For overseas enterprises, WhatsApp is a core channel to reach overseas customers. However, many enterprises fall into the dilemma of "high investment but low conversion" — they send product information to a large number of overseas numbers, yet the conversion rate is less than 1%. The core reason lies in the lack of a professional WhatsApp number screening process. A professional WhatsApp number screening process can help overseas enterprises filter out real overseas customers with needs from global number databases, avoiding resource waste on invalid numbers. Relying on the WhatsApp number screening process built by ITG Global Screening, enterprises can further achieve full-link efficiency improvement covering "accurate identification + regional adaptation + tiered operation," making it a key tool for overseas enterprises to boost overseas customer conversion rates. Starting from the conversion pain points of overseas enterprises, this article will explain in detail how to build a professional WhatsApp number screening process, and combine practical cases of ITG Global Screening to help overseas enterprises improve the conversion efficiency of overseas customers.
Many overseas enterprises directly purchase overseas numbers for bulk messaging in WhatsApp marketing, but ignore the professional WhatsApp number screening process. This leads to 3 major conversion problems, eventually trapping them in a cycle of "the more you invest, the more you lose":
Overseas WhatsApp numbers obtained by overseas enterprises from third-party channels often contain a large amount of invalid resources:
- Regional Mismatch: The target market is the United States, but a large number of irrelevant numbers from India and Southeast Asia are mixed in, making the sent content disconnected from customer needs.
- High Proportion of Invalid Numbers: Empty numbers, disconnected numbers, and numbers unregistered on WhatsApp account for over 50%. The retention rate of users with some virtual numbers (e.g., U.S. Google Voice numbers) is less than 3%.
- Mixed High-Risk Accounts: High-risk accounts that have been banned by WhatsApp or reported multiple times will cause the enterprise’s own marketing accounts to be restricted if associated with them for messaging.
Before implementing a professional WhatsApp number screening process, an overseas 3C enterprise sent product information to 100,000 "global numbers" but only reached 38,000 valid customers. The real reach rate was less than 40%, the conversion rate was only 0.8%, and over 60% of the marketing budget was wasted.
WhatsApp user habits vary significantly across different overseas markets. A number screening process lacking regional adaptation will result in "even valid numbers failing to convert":
- Time Zone Mismatch: Sending messages to U.S. customers in the early morning (their local time) leads to a message open rate of less than 10%; sending to European customers during working hours makes the messages likely to be regarded as intrusive.
- Demand Differences: Promoting high-end products to Southeast Asian customers with low-price demands, or low-cost competing products to European and American customers who prioritize quality, will naturally result in low conversion rates.
- Compliance Risks: Failing to screen compliant accounts and sending unauthorized information to GDPR-sensitive users in the EU may trigger complaints and lead to account restrictions.
An overseas home furnishing enterprise did not conduct regionally adapted WhatsApp number screening and sent uniform content to a mixed pool of European and Southeast Asian numbers. The conversion rate in the European market was only 0.5%, and the conversion rate in the Southeast Asian market was also less than 1.2% due to product mismatch.
If overseas enterprises do not tier customers through the WhatsApp number screening process and send the same content to both "high-intent customers" and "low-intent customers," the following will occur:
- Loss of High-Intent Customers: Failing to send targeted offers in a timely manner causes customers to be lured by competitors.
- Aversion from Low-Intent Customers: Frequent delivery of conversion-oriented content leads to being marked as "spam" or even reported.
An overseas beauty brand did not tier its customers and sent new product information to all customers without differentiation. The conversion rate of high-intent customers was only 2%, while the report rate of low-intent customers reached 8%, resulting in overall low conversion efficiency.
Relying on ITG Global Screening, overseas enterprises can build a professional WhatsApp number screening process in 4 steps — "Accurate Identification → Regional Adaptation → Customer Tiering → Operational Implementation" — to improve overseas customer conversion rates from the source. The core process is as follows:
This is the foundation of a professional WhatsApp number screening process. Through multi-dimensional detection by ITG Global Screening, invalid numbers are eliminated, and real customers with needs are retained:
- Basic Status Identification: Connect to the WhatsApp Business API to real-time detect whether numbers are "empty, disconnected, or unregistered," eliminating 100% of invalid resources.
- Precise Virtual Number Filtering: Identify mainstream global virtual numbers (e.g., U.S. Google Voice, TextNow, Indian Jio temporary numbers). Users of these numbers have low activity, and filtering them can reduce invalid deliveries by over 30%.
- High-Risk Account Labeling: Synchronize global WhatsApp risk control data to label high-risk accounts that are "banned, frequently reported, or have abnormal devices," avoiding associated violations.
An overseas cross-border e-commerce enterprise targeted the U.S. market and used ITG to screen 200,000 numbers. It eliminated 85,000 invalid numbers, 23,000 virtual numbers, and 12,000 high-risk numbers, retaining 80,000 real valid customers. The subsequent reach rate increased from 35% to 92%.
The core need of overseas enterprises is to "accurately reach customers in target markets." The regional adaptation function of ITG Global Screening makes the WhatsApp number screening process more in line with the characteristics of overseas markets:
- Target Market Locking: Support screening numbers by "country/region" (e.g., retaining only numbers from the U.S., Europe, or a specific Southeast Asian country) to avoid regional mismatch.
- Time Zone and Active Period Labeling: Combine the time zone of the target market to mark users’ core active periods (e.g., 19:00-22:00 for U.S. users, 10:00-16:00 for European users, 10:00-12:00 & 19:00-21:00 for Southeast Asian users) to guide the optimal messaging time.
- Extraction of Regional Demand Labels: Generate demand labels based on users’ regions (e.g., "quality-first" for European and American users, "price-sensitive" for Southeast Asian users) to provide a basis for subsequent content adaptation.
An overseas outdoor equipment enterprise targeted the European market. Through ITG screening, it selected customers who were "in Europe + active in the past 7 days + following outdoor channels." Combined with European users’ active periods, it sent content about "high-quality outdoor equipment," increasing the open rate from 15% to 48% and the conversion rate by 3 times.
The core of a professional WhatsApp number screening process is to "tier and filter high-value customers." Through multi-dimensional labels, ITG Global Screening divides valid customers into 3 tiers to targeted improve conversion:
- High-Intent Customer Tier: Labeled as "clicked product links + inquired about prices + high activity in the past 7 days." The conversion probability of these customers exceeds 20%, and they should be prioritized for "limited-time offers + exclusive plans."
- Medium-Intent Customer Tier: Labeled as "browsed content + low-frequency interaction in the past 30 days." They should be sent "product cases + user reviews" to cultivate conversion willingness.
- Low-Intent Customer Tier: Labeled as "registered but no interaction + low activity." They should be sent "lightweight content (e.g., industry news)" to avoid excessive disturbance.
An overseas SaaS enterprise used ITG screening to tier customers and filtered out 15,000 high-intent customers from 100,000 valid customers. By sending "exclusive discounts + free trials," the conversion rate reached 25%, far exceeding the 5% rate before tiering.
The WhatsApp number screening process does not "end after screening." It needs to be combined with screening results to implement operations. ITG Global Screening supports integration with the existing systems of overseas enterprises to accelerate the conversion closed loop:
- System Integration: Screening results can be directly synchronized to CRM and WhatsApp bulk messaging tools, eliminating the need for manual data transfer.
- Automated Operation Triggering: Set rules (e.g., "automatically send discount links after high-intent customers are screened out") to reduce manual intervention.
- Data Review: Track conversion data of customers in different tiers and optimize subsequent screening dimensions (e.g., if customers who "follow industry news" show high conversion, increase the screening weight of this label).
An overseas home appliance enterprise used the ITG WhatsApp number screening process to synchronize screened customers to a WhatsApp bulk messaging tool. It automatically sent "overseas warehouse shipping + after-sales guarantee" information to high-intent customers, increasing the conversion rate from 3% to 18% and the repurchase rate by 20%.
- Pain Points: Sent new product information to 150,000 U.S. numbers, but the conversion rate was only 0.9%, and the marketing cost exceeded 80,000 yuan.
- Implementation of WhatsApp Number Screening Process:
- Used ITG to screen: Eliminated 62,000 invalid numbers, 21,000 virtual numbers, and retained 67,000 valid customers.
- Regional adaptation: Marked U.S. users’ active period (19:00-22:00) and extracted "3C product demand" labels.
- Tiered operation: Sent "new product discounts + local U.S. after-sales service" to 23,000 high-intent customers, and "product reviews" to 44,000 medium-low intent customers.
- Conversion Results: The conversion rate of high-intent customers reached 12%, the overall conversion rate increased to 5.8%, the marketing cost decreased by 55%, and the cost per customer acquisition dropped from 80 yuan to 36 yuan.
- Pain Points: The conversion rate in the European market was only 1.1%, the complaint rate reached 7%, and the account faced risk control risks.
- Implementation of WhatsApp Number Screening Process:
- Used ITG to screen: Retained only European numbers, eliminated 38,000 invalid numbers and 15,000 high-risk numbers.
- Compliance adaptation: Filtered GDPR-sensitive users who had not authorized marketing information.
- Tiered operation: Sent "customized home solutions" to high-intent customers and "European home design trends" to low-intent customers.
- Conversion Results: The conversion rate increased to 7.2%, the complaint rate dropped to 1.2%, the account had no risk control issues, and the order volume in the European market increased by 6 times.
It is recommended to obtain numbers through multiple channels such as "official website registration, exhibition collection, and precise third-party procurement," and conduct cross-verification through the ITG screening process to avoid poor number quality from a single channel.
For non-English markets (e.g., Southeast Asia, the Middle East), the ITG screening process can extract "language preference" labels. Subsequent delivery of small-language content (e.g., Indonesian product introductions for Indonesian customers) can improve conversion.
The status of overseas customer numbers changes rapidly (e.g., changing phone numbers, canceling accounts). It is recommended to re-screen with the ITG process monthly to ensure the quality of customer lists. An overseas enterprise that screens quarterly has seen a steady 10%-15% increase in conversion rates.
Free tools can only detect basic status, with an accuracy rate of less than 70% for overseas numbers, and cannot adapt to regional characteristics. ITG Global Screening has an accuracy rate of 99.2% for overseas number detection and also provides regional and tiered labels, making it more cost-effective in the long run.
The screening process needs to be linked with subsequent operations. Synchronize screening results to operational tools through ITG and set automated rules to avoid the separation of "screening and operations." Only then can the maximum conversion effect be achieved.
For overseas enterprises, competition in overseas markets is fierce, and "blind delivery" is no longer viable. A professional WhatsApp number screening process can help enterprises shift from "casting a wide net" to "precision fishing," reaching higher-value overseas customers at a lower cost.
The WhatsApp number screening process built with ITG Global Screening not only filters real valid customers but also adapts to global regional characteristics and implements tiered customer operations, solving conversion problems from the source. Remember: To improve the conversion rate of overseas customers, overseas enterprises do not rely on "more investment" but on "a more professional process." Building a professional WhatsApp number screening process is the starting point of all this.
If you need to adjust the expression of region-specific terms (e.g., "GDPR," "Google Voice") in this translation to better align with the communication habits of your target overseas markets (e.g., Southeast Asia, Europe), or if you want to export the English version as an editable document (such as Word), let me know. I can help you further polish the English translation of this article to meet your actual overseas marketing scenarios.
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