Business Platform
Dermalogica
Bringing consultative sales to life on mobile
Brand
WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
Recognizing the need to adapt to changing consumer preferences, skincare brand Dermalogica started promoting its products in one-on-one consultations directly in WhatsApp, and reported higher revenue, open rates and click-through rates than from identical campaigns in email.
1.7X
more revenue per recipient than email, from January to July 2024*
1.9X
higher open rate than email, from January to July 2024*
5X
higher click-through rate than email, from January to July 2024*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
Their Story
Personalized skincare solutions
Dermalogica takes an educational approach to cosmetics by providing skills-based training for its skincare consultants around the world. The Dermalogica product line is designed to be customized to the unique needs of each customer. The company prides itself on developing personalized skincare solutions and recommendations.
Their Goal
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Capturing the in-store experience on mobile
The Dermalogica team in Germany was looking for ways to enhance customer communication and engagement, primarily by making skincare consultations accessible beyond cosmetic treatment rooms. The challenge was finding a platform that could bring this vision to life online while maintaining the company’s reputation for high-quality skincare tailored to the needs of its customers.
Their Solution
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Conversational commerce in WhatsApp
Partnership and integration
To make one-to-one skincare consultations possible beyond in-store retail and aestheticians’ offices, Dermalogica teamed up with charles, a Meta Business Partner that specializes in building conversational commerce solutions for clients on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
The partners discussed integrating the WhatsApp API with Dermalogica’s other commerce and marketing solutions in order to build a customer marketing platform that enabled easy campaign delivery, automated messaging and marketing journeys, and one-to-one customer conversations and support. Discussions kicked off on August 11, 2023 and the solution went live at the end of the month. After the kickoff call between Dermalogica’s Ecommerce Marketing Team and Community Manager and charles’ Customer Success Team, where both companies aligned on an approach that met Dermalogica’s business goals, the teams kept meeting weekly so charles could answer questions, optimize the approach based on performance and provide hands-on support for the Dermalogica team.
Dermalogica continually utilizes WhatsApp analytics support from charles to track campaign performance and revenue, and gain insights into customer behaviors and preferences that can help optimize future marketing efforts. Quarterly business reviews allow for broader discussions of overall performance and market developments, to help both teams set goals for the upcoming business period.
“In customer service, it's not always easy to measure concrete results, but one-to-one consultations in WhatsApp are helping us achieve our goal of increasing customer engagement. We see the reactions we get from customers when our cosmetic consultant can solve their skin issues: heart emojis and great feedback. And of course, we believe that all this is worth it because it can ultimately lead to sales and long-term brand loyalty.”
Louisa Schiminski
Ecommerce Marketing Manager, Dermalogica
Personalized customer journeys
Potential customers first become aware of Dermalogica’s WhatsApp consultation service through its various marketing channels, such as campaigns and messages in WhatsApp, Dermalogica’s website, social media posts, email marketing and word of mouth. Interested shoppers can then choose to engage with Dermalogica in WhatsApp via text or voice message and request a personal skincare consultation with Dermalogica’s trained cosmetician in WhatsApp, or subscribe to receive regular updates and offers from the brand. The consultant meets with customers in real time via text message on WhatsApp to give skincare advice, answer questions and help guide each individual to the Dermalogica products that are right for them, thereby enabling the decision and purchase stages of the journey. During the consultation, customers can send photos and videos to the consultant as needed. In the post-purchase stage, Dermalogica continues to engage with customers on WhatsApp to provide support, tips, recommendations and more.
Dermalogica also sends out regular campaigns to customers who have opted to receive messages in WhatsApp, typically once a month. People who reply to these messages receive a direct message from the Community Manager.
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Tips and recommendations
- Use the unsubscribe footer feature in WhatsApp to ensure GDPR compliance and respect customer preferences
- Offer personalized product recommendations in WhatsApp to enhance the customer experience and grow loyalty
- Ask users to opt-in to receive marketing messages after completing their consultation
- Include links to products in WhatsApp in order to encourage direct sales
- Exchange photos with customers when relevant in order to better understand their needs
- Try different types of WhatsApp campaigns, such as monthly offers and gifts, to find the approach that works best for your brand
- Build a strong relationship with your WhatsApp Business Partner to ensure seamless integration and ongoing support
Their Success
Dermalogica and charles compared the performance of WhatsApp campaigns to identical email campaigns and found that WhatsApp consistently delivered more revenue, higher open rates and higher click-through rates, including:
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Better performance than email
- 1.7X more revenue per recipient than email, from January to July 2024*
- 1.9X higher open rate than email, from January to July 2024*
- 5X higher click-through rate than email, from January to July 2024*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
“Dermalogica's successful use of WhatsApp to tackle challenges most big consumer brands face—offering personalized on-and-offline customer service experiences, staying top-of-mind while generating ongoing revenue—proves the significant impact of the channel within a brand's marketing and customer experience mix.”
Andreas Tussing
CEO, Charles
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