WhatsApp Marketing Best Practices to Maximize Your ROI in 2025

When it comes to reaching out to your target audience, you need a platform that is dynamic and allows you to communicate with them in real-time. In recent times, the platform that has emerged as a go-to choice for businesses to connect with their customers is WhatsApp. 

WhatsApp has evolved from a simple messaging app to a full-fledged business suite that can help you shorten customer journeys by interacting with leads from initial interaction to final conversion. Plus, its huge international user base of 2.8 billion people boosts the likelihood of finding your customers on the app. 

This is the reason why brands have adopted WhatsApp into their marketing strategy is because of its extensive outreach and automation capabilities. Now, with the support of Click-to-WhatsApp ads, you can even use WhatsApp to drive and generate leads using WhatsApp. 

Having said that, millions of businesses use WhatsApp to run promotional campaigns to market their products to billions of users worldwide. This shows that a significant amount of investment goes into WhatsApp marketing initiatives for businesses to maximize their ROI. 

Ranging from WhatsApp tools to per-message costs, there are a lot of things you have to consider to find out the breakeven cost and at what point you can start getting returns or how you can drive it to the maximum. 

That being said, in this article, I will explore some of the best practices for WhatsApp marketing that will allow you to harness its full potential and make the most of it to drive business success. So, without wasting any time, let’s dive into it!

What is WhatsApp marketing? 

Like any other marketing activity, WhatsApp marketing involves utilizing WhatsApp to market your products or services. It is all about making use of the WhatsApp Business app or the WhatsApp Business API to reach out to your target audience, offer relevant product recommendations, and encourage them to make a purchasing decision. 

WhatsApp, being a messaging app, helps you to connect with your customers in real-time to let you build strong connections and deliver interactive customer experiences to make the sales journey don’t feel like a chore. 

You can leverage the multimedia-rich messaging functionality of WhatsApp to send promotional messages containing images, videos, tailored content, voice calls, and documents to engage customers effectively.

How to kickstart your WhatsApp marketing initiatives?

WhatsApp Business Platform can be accessed in a couple of ways: 

• WhatsApp Business App
• WhatsApp Business API

Here is a table showing the difference between these two ways: 

The advantages of WhatsApp as a marketing channel

As you would have understood by now, WhatsApp provides numerous advanced marketing capabilities to interact with your customers in a timely manner. However, the biggest advantage of using it as a marketing channel is its conversational outreach. 

You can reach out to customers in real-time and conversate with them about your business. No other channel offers this kind of freedom, at least not with a user base of billions.  On top of that, people use WhatsApp on a daily basis, meaning they are always in a position to read and interact with your messages. 

In fact, WhatsApp has amazing open rates of 98% and engagement rates of around 65%. These numbers are significantly higher than traditional channels like email or SMS. 

Furthermore, WhatsApp provides you the capability to personalize your content and deliver relevant messages that best match the interests of every customer. A good example of this is an exclusive marketing message containing a tailored offer to encourage prospects to take action. 

Ways to use WhatsApp for your marketing efforts

As I said previously, WhatsApp offers a wide range of features and can be used in various ways to promote your business. Below are a few ways to make the most of your WhatsApp for your marketing initiatives: 

Share engaging marketing content

Being a home of billions of users, you can reach out to your customers using personalized content informing them about product updates, upcoming launches, or flash sales to generate hype around your business. 

Also, by leveraging the massive engagement and interaction rates, you can ensure your messages are acted upon. However, make sure you don’t overwhelm them with marketing messages. Sticking to a planned schedule and finding the right time to engage are better strategies than sending too many messages constantly as you stand a risk of getting your WhatsApp account banned by Meta. 

Automate scheduling your messages

After a lead is interested in your offering, you can schedule automated marketing messages to keep them in the loop. These kinds of marketing messages can be used for sending time-sensitive offers, alerts about their purchases, and recovering abandoned carts. This way, you can make sure your customers are engaged consistently across all the stages of the sales funnel. 

Enhance your customer support processes

A user can reach out to your business at any time regardless of your business hours. Plus, they don’t want to wait hours or days to get a response from your end. 

To address these issues, you can take advantage of the automation and customer support capabilities of WhatsApp Business API to set up auto-responders like WhatsApp chatbots. These bots can interact with customers on your behalf and resolve common customer queries effectively. 

With WhatsApp flows, you can design an in-depth customer workflow to automate redundant operations and streamline your customer service processes.

Leverage the WhatsApp catalog to highlight your offerings

WhatsApp allows you to highlight your products using a feature called WhatsApp Catalog. This catalog can be customized to showcase multiple items at once directly within the WhatsApp chat. Your customers can swipe across the catalog to check out various products straight from the chat UI.

Using this feature, you can enable customers to browse your offerings straight from the conversations they were having with you, increasing the chances of getting more sales. 

WhatsApp marketing best practices for your business

Now that you know how you can make use of WhatsApp,  let’s take a look at some of the best practices to start leveraging WhatsApp as a robust marketing tool:

Understand your customers

Customers want personalized messages. No one likes to receive unsolicited random marketing messages from businesses. Over 60% of customers like to get tailored messages from companies. 

For this reason, you need to have a solid understanding of the target audience and what their preferences are to tailor your WhatsApp marketing efforts.

Start by dividing your audience into smaller groups according to several factors like browsing patterns, purchasing behaviors, and preferences. If you further want to segment your customers, you can separate them based on geographics, demographics, or age. Although you do need a CRM tool to achieve that. 

‍WhatsApp CRM tools such as Zixflow, can greatly help you in doing that. With Zixflow, you can craft custom lists and collections to segment customers. Plus, once you have created these lists, you can run list-wide operations to reach out to all the contacts at once.

Don’t send generic marketing messages

Although WhatsApp marketing primarily revolves around promoting your offerings, that doesn’t mean all of your messages have to be promotional in nature. 

You can share valuable information with your customers that can help them make informed decisions. Plus, incorporating these informative messages into your marketing campaigns, allows you to strengthen your relationship with customers, making them more likely to return back to your business. 

To help you with this, WhatsApp already offers a large number of customizable messaging templates. Using them you can design eye-catching messages that contain visual and interactive elements to make recipients think about getting your product. 

Once again, if you want to use these messaging templates to connect with your customers, you need a WhatsApp Business Service provider that supports a template builder to create them and get them approved from Meta. 

Zixflow allows you to craft different types of WhatsApp messages using its built-in template editor. You can choose between marketing, carousel, utility, and authentication to send meaningful messages that add value to the lives of your customers.

Take advantage of multimedia elements

The thing that makes WhatsApp different from other marketing channels is its ability to share media-rich messages with high-quality images, videos, infographics, or documents. Visual elements can grab attention more quickly compared to written content. 

Also, the information shared via a video is retained for a longer time by your customers instead of regular text. So, if you want to explain something about your product, then instead of sending a text guide, it would be better to send a video tutorial. You can do the same for introducing new products as shown in this image by WhatsApp itself: 

Send messages at the right time

Even the most effective message can fall flat if it is delivered to someone at the wrong moment. Timing your WhatsApp campaigns is crucial to achieving maximum engagement. 

Take a look at your analytics to see when your users are most active, and schedule your campaign times accordingly. This may differ depending on the industry. For example, B2B customers may be most responsive during work hours, while B2C shoppers may be more active in the evenings or on weekends.

Moreover, if you have a worldwide audience, organize campaigns by time zone or region. Waking someone up at 2 AM with a promo message is one of the worst things that can happen. And they may never respond to your brand again. Timing communications show professionalism and optimize response rates.

Stay on top of your opt-in game

Compared to SMS or email, WhatsApp puts high regard on consent. You cannot just add a contact to your broadcasting list without their approval. And with privacy laws like GDPR, CCPA, and other similar legislation increasingly getting popular across the world, following them is no longer merely suggested, it is mandatory.

Ensure users expressly opt-in to receiving marketing communications from you first. Include stand-out WhatsApp opt-in boxes on your website, WhatsApp form, or checkout process. Maintain a transparent privacy policy that stays up to date. 

Not only will this protect you from possible issues, but it also allows those on your list to actively want to communicate with you.

Add WhatsApp across crucial sales touchpoints

As you would know, WhatsApp is more than just a marketing tool. It is a powerful sales and support tool too. By enabling customers to ask questions, browse through your catalog, or track orders via WhatsApp, you eliminate friction and increase satisfaction. You reach your customers where they are already hanging out.

Connect WhatsApp with your existing mar-tech stack, whether it is a helpdesk, CRM, or an e-commerce store so that users can have a seamless experience at each step. The outcome will be a quicker, more integrated customer journey which has a direct impact on conversions and retention.

Use WhatsApp Broadcasts strategically

WhatsApp Broadcasts are excellent for reaching a large number of users at one time. However, they have the potential to hurt your brand if used incorrectly. Don't be tempted to shoot too many low-value messages. Users will unmute or block you quickly if you spammed their inbox.

Rather, utilize broadcasts to share valuable content. Share a product launch, send a special offer, or invite customers to an event. Limit the frequency and make sure each broadcast has a definitive value proposition plus a strong call to action. Executed well, broadcasts are an effective means of driving engagement at scale.

Being an official WhatsApp API provider, Zixflow helps you run large-scale WhatsApp campaigns effectively without having to worry about delivery rates. You can choose your audience and select a template to reach out to thousands of users at once without needing any technical expertise. 

Here is a video to walk you through the entire process of running a WhatsApp campaign using Zixflow:

Track campaign performance continuously

WhatsApp marketing is a dynamic process. To get the most out of each campaign, you need to constantly track what works and what doesn't. Monitor performance metrics such as delivery rate, read rate, click-through rate (CTR), and conversion rate to gauge your campaign's effectiveness.

You can take your WhatsApp marketing to the next level with A/B testing. Test different message content, CTAs, media, and even delivery times to determine what resonates best with your audience. Apply these results as a way to constantly refine your strategy. Doing so in this incremental way works to maximize ROI without losing money on messages that don't deliver.

Elevate your WhatsApp marketing with Zixflow

As an official Meta Business Solution Partner (BSP), Zixflow simplifies the process of onboarding WhatsApp Business Accounts and connecting to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Its robust messaging API enables efficient, scalable communication for businesses of all sizes.

Zixflow makes it easy to get started with WhatsApp messaging through a seamless sign-up and registration process. You can authenticate your WhatsApp numbers and begin sending messages in just a few steps.

Check our guide on how to set up a WhatsApp Business Account with Zixflow.

After you have integrated Zixflow with WhatsApp, you can begin running WhatsApp marketing campaigns effortlessly. However, it is essential to obtain clear consent from your customers before you can send them promotional messages. Always ensure users have opted in before adding them to your WhatsApp marketing list. 

There are multiple ways to obtain consent from your customers. Such as: 

• Website widget: Add an opt-in chat button for WhatsApp which automatically obtains consent if visitors tap on it to reach out to you. 
• QR codes: You can utilize QR codes on in-store displays or printed materials, making it easy for users to join your list.

Once you have contact information and customer consent, you can segment them into smaller, more relevant lists with a CRM. Zixflow’s native and fully customizable CRM makes sure you can store contact information and access these details effortlessly. 

The penultimate step in this process involves designing a messaging template. Zixflow comes with a template editor to let you create your templates with no need for any coding knowledge. By entering the relevant information in the corresponding fields, you can get your template ready within a matter of minutes. 

Now comes the most important part, pricing. Zixflow offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model where you will only be charged for messages that get delivered successfully. The per-conversation cost varies based on the country and type of the message. Although you can ask for a volume discount if you want to send a large number of messages. 

Plus, the free plan lets you access all the messaging APIs (not just WhatsApp) without any charge. You can integrate them into your existing framework and start sending WhatsApp marketing messages efficiently. 

So, if you are ready to leverage a futuristic platform with an AI-driven delivery engine, then Zixflow is the best bet for your business. Try out the platform for free with a 7-day trial or get in touch with our experts to provide a tailored experience for your unique marketing needs.