WHATSAPP BUSINESS PLATFORM
SNOCKS
Engaging customers with personalized messages to increase revenue and brand loyalty
SNOCKS
Brand
charles
WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
SUCCESS STORY
SNOCKS builds a powerful engagement channel on WhatsApp Business Platform to deliver more interactive, personalized marketing communication combining it with close customer support.
higher message open rates through WhatsApp over email
return on campaign spend in 6 months
of revenue from online store attributable to WhatsApp
higher customer lifetime value among customers opting-in through WhatsApp
THEIR STORY
Bringing comfort and style to customers
SNOCKS is a German-based direct-to-consumer retailer of socks, underwear, and select casual clothing for all genders. Started by two cousins who wanted to offer customers comfortable, well-made socks in a variety of styles, SNOCKS has experienced rapid growth, evolving to its own online storefront featuring everything from underwear, sportswear, and even winter wear.
THEIR GOAL
Finding the right fit for every customer
As SNOCKS grew rapidly, the company focused on current customer engagement and attracting new customers. SNOCKS needed a more immediate, interactive communications channel that could collect and target segments based on customer preferences.
THEIR SOLUTION
Communications channel with a broad fit
As a leading retailer of socks, underwear, and casual clothing, SNOCKS understands the value of comfort. Offering everything from retro-style sneaker socks to sportswear, the German company experienced rapid growth, roughly tripling its revenue in one year. For SNOCKS, a big challenge was supporting its growth while building more lasting, personal customer relationships to encourage repeat purchases.
Initially, SNOCKS focused its marketing and outreach on email campaigns to promote new sales and offers. But emails didn’t have the immediacy and interactivity to convert customers into SNOCKS superfans. With emails sometimes sitting unopened in customers’ inboxes for hours, SNOCKS was looking for a better way to offer unique, time-sensitive sales promotions. The limited email open and read rates also reduced the amount of data available about how customers engaged with SNOCKS’ campaigns, which is crucial for further segmentation.
Wanting a faster, more immediate, and cost-effective way to engage with customers, SNOCKS partnered with conversational commerce provider charles. Since WhatsApp is popular in Germany, the decision was made to add a new communications channel powered by WhatsApp Business Platform.
SNOCKS tested WhatsApp and email by building “exit intent” pop-ups to grab the attention of customers who might be about to leave the website. Pop-ups offered a special discount for either opting-in to marketing messages through WhatsApp or leaving an email address.
When a customer selected WhatsApp, a link directed them to a chat with a predefined message leading into an opt-in flow, prompting them to sign up for the SNOCKS newsletter before receiving their discount code – along with a link back to the main website to directly redeem it. Integrations with the company’s back-end e-commerce platforms enabled SNOCKS to track revenue attributable to WhatsApp.
“In less than a year, we grew our subscriber base to over 100,000 customers and generated more than €1m in revenue –or five percent of sales from our online store – through WhatsApp,” says Peter Huber, WhatsApp Marketing Manager, SNOCKS. “Customers are roughly 2.5 times more likely to open a message in WhatsApp than email, driving six times the revenue per recipient than email campaigns.”
Seeking greater clarity in how to convert a one-time sock buyer into a regular customer, SNOCKS turned to sophisticated segmentation. The company added questions to its opt-in process to learn more about customers’ interests – such as product preferences based on gender, or how often they wanted to receive messages in WhatsApp.
Time-sensitive WhatsApp promotions increased sales conversion
Customer registration captures product preferences
“The relationship between WhatsApp and SNOCKS’ e-commerce platforms helps them segment and target different customer groups, like special offers for the VIPs who’ve placed over 10 orders,” explains Maurizio Wagenhaus, Senior Customer Success Manager at charles.
SNOCKS has deepened its testing within WhatsApp to understand what appeals to customers, such as raffles and giveaways, or pop-ups encouraging customers to level up their purchases for a bigger discount. SNOCKS’ continual testing approach provides rich data that informs strategy for future campaigns.
The company offers special limited-time pre-sales for customers subscribed through WhatsApp, creating a sense of urgency that drives even higher engagement and sales.
“We can engage customers faster and more precisely with WhatsApp. This allows us to optimize our marketing spend and increase returns. Our return on campaign spend was over 586 percent in roughly six months,” says Huber. “Customers who opt-in to our WhatsApp campaigns show an average customer lifetime value over 10 percent higher than those from any other channel.”
Once a customer completes their purchase, they receive an order confirmation and tracking information through WhatsApp. SNOCKS also uses WhatsApp for friendly, frictionless customer support. When a customer messages to ask questions about products, order status, or returned items, they’re connected to a live agent within five minutes – even on weekends.
“We’ve seen that customers take the channel more seriously and are more receptive to promotional offers when they can also ask questions and get their service issues fixed – all without leaving the channel,” adds Wagenhaus.
In the future, SNOCKS plans to evolve its use of WhatsApp from seasonal or special occasion campaigns that supplement email to create a variety of segmented and lifecycle campaigns sent in WhatsApp.
“Through WhatsApp, we can make every customer interaction as convenient as possible. Now we put offers tailored to our customers’ interests right in their pocket while giving them faster, more accessible support,” says Huber.
THEIR SUCCESS
Higher open rates and revenue
SNOCKS builds a powerful communications channel on WhatsApp Business Platform to increase message open rates, drive higher lifetime value among customers, and benefit from a substantial return on campaign spend.
- 2.5X higher message open rates through WhatsApp over email
- 586% return on campaign spend in 6 months
- 5% of revenue from online store attributable to WhatsApp
- 10% higher customer lifetime value among customers opting-in through WhatsApp
“In less than a year, we grew our subscriber base to nearly 100,000 customers and generated over €1m in revenue – or five percent of sales from our online store – through WhatsApp. Customers are roughly 2.5 times more likely to open a message in WhatsApp than email, driving six times the revenue per recipient than email campaigns.”
PRODUCTS USED
WhatsApp Business Platform
Connect with customers easily by using tools to automate and quickly respond to messages.