WhatsApp Marketing

El WhatsApp Marketing –lso known as marketing via WhatsApp– is a digital marketing strategy that consists of using the WhatsApp messaging application as a channel to communicate with your customers and potential customers in a direct and personalized way.

Instead of relying solely on email or social media, companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), use WhatsApp to send instant messages and engage in real-time conversations with their audience.

With WhatsApp Marketing, companies can:

• Promote products, services or special offers: send catalogs, discount announcements or launches directly to the user’s phone. 
• Interact with customers and provide support: answer queries, resolve doubts or receive immediat feedback, increasing customer satisfaction.
• Capture and nurture leads (potential customers): initiate conversations with new interested contacts and provide personalized follow-up to guide them in the sales process.
• Send important reminders and notifications: for example, confirm appointments, send event reminders, notify about the status of an order or share relevant updates.

In essence, WhatsApp Marketing relies on the immediacy and closeness offered by this popular messaging app (used by more than 2 billion people in the world).

Like email marketing, this channel allows for direct and segmented marketing, but with the added advantage that WhatsApp messages usually achieve very high open and read rates (it is estimated that up to 98% of messages are opened by users).

This means that, when used well, marketing via WhatsApp can help you expand your reach, improve your customer experience and give a boost to your sales quickly and effectively.

Benefits of WhatsApp Marketing for SMEs

WhatsApp Marketing offers numerous advantages for small and medium-sized businesses looking to get closer to their target audience:

Instant and direct communication:

Unlike other media, WhatsApp allows you to reach the customer instantly through messages that appear on their phone just like a personal chat would.

This immediacy facilitates one-on-one conversations in real time, something highly valued by today’s users.

A customer can respond in a matter of seconds, generating an active dialogue with the brand.

High level of engagement:

WhatsApp messages are usually read almost immediately due to mobile notifications.

With very high open rates, your content (text, images, video, or audio) will almost always be seen.

This translates into a higher probability of generating interaction and response from the customer compared to other channels.

Personalization and closeness:

WhatsApp is a channel perceived as personal, it is in the same space where the user chats with friends and family.

Therefore, when an SME uses WhatsApp appropriately (without spam, with prior consent and offering value), the customer feels a closer connection with the brand.

You can address each person by their name, send messages adapted to their interests and provide more human and personalized attention.

This closeness reinforces the customer’s trust and loyalty to your business.

Multipurpose channel (marketing, sales and support):

WhatsApp is not only for promoting products, but can also be integrated into different company processes.

For example, a single WhatsApp Business channel can be used to:

• Handle pre-sales inquiries
• Close sales by sending payment details or personalized links
• Provide post-sales support (order tracking, problem solving)
• And even for loyalty (sending useful content or greetings on special dates to your best customers)

This versatility makes it an integral tool for managing customer relationships throughout the entire purchase cycle.

Massive reach at low cost:

Currently, WhatsApp is ubiquitous, in many countries it is the leading messaging application.

For SMEs, this means being able to reach the majority of their customers without investing in expensive advertising campaigns.

The use of WhatsApp Business (the application aimed at companies) is free, and sending messages over the Internet has no per-message cost as would be the case with traditional SMS.

Even the WhatsApp API option (designed for more massive and automated sending) has relatively affordable per-message costs.

In short, marketing via WhatsApp can be very profitable, since with little investment it is possible to contact hundreds of customers efficiently.

Rich and attractive content:

On WhatsApp you can take advantage of multimedia formats to deliver your message in an impactful way.

It is possible to send images, videos, voice notes, PDF documents, locations or interactive links.

For example, a restaurant can send its menu in PDF or photos of daily specials, a fashion store can send a catalog with images of the new collection, or a consultant can share an explanatory video.

This enriched content captures attention and communicates more information than simple text, adding value to your campaigns.

In summary, for an SME, WhatsApp Marketing offers a competitive advantage: it enables fast, personal, and effective communication with its audience, helping customers feel more connected to the brand.

Many small businesses that incorporate WhatsApp campaigns into their communication strategy manage to differentiate themselves and strengthen the relationship with their customers, complementing other digital marketing actions.

How to implement a WhatsApp marketing strategy

Starting your own WhatsApp Marketing campaign is relatively simple.

Below, we offer practical steps and tips to leverage this channel effectively:

Set up WhatsApp Business:

The first step is to download the WhatsApp Business application (available for free for Android and iOS) or use the WhatsApp Business API if your goal is a more advanced integration.

The WhatsApp Business app is designed for SMEs and includes special features such as a business profile (with contact information, description and hours), labels to organize chats, and quick replies.

Complete your business profile with all relevant data (address, email, website) to provide credibility and professionalism.

Obtain the consent of your contacts:

Just like in email marketing, it is essential that your customers want to receive your messages.

Don’t add numbers to the list without permission, instead, promote voluntary subscription.

You can do this by:

• Inviting your customers to send you a WhatsApp message to join a broadcast list
• Placing a “Contact us on WhatsApp” button on your website
• Sharing a WhatsApp link or QR code on social media
• Or by using subscription forms (for example, offering a free resource or discount in exchange for the user contacting you via WhatsApp)

This process ensures a qualified database and prevents your messages from being considered intrusive.

Segment and organize your contacts:

As your list of subscribers on WhatsApp grows, organize the contacts into groups or use the labels in WhatsApp Business to segment them.

For example, you can label those who have not yet purchased as “Prospect,” those who already have as “Customer,” your frequent buyers as “VIP,” etc.

This will help you send more relevant messages to each segment.

WhatsApp broadcast lists allow you to send the same message to several recipients privately (each one receives it as an individual chat), but remember that only those who have your number saved in their contacts will receive these mass messages.

Therefore, it is important to encourage users to save your contact (perhaps by offering them some incentive or a reminder like “add this number to receive our news”).

Plan the content and frequency of your messages:

Design a communication calendar for WhatsApp just as you would for other networks or for email.

Define what type of messages you will send and with what frequency.

Some content ideas include:

• Welcome messages upon subscribing
• Useful tips or advice related to your sector (providing value, not just sales)
• News or updates from your business
• Exclusive promotions via WhatsApp
• Short surveys to get customer opinions
• Among others

It is key to balance promotional content with informative or valuable content so as not to overwhelm the subscriber.

Regarding frequency, be prudent: sending daily messages can be excessive unless the customer expects it, in many cases weekly communications or messages at specific times (e.g., beginning of the month, sales season, special events) will suffice.

Observe your audience’s reaction and adjust the frequency if you notice little interaction or people leaving the list.

Pay attention to the writing and tone of your messages:

On WhatsApp, communication tends to be more informal and direct than on other channels, but at the same time you must maintain your brand’s professionalism.

Use a close and friendly tone, as if you were conversing with the customer individually.

Personalize each message with the recipient’s name when possible, and make sure the text is clear and concise.

People tend to read WhatsApp messages quickly, so it’s best to get to the point from the first line.

Use emojis moderately if they fit your business style, as they can humanize the conversation and attract visual attention.

For example, a greeting emoji 👋 at the beginning or a relevant icon (🎁 to announce an offer, 🕒 to remind of an event at a certain time) can make your message more eye-catching.

However, avoid writing very long paragraphs in a single message; if you need to provide extensive information, divide the text into several messages or supplement it with a PDF/image to make it easier to read.

Send valuable content and calls to action:

Every message you send should have a clear purpose.

Whether to inform, encourage a purchase or simply strengthen the relationship, try to include a call to action (CTA) in your messages when appropriate.

For example, if you announce a discount, add something at the end like “Reply COUPON to get your coupon now!” or “Shop here 👉 [link]”.

If you share a new catalog, you can say “Are you interested in any product? Write to us and we’ll help you with your order.”

These CTAs encourage the user to interact and make it easier for you to measure interest.

Likewise, take advantage of the interactive features that WhatsApp offers:

• You can use quick replies
• Simple polls (asking the user to send a number or keyword to choose an option)
• Or share store locations
• Among other possibilities

The more dynamic and useful your content is, the more your contacts will engage.

Respect privacy and sending times:

A critical aspect of WhatsApp Marketing (and of any direct channel) is not to abuse the trust the customer has given you.

Send messages within reasonable hours (for example, on business days and during common working hours).

Contacting a customer early on a Sunday morning or very late at night can cause annoyance.

Likewise, always provide an exit route: indicate to the user that they can stop receiving messages whenever they wish.

On WhatsApp, this can be as simple as the customer writing “UNSUBSCRIBE” or “STOP” for you to remove them from the broadcast list.

Although WhatsApp does not have an “unsubscribe” button like email, you must manually honor these requests.

This is not only ethical and aligned with data protection regulations, but it also prevents people from blocking you (which would damage your number’s reputation and could even lead to the suspension of your account if many people report you as spam).

Be agile in responses and attention:

One of the great expectations when using WhatsApp is speed.

If a customer responds to your campaign or starts a conversation with you, seize the opportunity and answer them as soon as possible.

The speed of response can make the difference between closing or losing a sale.

If your volume of chats grows and you cann’t handle everything manually, consider using automation tools: for example, set up away or welcome messages in WhatsApp Business (the app allows you to set automatic messages when someone writes outside of business hours, or an initial greeting thanking them for their contact).

For more advanced cases, there are chatbots or CRM integrations that can answer frequently asked questions or collect some preliminary information from the lead before a person intervenes.

These automations should be used carefully so as not to sound too robotic, but when well implemented, they help scale customer service without losing the personal touch.

Measure results and integrate with your overall strategy:

Although WhatsApp doesn’t offer statistics as detailed as an email marketing platform (you will not see an open rate report because almost everyone opens the messages, and the metrics are more basic), you can still evaluate the success of your actions.

Observe how many people respond to your campaigns, how many perform the desired action (e.g., how many clicks the link you sent received, how many sales were generated after a coupon was shared via WhatsApp) and also pay attention to how many ask to unsubscribe or block you (indicators of saturation).

Incorporate this feedback into your strategy to improve future messages.

Likewise, combine WhatsApp with other channels: the most effective marketing is usually multi-channel or omni-channel.

For example, you could send a monthly email marketing newsletter with news and useful articles (taking advantage of the breadth of email for more extensive content) and, at the same time, use WhatsApp for brief reminders or last-minute flash offers.

Both channels complement each other: while email helps you nurture the lead with in-depth valuable content, WhatsApp allows you to reinforce the message with immediate reminders or resolve doubts on the spot.

Integrating both channels coherently ensures that your audience receives the right information through their preferred channel, thus increasing the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Best practices and final considerations

The success of WhatsApp Marketing for SMEs will depend on how you apply the strategy.

Some additional best practices to keep in mind are:

• Don’t spam: send messages only to those who have agreed to receive them. Avoid using purchased databases or randomly adding contacts, as this will damage your brand image and can lead to blocks.
• Maintain brand consistency: although WhatsApp is more informal, make sure the communication style follows your brand’s guidelines. Use your recognizable company logo or profile picture, and write messages consistent with the identity you project on other media (website, social networks, emails, etc.). The customer experience should feel unified.
• Update your list periodically: if certain contacts never interact or are inactive, consider removing them after a while to focus on genuinely interested contacts. A committed contact base, even if smaller, is worth more than a huge but indifferent list.
• Respect WhatsApp’s policies: Meta (the company that owns WhatsApp) has clear terms of service, especially if you use the API. Don’t send prohibited content, or chain-like messages that are too frequent, and avoid having your number reported. Following the rules will ensure that you can continue to use the platform without any issues.

In conclusion

WhatsApp Marketing has become a powerful ally for businesses looking to improve their communication with customers.

Due to its massive reach, its instant nature, and the ability to engage in personalized conversations, this well-managed channel can increase lead capture, boost sales, and strengthen customer loyalty.

And the best part is that SMEs can take advantage of it on practically equal terms with large companies, as the tool is available to everyone.

If you integrate WhatsApp into your strategy along with email marketing actions and other digital tactics, you can create a more complete omni-channel experience, accompanying the customer at every step with the right message.

In today’s world, where speed and closeness make the difference, marketing via WhatsApp is an opportunity worth exploring to take your business to the next level.