{"id":86534,"date":"2025-09-26T19:02:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/glossary\/whatsapp-marketing\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T13:26:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T13:26:27","slug":"whatsapp-marketing","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/glossary\/whatsapp-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WhatsApp marketing<\/strong> is the strategy of using WhatsApp to communicate with customers and prospects: sending offers, notifications and reminders, and handling conversations that end in sales.<\/p>\n\n

WhatsApp marketing works because the message lands in the same place where people talk to their family. That’s why it gets read so much.<\/p>\n\n

And that’s exactly why an irrelevant message is punished quickly, with a block.<\/p>\n\n

What is WhatsApp marketing?<\/h2>\n\n

Doing marketing on WhatsApp means using WhatsApp<\/a> as one more channel in your strategy, just like email marketing<\/a> or SMS marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Its strong point is conversation: the customer can reply in the same chat.<\/p>\n\n

There are two ways to do WhatsApp marketing. With the free WhatsApp Business<\/a> app, you handle chats manually and send broadcast lists<\/a> of up to 256 contacts.<\/p>\n\n

With the WhatsApp Business API<\/a>, you launch campaigns to your entire contact base from a platform.<\/p>\n\n

The first one is good for getting started. The second one is for when you want to send to many contacts, automate notifications and measure results.<\/p>\n\n

What is WhatsApp marketing used for?<\/h2>\n\n

It covers almost the entire customer lifecycle. These are the most common campaign types:<\/p>\n\n

Campaign type<\/th>Used for<\/th>Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Promotional<\/td>Selling an offer or a launch<\/td>48-hour sale for customers<\/td><\/tr>
Reminder<\/td>Recovering a sale or preventing no-shows<\/td>Abandoned cart or tomorrow’s appointment<\/td><\/tr>
Transactional<\/td>Informing about an order or a payment<\/td>Order shipped with its tracking link<\/td><\/tr>
Welcome<\/td>Introducing your brand to a new contact<\/td>Message with a sign-up discount, like a welcome email<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Reactivation<\/td>Winning back inactive customers<\/td>\u201cWe miss you\u201d with a perk (winback campaign<\/a>)<\/td><\/tr>
Customer service<\/td>Answering questions and closing sales<\/td>Answers about sizes or delivery times, also with a chatbot<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Almost all of them have an email version. The difference lies in the tone, shorter and more personal, and in the immediacy.<\/p>\n\n

What are its advantages and disadvantages?<\/h2>\n\n

The main advantage of WhatsApp marketing is the attention it gets. It’s the most widely used messaging app in Spain, and messages are almost always opened within minutes.<\/p>\n\n

It also lets you have conversations. A customer with a question writes in, you reply, and the sale is closed in the same chat. That’s conversational marketing<\/a> in its purest form.<\/p>\n\n

But it has its limits. Every message in an API campaign has a cost charged by Meta, and templates must be approved.<\/p>\n\n

There’s little space for content, and sending too many messages is punished with blocks.<\/p>\n\n

That’s why it works best in combination. The newsletter<\/a> shares your news at a relaxed pace, and WhatsApp drives the specific action.<\/p>\n\n

\"Types<\/figure>\n\n

How do you build a WhatsApp marketing strategy?<\/h2>\n\n

Imagine a cosmetics online store<\/a> that wants to sell more with WhatsApp marketing in its seasonal campaigns. These would be its steps:<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  1. Define the goal: sales, appointments, cart recovery or customer service.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Get your contacts’ permission with a clear checkbox in the subscription form<\/a> and confirm it with double opt-in<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Segment your contacts by interests or purchase history, just as you would with segmentation<\/a> in email.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Create the templates: a short message, one image, one button and a single call to action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Choose the frequency. One or two campaigns a month are usually enough.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Measure deliveries, reads, replies and sales, and adjust.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    Permission is not optional. The GDPR<\/a> requires consent for commercial communications, and Meta also requires it to use its platform.<\/p>\n\n

    \n

    Want to launch WhatsApp campaigns?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Connect your number to Meta and send to your contact groups from the same dashboard as your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    Create a free account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

    WhatsApp marketing message examples<\/h2>\n\n

    Here are three templates to adapt to your business. Notice that they are all short and have a single action.<\/p>\n\n

    \n

    Hi Laura, Only until Sunday: 20% off our entire facial care range for customers like you. Want us to save it for you? [View offers]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

    \n

    Hi Daniel, This is a reminder of your appointment at the clinic tomorrow at 10:30. If you can’t make it, tap here to reschedule. [Reschedule appointment]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

    \n

    Hi Marta, You left these sneakers in your cart. Free shipping today if you complete your purchase. [Complete order]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

    The third one is a version of the classic abandoned cart email<\/a>. Many stores combine them: first the email and, if there’s no purchase, a WhatsApp message the next day.<\/p>\n\n

    What tool do you need for WhatsApp marketing?<\/h2>\n\n

    To get started, the free app is enough. When your contact base grows, you need a platform connected to the WhatsApp API. Before choosing one, check these points:<\/p>\n\n