In the face of email saturation, falling click-through rates and growing distrust of traditional forms, a new approach is emerging with a vengeance: the conversational lead. Buoyed by the growing popularity of instant messengers like WhatsApp, this strategy enables brands to initiate direct, personalized and fluid exchanges with their prospects. A real revolution in the way leads are generated and qualified.
CEO and co-founder of WAX, an Effinity partner platform specialized in conversational paths on WhatsApp, Guillaume Escolier explains, from his point of view, why these new channels are today performance gas pedals for brands. He discusses the concrete benefits of conversational messaging, the types of audience that can be reached, and the key steps for implementing an effective strategy. An instructive insight for all companies looking to modernize their lead acquisition and build a more responsive, relevant customer relationship.
Why use these new communication channels (conversational leads) to generate leads?
Conversational channels like WhatsApp bring a new, more direct and engaging approach to lead generation. Where email or SMS struggle to capture attention, direct conversation enables immediate engagement. We enter into a fluid, personalized and more natural relationship, with significantly higher performance: on average, 95% of messages sent on WhatsApp are opened, and conversion rates are 3 to 5 times higher than on traditional channels.
At WAX, we design conversational paths that qualify leads in real time, while creating a simple and engaging experience. This approach enables us to build a shorter, more interactive and far more effective conversion funnel. The average response rate on WhatsApp is 50%. This unlocks conversational data, which is a goldmine for brands, enabling them to convert on the fly, or for retargeting.
Beyond the numbers, the interest is also qualitative: a relationship of trust is established, right from the first exchanges. On the customer’s side, the experience is fluid and frictionless; on the brand’s side, each interaction is an opportunity to better understand its audience and optimize its conversion path.
What audiences does it reach?
WhatsApp is the most widely used messaging application, with 3 billion users worldwide and 45 million in France. It’s also the application with the best age distribution! WhatsApp engages audiences from Clarins (women over 45) to ManoMano, The Bradery and Jimmy Fairly.
WhatsApp, already anchored in daily personal and professional usage, enables brands to reach their entire audience, with no age or digital maturity barriers. It’s a direct, accessible and natural channel, adapted to all contexts, to engage everyone where they’re already active.
For brands, it’s an opportunity to open up a channel that adapts to all contexts: retail, education, events, services… with a simple promise: talk to everyone, where they’re already active.
What are the achievable goals?
Our platform makes it possible to activate very concrete objectives, with a direct impact on sales and marketing performance.
1) Generate sales
With an average conversion rate of 20% on a WhatsApp conversation, the channel far outperforms other traditional levers. Every message can become a touchpoint that triggers a purchase.
2) Improve engagement
WhatsApp messages have an open rate of over 95%. Ideal for creating a strong bond with your customers, testing messages or activating limited offers.
3) Stimulate re-purchase and loyalty
Thanks to targeted automations (post-purchase reminders, cart abandonment reminders, novelty or back-in-stock alerts), we can observe up to +30% re-purchase on engaged audiences.
4) Maximize profitability
With ultra-targeted and personalized campaigns, WhatsApp offers a ROI 4 to 6 times higher than other channels. It’s cost-effective, traceable and easy to scale.
Ultimately, WhatsApp isn’t just another channel: it’s a performance tool that enables you to activate the right customers, at the right time, with the right message.
How is your solution billed?
Our business model is twofold
- a monthly subscription starting at €400/month
- WhatsApp conversation fee: we take a mark-up of 2-5 cents per WhatsApp conversation (in addition to the WhatsApp fee).
- A WhatsApp conversation is a window of unlimited exchange (text, photo, video, voice note) for 24 hours with a contact.
WhatsApp fees are added according to the type of conversation:
- Marketing conversations: 11.86 cents per conversation
- Utility” conversations (transactional or informative) cost 2.48 cents per conversation,
- Customer support and inbound messages are free of charge.
What are the main steps involved in setting up your solution?
After a strategic kick-off call, we deploy the first flows according to the brand’s challenges. We start by collecting opt-ins. There are 5 levers for collecting opt-ins and building a qualified base:
- In-store with QR codes
- Pop-ups on the website
- Emails and newsletters to announce the opening of the WhatsApp club: mail-to-whatsapp
- Click-to-WhatsApp-Ads
- Post-purchase automation :
- parcel tracking + whatsapp club opt-in
- Review collection + whatsapp club opt-in
Once the opt-ins have been collected, start-up campaigns are launched to “warm up” the account:
- Welcome message with exclusive benefits
- Invitations to events and private sales
- Teasing new collections
- Product launch preview on WhatsApp
We then set up conversational automations through personalized scenarios to maintain engagement:
- Abandoned basket recovery: 20% of abandoned baskets are recovered in WhatsApp
- Upsell: +30% upsell in WhatsApp
- Return-to-stock or wishlist reminders
The aim is to create a lively, useful and profitable channel that targets the right message at the right time.
