Better WhatsApp Marketing Messages, With Before-and-After Examples

A marketing message on WhatsApp arrives between a family group and a voice note from a friend. It is read in a second, usually in the notification, and judged on whether it was worth the interruption. This post is about the words that make it worth it, as part of our guide to WhatsApp marketing for small businesses.

Template rules and approval are covered in WhatsApp message templates: rules, categories, and approval; this post is about the words inside them.

The first line does most of the work

The notification and the chat list show only the start of a message, so for most people the first line is the message. Put the news there: “Three free appointments this Saturday”, not “Dear customers, we hope you are well”. Greetings and introductions can move to the second line, or go.

One message, one goal, one button

Decide what the reader should do next: book, reply, come in, order. A message that announces a new service, offers a discount and asks for a review does none of the three well. Keep the text to three or four short lines. WhatsApp allows up to 1,024 characters in the body, and a promotion that uses them reads like a letter.

Then give that one action a button. WhatsApp allows up to ten on a message, but a menu of choices makes people put the phone down to think. A label can be 25 characters long, so name the action: “Book Saturday”, “See the menu”, “Keep my place”. A button that says “Info” tells nobody what happens when they tap it.

A picture when it shows the thing

An image or a video at the top earns its place when it shows what you are announcing: the new dish, the repaired bike, ten seconds from the workshop. A logo or a smiling stock model adds weight and nothing else. If the picture does not change whether someone acts, leave it out.

Personal, in their language, in your voice

One personal detail that is clearly right beats three that feel assembled: the first name, or the service they had last time. Every detail needs a fallback for when the record is empty, so a contact without a saved name reads “Hi there” instead of a gap. In Convelly, templates fill details in from the customer's record and use the fallback you set.

Write in the language the customer writes to you in. WhatsApp does not translate templates, so each language is a version of its own: in the Gulf, an Arabic version written by someone who speaks it, next to the English one; in Germany, one form of address, kept in every message.

And sound like the business. Write the way the owner would type to a regular: no capitals for emphasis, no rows of emoji, no triple exclamation marks. One emoji that means something is plenty.

Make leaving as easy as staying

Someone who cannot find the way out blocks you, and blocks lower your number's quality rating. Close each promotion with a short exit, such as a footer reading “Reply STOP to stop offers”; Meta's documentation calls a quick reply button for opting out a common use. When a customer replies STOP, Convelly records it and leaves them out of later campaigns.

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If you would not send it to a regular from your own phone, do not send it to five hundred people.

Convelly team

Before and after

Four rewrites, each with one goal and one button:

• Physiotherapy clinic. Before: “IMPORTANT NEWS FROM OUR PRACTICE!!! 🎉🎉🎉 We are delighted to inform all our valued patients that we have some availability…” After: “Hi Lena, three appointments came free this Saturday morning. Shall we keep one for you?” Button: “Book Saturday”.
• Bike repair shop. Before: “Spring is here! Check out our services, new helmets, our opening hours and leave us a review!” After: “Your bike's spring check takes 30 minutes this month and costs €35. Bring it in any weekday morning.” Button: “Pick a day”.
• Café. Before: a photo of the logo and “New menu!!” After: a photo of the dish and “Ramadan at the café: iftar from sunset, tables for groups of six or more.” Button: “Book a table”.
• Tutor. Before: “Dear parents, registration for our various courses for the coming period is now open, please contact us for further information.” After: “Hi Omar, the maths exam group starts on 3 March with four places left. Shall I keep one for Yusuf?” Button: “Keep a place”.

Every after version leads with the news, names one thing to do, and could have been typed by the owner.

Send it to yourself before anyone else

Make yourself the first recipient. A campaign to a hand-picked list of you and a colleague shows what customers will see: the preview, the crop of the picture, the button, and the fallback for a contact without a name. Then choose who gets it and when. How often to send WhatsApp campaigns helps with timing, and turning campaign replies into sales covers the part where the money is. WhatsApp campaigns in Convelly keep the template, its approval and the schedule in one place.