Five WhatsApp marketing strategies that’ll immediately boost your ROI

You’ve heard the hype about using WhatsApp for marketing and the promise of extremely high engagement rates. But when you actually try this messaging platform, it just feels like another communication channel to send marketing messages that your audience ignores. Even worse, you can’t deliver the results everyone is expecting and not hitting ROI targets. Don’t worry – we’re going to show you exactly how to make the most of WhatsApp and get quick results.

You’ve set up a few WhatsApp broadcasts and automated messages. Maybe you’ve even started replying to customer questions through the messaging app. But so far? The results feel… underwhelming.

The problem isn’t the messaging app. It’s your WhatsApp marketing strategy and how it integrates with the customer experience.

We’ve put together five tactical strategies that will immediately boost your WhatsApp marketing campaign results (without any vague “engagement hacks” or broad platitudes). Let’s break them down.

When personalizing WhatsApp marketing campaigns, prioritize relevance over generic promotional messages. Adding {{first_name}} is basic – and not real personalization.

If you really want to increase your campaign’s return on investment (ROI), align your personalization strategy with user behavior, timing, and product interest. Let’s dive a little deeper.

Purchase behavior: Marketing messages like “Time to restock your vitamin D” resonate more than generic promos. Why? Because they speak to specific customer needs. Instead of sending the same messages to everyone, you can drive more sales by reaching the right people with the right product at the right time.

For example, AlphaPet Ventures, a German e-commerce store that sells pet products, began sending personalized restocking notifications to customers through their WhatsApp Business account. They started seeing immediate results:

Shopping activity: When customers browse but don’t buy, they leave behind valuable behavioral clues. Use shopping activity information, like viewing or adding items to a cart, to create targeted messages that feel personally relevant.

Concrete references like “Still thinking about the black leather backpack?” boost click-through rates because they reflect specific customer interest. By speaking directly to specific customers, you can encourage them to return to their cart and complete their purchase.

Lifecycle stage: Adapt your tone depending on who you’re talking to – VIP contacts, new subscribers who just opted in, or customers showing signs of disengagement. People in each stage have different expectations, motivations, and needs, so your marketing efforts should reflect that. This personalized approach helps your message feel more relevant to where the customer is in their journey.

Dr. SAM, an online vet platform where pet owners go for advice, operates on a subscription model. They experienced typical monthly churn until they tested personalized WhatsApp messages targeting customers who were showing signs of disengagement.

The result? 50% less churn after just 100 days.

As these examples show, the details really matter when it comes to personalization. Here are some personalization metrics to focus on for your campaigns:

• Click-through rates of personalized vs. non-personalized WhatsApp messages: Personalized messages should spur significantly more engagement than generic ones.
• Conversion rates: Your personalization efforts should result in more people taking desired actions, like making an actual purchase, signing up for a rewards program, or opting into a membership.
• Churn rates: These help you assess whether personalized communication is improving customer retention and reducing drop-off.

WhatsApp is a visual, fast, mobile-first marketing channel that revolves around rich media. If you’re still sending text-only WhatsApp campaigns, you’re missing out on massive performance gains.

Here are some types of multimedia you can use to maximize the benefits of WhatsApp marketing:

• Product images: This is perfect for promoting a new product launch or showcasing specific items customers have viewed or purchased in the past.
• Short videos (under 30 seconds): Demonstrate product benefits or behind-the-scenes content with clear calls-to-action.
• Voice notes: Offer personalized explanations that feel more authentic than typed responses.
• Emojis (used sparingly): Add personality without overwhelming the message.
• GIFs: Include dynamic product demonstrations or highlight seasonal campaigns.
• Built-in rich features: Use elements like location pins for events or store visits, multi-product catalogs, image carousels, QR codes for easy opt-in, and interactive buttons.

Including rich media truly makes a substantial difference. For example, Australian marketplace, Yarn, saw their click-through rate jump from 4% with text-only SMS to 11% when they added images through MMS. That’s a 175% increase by including just one visual element.

During their NAIDOC Week campaign, Yarn sent 175,000+ messages combining text and rich media. Their campaign saw a 100% delivery rate, a 4% CTR for text-only SMS, an 11% CTR for image-based MMS, and a 2.5-3x ROI.

This performance boost came from strategic use of product images – like featured items from their online marketplace – that directly reflected customers’ recent browsing activity. The visuals made it instantly clear which product was being offered and why it was relevant. And that’s just from switching from a text-only message to adding a visual. Think what rich WhatsApp messages could do for your campaigns.

Here are some rich media metrics to focus on for your WhatsApp marketing strategy:

• Click-through rates by media type (text vs. image vs. video): These highlight which formats generate the most interest and interaction.
• Engagement duration on various media types: This shows how long people stay with each format, helping you gauge content appeal and depth of attention.
• Conversion rates for different multimedia approaches: These reveal which media types are most successful at driving users to complete a desired action.

Align your media format with the message you’re trying to convey. New product announcements tend to pair naturally with images, tutorials land better as short videos, and personal customer support check-ins feel more human with voice notes or WhatsApp chat interactions.

WhatsApp delivers 98% open rates and click-through rates of up to 50% – when your notifications are timely and relevant to your audience.

Consider these factors to optimize timing and frequency for your WhatsApp marketing strategy:

• Send times: Test early morning (commute browsing), lunch breaks, or post-work hours (shopping mindset). Consider your target audience’s daily routine and when they’re most likely to engage with your marketing channel. Early risers hitting the gym check messages at 5 AM, office workers scroll during their commute, and parents browse after bedtime routines.
• Day of the week: Generic advice like “avoid the weekend” doesn’t apply to all messaging platforms or audiences. B2B audiences might respond better on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but retail customers may engage more on the weekend, when they have time to browse and make purchases.
• Cadence: Start with once per week and adjust based on response data and engagement rates. Daily messaging works for flash sales, order confirmations, or highly-engaged subscriber lists. Small businesses and larger enterprises tend to have different expectations – B2B may favor less frequent communication, while B2C customers are usually more receptive to regular updates and promotional messages.

Here are some metrics to focus on to measure engagement:

• Read rates: Declining read rates can suggest that your timing is off or that you’re overwhelming recipients with too many notifications.
• Opt-out rates (if your WhatsApp platform provides this data): High opt-out rates may indicate fatigue or that your messages aren’t adding value at the right moment.
• Click-through rates by send time: Analyzing CTR by timing and audience type (like B2B vs. B2C, age group, or region) helps you pinpoint when different segments are most receptive to your marketing efforts.
• Response time patterns: Tracking when people tend to respond can reveal peak engagement windows for scheduling future sends and optimizing your WhatsApp marketing campaign.

A/B testing send times represents one of the simplest optimization opportunities available using marketing tools. Start with three time slots: morning (7 to 9 AM), midday (12 to 2 PM), and evening (6 to 8 PM).

Send identical messages to similar audience segments at each time and measure response rates. The winning time slot becomes your baseline for future testing.

WhatsApp works best when you thoughtfully integrate it with your broader marketing mix and other communication channels. Layer it across existing touchpoints – like email marketing, SMS, or in-app – to create a more cohesive customer journey.

How to integrate WhatsApp marketing into your funnel:

• Retarget cart abandoners from your e-commerce site by sending WhatsApp messages that encourage them to complete their purchase.
• Follow up email opens with WhatsApp nudges for subscribers who opened your email but didn’t click through. Test messages two to four hours after email engagement.
• Route qualified leads from WhatsApp to a sales chat. This is a great way to answer detailed questions or respond to pricing requests, as they create a smooth transition to a more personalized exchange.
• Add WhatsApp click-to-chat links to high-performing social media posts to move engaged followers into direct conversations. Try placing them in Instagram Stories and Facebook post comments, where engagement is already happening, and treat these as WhatsApp ads that drive traffic to your business profile.

Here are some metrics to focus on:

• Conversion rates by channel sequence: Compare single-channel campaigns against multi-channel sequences that include WhatsApp.
• Response time differences: Measure how quickly prospects engage when you add WhatsApp to your follow-up sequence.
• Channel attribution: Track which touchpoint combination produces the highest conversion and customer satisfaction rates.
• Abandonment recovery rates: Specifically measure abandoned cart recovery when WhatsApp is used versus email marketing or SMS follow-ups.

Start with one integration point, measure the results for 30 days, then add touchpoints based on what’s working with your WhatsApp account.

If you’re serious about performance and want to maximize the benefits of WhatsApp marketing, the free WhatsApp Business app won’t cut it.

You’ll hit limits quickly: A 256 contact maximum for bulk messages, no automation or bot functionality, no analytics to track engagement rates, and no integration capabilities with other marketing tools.

It’s built for solo operations, not for marketers who want to run campaigns, track results, and scale quickly.

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Thinking about using the WhatsApp Business App? Here’s a better solution!

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And those shady “modded” tools like GB WhatsApp? They’re a compliance and security nightmare. Think banned accounts, data leaks, and no recourse when things go wrong.

Here’s what to look for in a professional WhatsApp marketing platform:

• Official verification: Choose a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider that ensures verified access to the WhatsApp Business API (WhatsApp’s full-suite business platform).
• Security protocols: Check for data protection standards, especially when handling customer information and rich media.
• Technical support: Look for access to human support when technical issues arise during campaigns.
• Detailed analytics: Seek out features like campaign performance tracking, conversion measurement, and ROI analysis.
• Automation capabilities: Message sequences, trigger-based responses, and workflow management streamline your processes.
• Integration options: Check for easy connections with your existing CRM, email platform, and e-commerce tools.
• Personalization features: Choose a tool with dynamic content insertion, audience segmentation, and behavioral targeting.

With Sinch Engage, you don’t need a development team or a six-month onboarding plan. It’s an out-of-the-box solution that gives you everything you need to run compliant, performance-driven, WhatsApp marketing campaigns from day one.

Launch your first automated, personalized, two-way campaign in minutes and manage WhatsApp, SMS, and RCS all in one place – ideal for testing, scaling, and reaching customers on their preferred platforms.

And when you’re ready to scale? Engage grows with you.

Author: Marinela Potor Marinela Potor is a Senior Content Marketing Manager at Sinch. With a background in tech journalism, she specializes in messaging and AI.