A Multi-Channel Playbook: Integrating SMS Marketing in Your Sales Strategy

Say you launched a WhatsApp Broadcast campaign, but only received a 5% delivery rate. Now, with a failed campaign and the lowest customer acquisition ratio, your sales teams are unaware of how to achieve their targets.

As WhatsApp communication continues to trailblaze, companies don’t always prepare themselves for the worst. Having an SMS marketing fallback mechanism not only ensures improvement of the SMS marketing rate and acquaints you with the right providers, builds engagement channels and optimizes conversions.

Connecting your WhatsApp Business Manager with WhatsApp Business API platforms like Wati.io triggers a blended messaging dual workflow that enables you to broadcast on a larger scale and amplify your customer outreach strategy without getting stuck in a loop of failed engagement trials.

Let’s discuss all that Wati.io has to offer in this latest feature release.

The Reliability Gap: Where Does WhatsApp Marketing Lack?

Marketers and business owners face two critical pain points:

• Meta Restrictions & Regional Bans: WhatsApp marketing is declining due to Meta restrictions and country-level bans (e.g., in the USA). A recent study reveals that only 29% of US adults currently use WhatsApp, putting pressure on sales teams. Brands need alternative channels to keep campaigns effective.
• Fragmented Campaign Management: Running multi-channel campaigns means marketers often switch between multiple tools (WhatsApp for some regions, SMS for others), resulting in fragmented management, wasted time, and inconsistent customer messaging.
  

Why Do You Need SMS Fallback in WhatsApp Marketing?

Low response is the most common outcome of a large-scale WhatsApp Broadcast, negatively impacting the sales funnel. 

With SMS fallback in place, sales teams can reach out to customers via  one more reliable channel and solve recurring WhatsApp delivery problems.

Even today, SMS Marketing is one of the highly effective marketing channels that yields clicks and conversions. It doesn’t even require a mobile network or Meta permission, yet delivers measurable results.

Source: Omnisend

Wati’s WhatsApp Business API automates SMS fallback to target customers across geographies and improves message delivery rate. Sales teams that are unable to send WhatsApp broadcasts due to template or Meta restrictions can trigger fallback messages. 

With Wati’s new SMS marketing API upgrade, brands can improve success metrics like open rates, response rate, and customer inquiries that ultimately lead to improved conversions and sales success.

How Does Wati’s SMS Fallback Strategy Ensure 100% Delivery ROI?

During go-to-market launches, new campaigns are of utmost importance. They are the primary catalyst for building a lead generation pipeline quickly and driving timely sales pitches for rapid acquisition.

But, of late, WhatsApp marketing alone doesn’t quite make the cut. Brands using WhatsApp broadcasting end up knowing nothing about message delivery and ROI.

This is particularly relevant when considering that a recent study by Pew Research reveals that only 29% of US adults currently use WhatsApp. Also, studies have shown that WhatsApp Business API has one of the highest potential for B2C sales, with open rates soaring to 98% and delivery rates touching 45-60%.

With over 5 million businesses now using WhatsApp Business API, the adoption has increased significantly. Furthermore, research suggests that implementing WhatsApp Business API reported a 60% reduction in support costs, 3x faster response times, and a 35% improvement in customer satisfaction.

Given the evident benefits of WhatsApp Business API, investing in setting “no-stress” broadcast campaigns and blended outreach will add to market advantage in 2025.

Wati’s Blended Messaging: Integrating Benefits for Maximum Impact

By attributing your sales outreach to a WhatsApp Business API platform like Wati.io, you can switch to blended marketing messaging to effectively hit revenue targets. This blended approach operationalizes key benefits.

Solving Delivery Failure With an Automated SMS Trigger

When a WhatsApp message fails due to technical issues or Meta’s template policies, Wati.io’s WhatsApp Business automatically initiates an Automated SMS Trigger. This ensures secure and timely engagement, solving recurring delivery problems and strengthening your sales pipeline.

Achieving Global Reach and Regional Flexibility

While WhatsApp marketing has limitations, especially in the US, Wati’s fallback ensures Global Reach and Successful Delivery by enabling geo-based targeting. This Regional Flexibility allows you to connect with more mobile devices and convert high-intent customers into sales deals across different demographic segments.

Preventing Blacklisting via Alternative Channels

The Alternative Messaging Channel provided by SMS fallback is a smart approach that reduces the possibility of WhatsApp blacklisting. This allows your brand to build authentic connections and receive a better open and response rate by switching your distribution channel.

Optimizing Campaigns With Centralized Management

With integrated SMS marketing, Wati.io provides a Centralized Campaign Management dashboard where you can view both SMS metrics and WhatsApp sales metrics. This enhances Operational Efficiency by helping teams build advanced analytics reports to visualize campaign success and scope higher lead generation efforts

Driving Urgent Action With Time-Sensitive Promotions

For crucial, Time-Sensitive Promotions, SMS fallback gives a foolproof way to embed links and media, conveying the urgency of your offers to the maximum number of customers, enticing them to take action.

What to Keep in Mind While Running Blended Campaigns in Wati?

When you run campaigns through Wati, keep these things in mind.

• The system prioritizes the rich, interactive experience of WhatsApp with Meta Business Suite or third party integration.
• If the WhatsApp message delivery fails for any reason (e.g., restriction, network issue, or the user not having the app), the system automatically switches.
• An SMS is sent to the consumer similar to the WhatsApp message, based on contact details and category.

What Are the Benefits of SMS Marketing by Wati?

Mid-businesses and small entrepreneurs can attribute SMS Marketing in Wati float brand announcements, new catalogue, deals, offers, and discounts across several customer segments.

While shooting standard WhatsApp campaigns might result in low numbers, combining WhatsApp and SMS in Wati.io will increase the potential of high-intent conversions.

Having blended SMS strategy also affirms that someone is allocated to respond to new customer queries at all times. That results in reduced response times and improves overall sales efficiency for teams.

If you are on any of Wati’s price tiers: Growth, Pro, and Business, you can deploy the SMS fallback strategy with Twilio integration to improve your outreach potential and accelerate your sales revenue.

Read More: How Wati.io’s SMS Marketing Tools and WhatsApp Broadcasts Work Together

How Does SMS Marketing Assure 100% Delivery ROI?

Implementing a blended SMS Marketing workflow is an effective way to run multi-channel sales campaigns and protect your revenue.

While shooting standard WhatsApp campaigns might result in low numbers, combining WhatsApp and SMS in Wati.io will increase the potential for high-intent conversions.

The ROI is seen in three key areas:

• Sales Conversion Protection: Struggling with failed WhatsApp delivery negatively impacts the sales funnel. With SMS fallback in place, sales teams can reach out to customers via multiple channels and solve recurring WhatsApp delivery problems.
  
• Cart Recovery & Upsell Assurance: WhatsApp Business API has shown significant potential for sales, with around 70% of abandoned carts being recovered and reduced response times. By ensuring both promotional and cart-recovery messages are delivered (via fallback if needed), you protect this high-converting revenue stream.
  
• Cost-Effective Outreach: By enabling geo-based targeting via SMS fallback, you can reach out to customers in different demographic segments and convert high-intent customers into sales deals.

Ready for Future-Ready Messaging to Accelerate Conversion Efficiency?

We’ve moved on from an age of single-channel dependency for campaign efficiency. From small-scale entrepreneurs to large enterprises, multi-channel SMS marketing is working wonders to foster brand loyalty and consumer trust. 

Wati’s intelligent SMS fallback and direct SMS broadcasts move your strategy from hoping your messages deliver to guaranteeing they do. WhatsApp and SMS together raise the delivery success rate and lead to higher ROI in return.

Learn how to multiply your conversion potential with Wati.io’s 7-day free trial of WhatsApp Business API and manage multi-channel chats efficiently from now on.

Integrating SMS Marketing in Your Sales Strategy: Frequently Asked Questions