8 WhatsApp Marketing Campaign Best Practices - Klaviyo
2026-03-10 18:15 Diff
https://www.klaviyo.com/blog/whatsapp-marketing-best-practices

Think your customers don’t want to hear from you on WhatsApp?

Think again.

Your customers already live on WhatsApp and they’re spending hours on it every month. Ignore it, and you’re leaving attention (and revenue) on the table.

But to make WhatsApp work for your brand, you need a plan: the right set-up, the right content, and the right guardrails to keep customers engaged without overwhelming them.

Here, you’ll learn best practices for WhatsApp marketing campaigns and flows, including how to avoid common mistakes and use the channel to actually drive results—not just send messages.

1. Before you do anything, build your WhatsApp foundations

Get the basics right first:

  • Get your WhatsApp Business Account verified. You’ll need to complete two-step verification and share your business’s legal details and supporting documents to do this.
  • Define your WhatsApp goals. Do you want to drive sales? Recover carts? Improve customer support? Each message you send should have a clear purpose.
  • Collect opt-ins. WhatsApp is a stickler about consent. Make it easy for customers to explicitly consent to WhatsApp messages via pop-up forms, via keyword opt-ins, list imports, and APIs.
  • Check compliance. WhatsApp has strict rules around how businesses can message customers. If you want to send promotional or marketing content (like a discount, new product launch, or seasonal campaign), you need to use a pre-approved message template.
  • Gather data. Collect zero-party data via forms, surveys, quizzes, or interactive WhatsApp conversations, and first-party data from your storefront and marketing channels. This information will be valuable later when it’s time to send relevant messages to your audience.

2. Pick the right type of WhatsApp message

WhatsApp splits messages into 3 buckets:

  • Marketing messages include promotions, product announcements, recommendations, etc.
  • Utility messages include transactional updates, like shipping and tracking notifications, payment reminders, etc.
  • Service messages are initiated by customers (e.g., quick replies, questions, support, complaints), and then you respond on WhatsApp via automations or direct messages. Note that we won’t be covering this type of message in this article.

Each message type comes with its own rules and templates.

A template is usually made up of one or more of these:

  • Header (optional). Can be text, image, carousel, or location, depending on type.
  • Body (mandatory). The core message text, containing personalization (e.g. {{ that can change depending on the recipient.
  • Footer (optional). Short text, or opt-out language.
  • Buttons or interactive elements (optional). A URL, call-to-action, or quick reply button.

For example, a marketing template for a flash sale announcement might look like this:

Body: Hi {{1}}, our Flash Sale is live now: get {{2}}% OFF on all items at {{3}}. Hurry, sale ends at {{4}}. CTA button: Shop nowQuick reply: Help me shop .

A utility template for an order confirmation might look like this:

Body: Hi {{1}}, thanks for your order #{{2}}! We’ve received your payment and are preparing your items. You’ll get another message once your order ships. CTA button: View order.Quick reply: I need help with my order

3. Segment your WhatsApp marketing list

One of the most effective ways to improve your WhatsApp marketing results is through dynamic segmentation, where you group customers based on real-time behaviour, preferences, and engagement.

Dynamic segmentation constantly updates your lists behind the scenes when someone meets the criteria you’ve set. For example, if they make a purchase, click a message, or browse a specific product category, they automatically join or leave a segment.

Note that this kind of segmentation applies to campaigns, while automated flows use conditional splits, a.k.a. branching logic that routes people down different paths based on their actions or attributes. For example, you could use a conditional split to send a follow-up to customers who’ve purchased and another to those who haven’t checked out yet.

Here are a few examples of segments that work well for WhatsApp marketing campaigns:

  • High-intent shoppers: People who added items to their cart or browsed several products but haven’t completed a purchase.
  • Loyal customers: Shoppers who’ve made multiple purchases or spent above a certain amount in the past few months.
  • Engaged subscribers: Contacts who’ve opened or clicked a WhatsApp message recently and are more likely to respond to a new campaign.
  • Category-specific audiences: Customers who bought or viewed products in a particular category.
  • Lapsed customers: Subscribers who haven’t purchased or engaged in a while.
  • VIP customers: Your most valuable shoppers who get early access to drops or exclusive offers.

4. Set up WhatsApp flows for different scenarios

Customers expect timely, personal, and relevant messages on WhatsApp, so it’s a great addition to the flows you already have running on other channels (more on this a bit later).

WhatsApp complements email, SMS, and mobile push by adding a sense of immediacy and interactivity. In practice, this means your wider flows, which trigger based on individual customer actions, feel more personal and engaging.

Here’s how WhatsApp adds unique value to common flows:

  • Welcome flow: This is the very first message a customer receives after opting in to receive WhatsApp marketing messages from your brand. Instead of a static “Thanks for subscribing,” you could include a discount code with a one-click “Shop now” button, use quick-reply options like “See bestsellers” or “Learn about our story,” or instantly capture zero-party data by asking simple preference questions.
  • Abandoned cart flow: In WhatsApp, you can show the actual product image in a carousel, add a button to complete check-out, or even offer support if a question is holding the shopper back from buying.
  • Order and shipping updates: Use WhatsApp to send order confirmations and shipping notifications that keep customers informed in real time. Messages can include tracking links or key delivery details, keeping shoppers engaged and up to date.
  • Back-in-stock or re-stock alerts: A simple “Your favorite is back!” with a product image and “Buy now” button encourages immediate action. For loyal customers, you could even offer early-access alerts before the general re-stock goes live.

5. Use AI to personalise WhatsApp messages

AI can help make every WhatsApp message feel more timely and relevant, regardless of whether it’s part of a campaign or a flow. Here are just a few examples:

  • Send-time optimisation: AI analyzes overall audience data to find the best average time to send WhatsApp campaigns. It can also tailor delivery to each recipient’s unique engagement patterns so they receive campaigns at the best time for them.
  • Channel affinity*: AI uses engagement data to understand each customer’s general channel preference and optimise message delivery accordingly. While it doesn’t route specific message types (like shipping confirmations) by channel, it helps prioritise the channels that tend to perform best for each person overall, so customers that prefer to receive WhatsApp messages will.
  • Personalised product recommendations: AI taps into first- and zero-party data, so it can match each customer with items they’re most likely to buy. That could look like surfacing complementary products in a WhatsApp order update or tailoring a re-stock alert to the exact product variant someone browsed.
  • AIagent responses*: Shoppers can use WhatsApp to get instant answers to questions about shipping, returns, or product details that might otherwise cause friction on their way to check-out.

Disclaimer: Klaviyo’s Channel Affinity and Customer Agent will support WhatsApp Marketing by 2026.

6. Make WhatsApp messages conversational and interactive

Unlike email, which is mostly one-way, or SMS and mobile push, which are short, transactional, and often limited to plain text, WhatsApp can make interactions feel more like a dialogue.

The best WhatsApp campaigns and flows don’t just tell customers something. They invite them to respond, tap, and browse.

Here are some ways to make your WhatsApp content more conversational and interactive:

  • Quick reply buttons: Include one-tap options inside your messages. For example: “Want early access?” with buttons for “Yes, send me the link” or “Not this time.”
  • Automations: Send automated messages when a customer responds with keyword triggers (like your quick replies). This way you can scale conversational messaging and collect customer preferences, even when you’re not online.
  • Carousels and product cards: Show off multiple products or variants in one swipeable view. This approach is perfect for back-in-stock alerts or post-purchase cross-sells.
  • Response invitations: Instead of a static abandoned cart reminder, set up an automated conversation: “Still thinking it over? Want to see reviews or ask a sizing question?”
  • Rich media: Images, carousels, and GIFs add context and personality. This might mean a styling video in a product launch, a how-to guide for a new gadget, or even a branded GIF in a service reply.

7. Integrate WhatsApp with your wider omnichannel strategy

You don’t need to reinvent your marketing plan to make WhatsApp work. You just need to plug it into the programs you’re already running.

WhatsApp should be an extension of your email, SMS, and push strategy, not a replacement. It’s the channel you use when timing, interactivity, or service matter most.

Here are some scenarios where it makes sense to layer in WhatsApp:

  • Quick responses. WhatsApp is ideal for moments that need quick action, like prompting a customer to finish an order, confirm a booking, or share feedback.
  • Urgent updates: Email is fine for broad announcements, but it’s not always instant. To make sure your most important customers see them, sprinkle in your WhatsApp messages when stock is running low, a promotion is ending tonight, or shipping delays pop up.
  • Personal moments: WhatsApp is great for use cases that need to feel 1:1 and exclusive, like communications about loyalty perks or VIP access.

8. Launch it, but don’t leave it

Like any part of your marketing strategy, the performance of your WhatsApp campaigns and flows depends on how well you track, test, and tweak over time.

Here are a few key WhatsApp metrics to keep an eye on:

  • Engagement: Track open rates, clicks, and replies to see if people are interacting with your messages.
  • Conversions and revenue: Look at abandoned cart recovery and incremental revenue from re-stock alerts.
  • Customer experience: Are repeat purchase rates going up? Are satisfaction scores improving?
  • List health: Keep an eye on subscriber growth vs. unsubscribes.

Once you’ve got the basics tracked, lean into optimisation:

  • Use AI features like send-time optimisation to fine-tune delivery automatically.
  • Collect qualitative feedback with quick follow-up questions or micro-surveys in WhatsApp itself to see how customers feel about message frequency and tone.

WhatsApp belongs in your marketing mix

WhatsApp is a great way to show up for your customers in the moments that matter, from first browse to post-purchase support.

When you set it up right, WhatsApp helps you drive sales, build loyalty, and make your brand feel more human.

With Klaviyo, the B2C CRM, you’re not bolting WhatsApp onto the side of your tech stack. Instead, WhatsApp plugs directly into the platform that already powers your email, SMS, push notifications, and customer data.

That means every WhatsApp message is based on the same real-time insights, unified customer profiles, and AI you already use. You can build flows across multiple channels, segment based on purchase or preference data, and even use AI to decide whether WhatsApp, email, or SMS is the right channel in the moment.

Curious to see how Klaviyo WhatsApp could work for you?

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