How to boost sales for DSF: automating your Dubai Shopping Festival marketing campaign

How to boost sales for DSF Dubai Shopping Festival

Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) is just around the corner, and it's time for businesses to gear up for this retail extravaganza. DSF is one of the most significant shopping festivals globally, and if you're in retail, e-commerce, beauty and wellness, education or service industry, you won't want to miss this opportunity to boost your sales. 

What is Dubai Shopping Festival?

Dubai Shopping Festival

Image from Coming Soon UAE

DSF Dubai Shopping Festival is an annual month-long retail event held in Dubai, UAE, known for its massive discounts, promotions, and entertainment activities. It's a shopper's paradise that attracts millions of visitors from around the world.

When is Dubai Shopping Festival 2023?

2023 Dubai Shopping Festival is from December 15, 2023, to January 29, 2024. However, keep in mind that the Dubai Shopping Festival 2023 dates might change, so it’s better to remain updated online from time to time.

How to attract customers for DSF Dubai Shopping Festival

Customers in the UAE shopping online

To stand out during DSF Dubai Shopping Festival and attract customers effectively, you need a well-thought-out marketing strategy. In a world where customers are increasingly turning to digital channels, your marketing efforts must keep pace.

  1. Create eye-catching visuals that showcase your DSF deals and promotions. 

  2. Utilize social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and more to create buzz around your DSF offers. Regularly post engaging content, run contests, and use relevant hashtags to increase your reach and engagement.

  3. Craft compelling, personalized email campaigns that highlight your Dubai Shopping Sale discounts and exclusive offers.

  4. Create informative and valuable content related to the Dubai Shopping Festival, such as blog posts, articles, and videos that provide tips, guides, and insights about Shopping Festival Dubai to position your brand as an authority and attract more visitors to your website.

  5. Collaborate with social media influencers and bloggers who have a significant following in your niche to reach a wider audience and build trust among potential customers.

  6. Invest in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Target specific keywords and demographics to ensure your ads reach the right audience.

  7. Distribute Dubai Shopping Festival offers on their preferred channels such as WhatsApp, so that your customers can't resist them.

  8. Optimize your website so that it’s mobile-friendly and optimized for fast loading times, easy-to-navigate, responsive, and SEO-optimized for a better user experience and higher conversions.

  9. Implement remarketing campaigns to re-engage with visitors who have shown interest in your DSF offers but haven't made a purchase yet. Remind them of the value you offer.

  10. Provide exceptional customer support by promptly addressing inquiries and concerns to ensure a positive shopping experience, which can lead to repeat business and referrals.

4 types of WhatsApp features you can use to boost your Dubai Shopping sale

WhatsApp for customer service FAQ chatbot

Set up a chatbot for scheduling appointments and purchasing tickets

Streamline customer engagement by deploying a chatbot to facilitate appointment scheduling. For instance, customers might want to make an appointment prior to visiting the entertainment venues in Dubai Festival City Mall during the Dubai Shopping Festival. If the visitors are traveling from overseas, they will reach out to your entertainment business from a different time zone. Having a chatbot for customers to schedule an appointment or purchase tickets in advance will allow them to travel and shop with ease.

Send personalized WhatsApp Broadcast for food and menu recommendations

WhatsApp for marketing WhatsApp Broadcast

Tailor your approach by using WhatsApp Broadcasts to send personalized food and menu recommendations to your target audience. Whether it's highlighting culinary delights or special DSF menu offerings, personalized messages resonate more deeply with customers, foster a closer relationship, and are more likely to inspire them to visit your restaurant.

Connect travel experts with prospects, all in one chat

For travel agencies, the path to purchase can be simplified by bringing travel experts and prospects into the same WhatsApp chat. This direct connection not only enables real-time inquiries and expert guidance but also assists the customer in their decision-making process. If the prospective customer prefers to communicate in their non-English native language, you can also assign a professional agent who’s fluent in the language or get someone to translate the message in the chat.

Share promo codes with social media campaigns

Take advantage of the expansive reach of social media to drive Dubai Shopping sales. You can include WhatsApp links on your social media posts or campaigns, and ask prospective customers to claim their exclusive promo codes by sending a WhatsApp message. This way, you can ensure to engage only those who are truly interested in your products and services while lowering your costs for WhatsApp conversations.

Equipping your DSF Dubai Shopping Festival marketing strategy with these WhatsApp features can improve your efficiency while providing a customer-centric experience, ultimately increasing your Dubai Shopping sales.

Sounds like a lot of work? Start by learning how to create the most successful Dubai Shopping Fest with integrated automation.

Flow builder: how to automate your DSF Dubai WhatsApp marketing campaign in 1 flow 

Automation is the key to success in modern marketing. By using a flow builder, you can automate your marketing campaign for the Dubai Shopping Festival, where your customers can enjoy a seamless chat-to-pay experience from initial contact in the chat to payment confirmation, all without the hassle of doing all the work manually.

1. Use a variety of entry points to direct customers to WhatsApp

lady working on laptop with sleekflow whatsapp message qr code

In 2023, 27% of consumers find new products from ads on social media, and 22% find products through recommendations from posts and comments. Since businesses that use WhatsApp often see a 27% increase in sales, it will be beneficial for you to direct customers from social platforms to WhatsApp.

On the flow builder, this would be the Start Point, which is where your flow begins. For the Dubai Shopping Festival campaign, you can use a WhatsApp link with a preset message, so that the link can be triggered when the message comes in from prospective customers who are interested in your products and services.

You can also encourage users to start a conversation with your brand using these methods:

  • Set up a WhatsApp button on your Facebook Page and Instagram Business account

  • Use WhatsApp QR codes on banners, posters, or receipts

  • Hyperlink your WhatsApp number with a click-to-chat link

Harvey Nichols Dubai's Facebook Page

Caption: Harvey Nichols Dubai uses a WhatsApp CTA on their Facebook Page.

Harvey Nichols Dubai's Instagram Business page

Caption: Harvey Nichols Dubai uses a WhatsApp link on their Instagram Bio.

If you have the budget for social media ads, you can also use Click to WhatsApp ads to drive potential customers directly to WhatsApp. Customers are often more likely to engage and convert when they can communicate on a platform they trust.

2. Generate and qualify leads with an automated chatbot

Next, you can set up an automated chatbot to qualify and engage these WhatsApp leads. No matter the time or location, you can use WhatsApp chat buttons and list messages with keywords that will trigger your flow. This automated chat flow can help understand the prospective customers’ interests in your products or services for your super sale Dubai marketing campaign and only loop in human agents when necessary.

3. Auto-assign conversations to the right person

Once you establish the product interest or budget of a customer, you can also automatically assign WhatsApp conversations to the appropriate salesperson. It develops an efficient workflow and allows the team to prioritize the bigger clients.

Assigning a new WhatsApp lead for Dubai Shopping Festival automatically

Commerce features to use in your Dubai Shopping Festival WhatsApp flow

In-chat payment link used by Le Dessert, an online patisserie

To avoid having the customers switch between tabs or apps, you can generate a customized in-chat payment link to streamline the checkout process. This means that your customers will be able to pay directly on WhatsApp using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or credit card, reducing friction and cart abandonment rates. You will also be able to track your team’s performance with a real-time sales dashboard with the click-through rate and conversion rate.

Automate order updates and delivery statuses

The customer journey does not stop right after they complete their order. It is important that you keep your customers informed and engaged with automated updates on their order and delivery statuses. The pleasant shopping experience can then build trust and motivate them to return for more purchases, other than bringing some word-of-mouth marketing for your brand.

Segment contacts with labels

When you provide customer support or organize retargeting campaigns, knowing the priority and their interest is essential. With labels tagged to segment your customer contacts, you can offer more accurate support and send precise targeted promotions to specific customer groups with a higher chance of conversion.

Integrate your CRM platform and e-commerce store 

If you have an existing CRM platform or e-commerce store, it will also be a great idea to integrate them with WhatsApp, so that the customer data is synchronized, and you can view their details such as personal information, lead status, and order history right next to the chatbox.

Successful examples of automated marketing campaigns for your business Dubai

Sefamerve gained a 158% increase in conversion rate and 2.6x revenue in sales with WhatsApp flows

Sefamerve uses WhatsApp to sell products

Sefamerve, a retailer of stylish Hijab clothing and dresses, created new WhatsApp flows to offer customers a seamless shopping experience. The WhatsApp solution helped with the lead generation, shopping and ordering, and customer support processes. In 4 months, they advanced from using WhatsApp only for account creation, product search, and add-to-cart action to allowing the full shopping experience to take place on WhatsApp.

As a result, they acquired an impressive outcome:

  • 158% increase in conversion with WhatsApp automated flows vs prior chatbot experience

  • 2.6x sales cost revenue with WhatsApp automated flows vs prior chatbot experience

  • 80,000 products available to purchase within WhatsApp

TKD Lingerie achieved 40X ROAS and 74% open rate with WhatsApp automation

TKD Lingerie Holiday WhatsApp Marketing Campaign

TKD Lingerie, an award-winning GCC retail brand that specializes in lingerie, swimwear, sportswear, maternity, and nightwear, has successfully launched their promotional campaign with satisfying results of 40X return on ad spent (ROAS) and 74% message open rate.

TKD Lingerie has used WhatsApp Business API to create an intimate space for customer communication. They have also equipped SleekFlow Automation to ensure timely responses. For example, if a customer is about to give birth soon, they will schedule messages to coincide with the arrival of the newborns and optimize sales opportunities. They cater to customers in various time zones, acknowledge their value, and accommodate different working hours.

There are also various features that TKD Lingerie has found useful for their marketing campaign:

  • SleekFlow’s mobile app for bra-fitting specialists to reply to customers on the go

  • Personalized messages for WhatsApp Broadcast, targeting 4,500 contacts in their database, promoting a 3-for-2 offer with a customer-centric experience

  • High engagement with tools like quick replies, which has attributed 78 closed online-to-offline sales to the campaign in just one week

Want to know more? Talk to us and learn more about automating your DSF Dubai marketing campaign today.

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