WhatsApp is revolutionising business communication with its extensive reach and impressive performance metrics. With over 2 billion users worldwide, it offers a platform for real-time engagement, enabling instant communication between businesses and their customers.

WhatsApp's versatility makes it an invaluable tool for many use cases, including marketing campaigns, customer service interactions, and user authentication processes. Its global reach makes sure that businesses can connect with audiences across the world, and break down any geographical barriers.

WhatsApp's performance is impressive. It has open rates of over 90%, click-through rates ranging from 40% to 70%, and a return on ad spend (ROAS) of up to 50 times.

Here are some common use cases for how WhatsApp can improve your business operations:

Marketing with personalised promotions

Use WhatsApp to deliver personalised promotions directly to your customers' phones.

With high open and engagement rates, WhatsApp is an ideal platform for sending targeted offers, discounts, and updates that resonate with your audience.

Tailor your messages based on customer preferences and behaviours to maximise impact and drive conversions.

Utility through transactional messages

Improve your customer experience by using WhatsApp for transactional messages.

Send order confirmations, shipping updates, appointment reminders, and other essential notifications in real-time. This not only keeps your customers informed but also builds trust and reliability in your brand.

Authentication with two-factor verification

Strengthen your security measures by implementing two-factor verification using WhatsApp. Use the platform to send verification codes and authentication prompts, making sure that only authorized users can access sensitive information or complete transactions. This adds an extra layer of protection and boosts customer confidence in your services.

Templates are pre-approved message formats used to initiate marketing, utility, and authentication conversations with customers on WhatsApp. Unlike free-form messages, template messages are the only type that can be sent to customers who have not messaged you within the last 24 hours or have never messaged you before.

Approval and compliance

Before you can send a template message, the template must be approved. This ensures that all messages comply with WhatsApp's business and commerce policies. Templates may be disabled automatically based on customer feedback and engagement. If a template is disabled, it cannot be used until its quality rating improves or it no longer violates any policies.

Ensure consistency in communication

Unlike Email or SMS, WhatsApp requires all promotional, transactional, and authentication messages to use approved templates. These templates are created in the Meta Platform and are synced in real-time with Dotdigital, ensuring consistency and compliance in your communication efforts.

Before sending proactive business-initiated messages to customers, you must obtain explicit opt-ins. This ensures compliance with WhatsApp's policies and applicable laws.

When obtaining opt-ins, you must:

Manage opt-in consent

You can capture opt-in consent using forms built in Surveys, pages, and forms, which save the consent as a data field. The process of collecting consent for WhatsApp typically involves the following steps:

Set up the consent collection process

To set up the process for collecting consent for WhatsApp:

Meta Business Verification is a crucial process that helps your business confirm its authenticity on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

This verification is essential for accessing certain Meta technologies. Without verification, your messages will appear from a phone number instead of a display name, which can impact your brand's credibility and customer trust.

The Verification process

The verification process involves submitting your business details, such as legal name, address, and website. You also might need to provide supporting documents.

Once verified, your business can improve its credibility and access advanced features on Meta platforms.

The WhatsApp Blue Tick verification badge appears next to your business name on WhatsApp to show that your account is authentic and official.

This Blue tick verification helps build trust with your customers, ensuring they know they are interacting with a legitimate business.

Why it's worth doing

It’s important to understand that you cannot send messages to large audiences right from the start. Every WhatsApp account needs to be gradually warmed up before you can reach out to thousands of people. Initially, you will have a limit of 1,000 messages per day. You can increase this limit by sending high-quality messages and focusing on keeping a high open rate.

Some businesses are not allowed to use WhatsApp. The following types of businesses are restricted: