Milind Pathak, an industry expert with over two decades of experience in digital technology and marketing, currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Product & Marketing at Route Mobile. In this role, he has been instrumental in driving the company’s innovative communication strategies and products that cater to businesses’ growing need for customer engagement across digital channels.

Under his leadership, Route Mobile has become a key player in the adoption of platforms like WhatsApp Business API, providing enterprises with tools to enhance customer interactions through Click-to-WhatsApp Ads (CTWA). In this interaction with Adgully, Milind Pathak shares insights on how CTWA has transformed customer engagement, Route Mobile’s role in integrating advanced solutions, and future developments in messaging platforms for business communications.

How has the adoption of Click-to-WhatsApp Ads (CTWA) transformed the way businesses connect with their customers, and what specific advantages have you observed in terms of engagement and conversion rates?

The adoption of Click-to-WhatsApp Ads, or CTWA, is fundamentally changing how brands connect with their customers, something we’ve observed closely in recent times. Unlike usual ads that send users to landing pages or ask for form submissions, these ads let customers start a WhatsApp Chat immediately with the brand. The primary metric that we pay attention to with CTWA is the number of message conversations initiated. There’s a noticeable shift with more brands recognizing the value of starting these conversations.

Turning our eyes to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which collectively host over 5.7 billion users, the opportunity is massive. Engaging customers on these platforms through CTWA guarantees higher engagement rates simply due to the sheer volume of active users. From what we’ve observed, businesses that leverage these platforms can see a significant uptick in their conversion rates, going up to 4 times higher than traditional methods.

With the growing popularity of CTWA, how is Route Mobile helping brands integrate WhatsApp Business API into their marketing strategies, and what benefits does this integration bring to businesses in terms of customer interaction?

CTWA offers a multi-faceted approach, primarily focusing on product discovery, enhancing brand visibility, and effective re-targeting. It’s about creating a seamless journey for the customer from discovery to purchase, and CTWA offers a unique advantage in this area.

We work with enterprises across industries and provide the technical expertise to set up the API to manage Click-to-WhatsApp Ads (CTWAs). Our aim is to eliminate uncertainties and streamline the lead acquisition process, making it easy to acquire, nurture & convert leads into paying customers and run loyalty programs on WhatsApp.

This allows for real-time one-on-one interactions and promotes transparency in brand-customer communication. It also helps to understand what is and isn’t working based on customer responses or queries, helping to enhance interactions further.

Customizable templates and automated chatbots are increasingly being used in CTWA campaigns. How do these tools enhance the customer experience, and what role do they play in driving sales and customer support?

WhatsApp templates like catalog, carousel, coupon code, limited-time offer facilitate product discovery, tell visual stories and share time-sensitive discounts which can encourage customers to make a purchase.

Imagine a customer exploring a carousel of products, landing on what catches their eye, all within the convenience of their WhatsApp chat window. This direct and immersive experience significantly boosts engagement and can convert interest into action, particularly when time-sensitive discounts are offered. It taps directly into the customer’s impulsive purchase behavior by offering deals they’re already on the lookout for.

Now, a prospect clicking on a WhatsApp ad expects a seamless continuation of their journey. A chatbot can pick up the conversation immediately, guiding the user through the sales funnel without missing a beat. It can delight customers with instant responses, help them find the right product, check its availability and even make recommendations based on preferences.

From a business operations perspective, integrating chatbots with CRM systems, payment gateways, and messaging platforms enhances operational efficiency. It removes the bottleneck of having agents sift through customer history before providing support, thereby reducing response times and improving customer satisfaction.

In what ways have CTWA ads demonstrated cost efficiency for businesses, and how can brands leverage data-driven insights from these ads to continuously improve their marketing performance?

CTWA ads offer remarkable cost efficiency for businesses, delivering a cost per acquisition that is 5x lower than alternative advertising methods. Enterprises will be able to maximize interactions via CTWA during the first 72 hours, as the messages exchanged during this time frame are not charged.

Gauging data metrics like ad content, engagement, performance, and responses dissects what resonates with the audience, which messages are compelling enough to prompt action, and identifies areas where the audience’s needs or expectations aren’t met.

CTWA can be tracked within the Facebook Ads Manager, which enables brands to access revenue metrics such as conversions, calculate total ad spend, ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), and analyze factors affecting ROAS. This data allows for testing, iteration, and optimization of campaigns in the future. Businesses can engage and re-engage with customers, resulting in enhanced marketing performance and substantial cost savings.

As a leader in cloud communications, how is Route Mobile addressing the need for 24/7 customer engagement through WhatsApp, and what strategies are you recommending to businesses to maximize this capability?

Solving customer issues should be a priority. No matter how advanced your product or service may be, it is futile if it fails to solve the problem. At Route Mobile, we have been working together to address customer pain points and offer unique use cases that had not been explored on the platform before, like WhatsApp ticketing for metros, WhatsApp-Chatbot assisted banking services, in-chat order placement for beverages, and rolling out CTWA for a chemicals and paints company, among others.

Our Chatbot solution, Roubot is the fastest bot-building tool available in the market. We provide ready-to-deploy solutions and incorporate WhatsApp communication capabilities into back-end systems seamlessly.

It is important to remember that simply having a chatbot available 24/7 isn’t enough. The experience your customers have with the chatbot is crucial. A chatbot that randomly activates or provides incorrect responses can agitate customers and damage a brand’s reputation. Enterprises should prioritize consistency and accuracy to build trust and deliver exceptional service!

Looking at the broader industry trends, what future developments do you foresee in the use of messaging platforms like WhatsApp for business communication, and how is Route Mobile preparing to meet these evolving demands?

Understanding the dynamic nature of customer needs and demands is absolutely crucial in today’s fast-paced market. Customers are becoming more demanding, and rightfully so. They seek instant gratification, readily accessible services at their convenience and an overall seamless experience. This isn’t just a trend; it’s the new standard. Our research aligns with global insights, showing that 9 out of 10 customers greatly value and even prefer businesses that offer self-service capabilities. This shift is monumental.

What this tells us is that the era of waiting in call queues for live agent assistance is gradually becoming a relic of the past. Our target audience is increasingly embracing automation, chatbots, and other self-service options. They’re not just open to these innovations; they’re actively seeking them out. This is a clear signal for us as a company to pivot and adapt. Our product strategy must prioritize delivering not just digital solutions, but the best digital experience.

Our focus at Route Mobile has been on investing in and expanding our digital offerings. We are conducting R&D on Blockchain and AI/ML technologies. We are currently in the Alpha stage of Gen AI technology advancement. The goal is to enhance chatbots’ capabilities in formulating data, making them intelligent enough to process and respond to complex customer queries in natural language.

Publication: Telecom : Milind Pathak on click-to-WhatsApp Ads and Route Mobile’s innovative solutions