WhatsApp Channels: What is it, and how to use them for marketing

WhatsApp Channels are here! They give private users, but especially businesses new options for sending out broadcasts. In other words: companies now have a new way to use WhatsApp for marketing. We explain what the WhatsApp channels are, how they work, and how companies can use them. 

Just a few months after Instagram started its Broadcast Channels in March of 2023, Meta already announcing the next channel launch in June: WhatsApp Channels. 

As is typical with updates, the rollout was gradual, and first started in Colombia and Singapore as a test.

On September 13, WhatsApp announced the global rollout of the feature in about 150 countries. At first, the channels (or some features) might not be available to all users right away, as WhatsApp is launching the feature gradually with users. There’s a waitlist people can join if they want to get an update when channels will be available to them. 

A WhatsApp Channel allows companies to send messages to a large number of customers at once. This broadcast feature makes the communication easier and saves resources, as you only need to send one message to reach a lot of people at once.

Companies can send, for example, important information, updates, product launches, special deals, and company news on the channels. This direct style of communication can improve the customer loyalty and the brand awareness. 

Just like with Telegram’s channels or the Instagram Broadcast Channels, users can follow influencers, creators, and companies on WhatsApp Channels to get their latest updates. The channels won’t appear with your other chats. You’ll see them in a separate tab, together with the status updates. 

Here, users can see the Channels (some are suggested to you by WhatsApp) and also the status updates, a feature that’s currently not as popular with users, so maybe grouping together the status updates and channels will give the status changes more visibility. 

There’s also searchable directory where users can find channels they want to follow. For instance, they can search for hobbies, their favorite sports teams, and news from local organizations.

Channels can also be accessed through invitation links that you can share in chats, e-mails, and any other online platform. 

This search function that’s similar to the search bar on Telegram is also interesting for companies as it makes it easier for users to find you. 

The channel history will only be saved for up to 30 days on WhatsApp’s servers. Administrators have the option to ban screenshots and forwarding messages from their channel. Additional options for users to delete the status updates faster from their devices of are still to come. 

Both, private users and businesses can create a WhatsApp channel.

While private users and influencers can use the regular WhatsApp App for this, businesses have to work with the WhatsApp Business App.

You can create a new channel directly on your smartphone (it’s available for iOS and Android), but also on your browser through WhatsApp Web. Important: Make sure that your app is updated to the latest version. 

💡How to create a WhatsApp Channel: A step-by-step guide

As of January 2024, WhatsApp is working on introducing a verified badge for companies for their WhatsApp channel. 

According to Wabetainfo, the idea is that businesses with a Meta Verified subscription can also pay to get their verified badge. This will be an optional feature and available for businesses only. 

While WhatsApp Channels are a new way to broadcast on the world’s most popular social media network, and increase your reach, there’s actually several limitations if you really want to use it for marketing in your business. 

• No targeting or personalization possible: You can only send the same message to everybody, there’s no segmentation of recipients.
• No interaction: You can only broadcast messages as a push notification, but users can’t react or respond.
• Lower visibility: Unless users choose to get your updates as push notifications (the default setting is to have push notifications turned off), users have to go to their update tab to see your message, and there, channels are set up in chronological order. So if you’re not among one of the last 10 updates they received, they won’t even see your content right away.
• No automation: WhatsApp Channels don’t have any automation features like chatbots or templates you can use to scale or even schedule a campaign.
• Worse performance: as WhatsApp Channels now look more like a crowded e-mail newsletter inbox, it’ll be almost impossible to reach the same open (95%) and click-through (35%) rates that the regular WhatsApp broadcasts offer.
• No insights: As of now, there doesn’t seem a way to track the performance of your broadcasts through the WhatsApp Channels
• No end-to-end encryption: WhatsApp Channels don’t offer end-to-end encryption, so if you want to use them for business purposes, make sure to check that they’re compliant with your country’s data regulations. 

This doesn’t mean that WhatsApp Channels can’t be used for marketing. If you just want to push content (without measuring results) or increase your reach as a company or influencers, this might be a good tool, and some businesses are already using them successfully.

💡Check out these examples of successful WhatsApp Channels

However, for most marketing use cases, the Channels are too limited.

When using WhatsApp Channels, admins should be mindful of the guidelines that WhatsApp put in place. 

Channel admins should be respectful of their followers and avoid sending too many or low-quality updates which could lead recipients to unfollow their Channel. Channel admins should provide a title for their Channel that reflects the Channel content and helps users make informed choices about which Channels they would choose to follow.

There are also limits to what type of content you’re allowed to post in your channels. 

• Don’t share illegal content or engage in illegal activity of any kind. This includes content that sexually exploits or endangers children (including child sexual abuse material), or content that supports designated terrorist, hate, and criminal organizations or individuals. Do not share intellectual property you don’t have a right to use.
• Do not share content that could cause serious harm to people. This includes content that constitutes a credible threat to public or personal safety, incitement of violence, organization or coordination of violent or criminal activities, or content that encourages suicide or self-injury. Channels should not facilitate the exploitation of people, including through human trafficking, or share content that depicts, threatens, or promotes sexual violence, sexual assault, or sexual exploitation.
• Do not engage in fraud. This includes activity or content that purposefully deceives, impersonates, or willfully misrepresents or otherwise scams, defrauds, or exploits WhatsApp or our users.
• Keep content age-appropriate for WhatsApp’s user base. For example, Channels should not include imagery that is excessively violent or graphic, or that contains sexually explicit content or pornography, as restricted by app stores. Channels should not be used to facilitate commercial sexual services, or to offer and/or transact in regulated or restricted goods

WhatsApp reserves the right to take action on Channels, such as using automation, manual reviews, and user reports to detect violations. Users can also report violations directly. If WhatsApp notices violations, they can, for example, warn admins, suspend updates on a channel, remove content, suspend or ban a channel, or ban the Channel creators from WhatsApp, and even report issues to authorities.

After WhatsApp’s recent pricing update for business messages, the WhatsApp Channels seem to offer a cheaper alternative for broadcasting messages. As of now, at least, the feature seems to be free, including for companies, as businesses can use it through the free WhatsApp Business App. 

Of course, it remains to be seen, if it’ll stay free. It could also be a strategy for WhatsApp to get more businesses to join the WhatsApp Business ecosystem, to then later guide them to other paid features. 

Overall, WhatsApp Channels could be an effective new platform for getting in touch with your target group, sending broadcasts, and increasing brand awareness. 

However, with many features missing (automations, personalization, visibility, etc.), it’s not the best tool for really scaling your campaigns and getting the most out of WhatsApp for marketing.

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.