands can engage customers in real-time conversations to gather feedback post a sale. Brands can create intelligent bot journeys by infusing LLMs to swiftly identify concerns, questions, or grievances, ensuring immediate attention and resolution. 

Conclusion

The World Cup provides the best opportunity for brands to build a robust first-party database, accelerate customer engagement efforts, and improve the overall customer experience.

Through the WhatsApp Business API, brands can initiate Gen AI-powered conversations to connect with their prospects in real-time, provide efficient support, increase their sales opportunities, and utilize data-driven insights, that can help convert the World Cup excitement into lasting customer relationships.

To know more about how your business can win big during the World Cup, click here.