Unlock Personalization Possibilities for WhatsApp

WhatsApp Personalization Is Here

Delivering personalized content across email and mobile isn’t just a best practice. It’s an expectation. But it’s not as simple as deploying campaigns across two channels, because unlike email, mobile includes a slew of sub-channels that marketers need to hit: there’s in-app, push notifications, SMS, mobile inboxes, and more.

Among these, WhatsApp stands out as a key player. With over two billion monthly active users, it remains the leader in the digital messaging world. Yet many marketers still overlook WhatsApp when it comes to personalization. But luckily, personalizing in WhatsApp is now easier than ever.

Why Customers Are Flocking to WhatsApp

The reason behind WhatsApp’s meteoric rise to popularity is clear. As one of the first free, internet-based messaging platforms, it allows users to easily connect to others across the globe with just a WiFi connection. By relying on WiFi, WhatsApp is built to natively support high-quality imagery and interactive elements, unlike SMS, which makes effective engagement easier than ever.

Additionally, WhatsApp is also device-agnostic, allowing seamless group chats and communications across different operating systems. Group chats can include a plethora of devices, unlike other WiFi-based services like iMessage that only support Apple products. This cross-device compatibility has fueled WhatsApp’s adoption, particularly in regions outside North America where Apple-exclusive message services like iMessage hold less influence.

In short, WhatsApp’s built-in flexibility promises continued growth, making it the perfect mobile frontier for marketers to engage customers where they are most active.

Unlocking Personalization in WhatsApp

Major players in martech are already incorporating WhatsApp in their messaging strategies. Partnerships between martech providers like Movable Ink and Braze have paved the way for marketers to integrate directly with WhatsApp Business APIs, ultimately allowing them to bring the same level of sophisticated personalization they use in email to this mobile-first channel. Many of the proven tactics that drive engagement in email are now available in WhatsApp, including: 

Contextually Relevant Experiences

Context matters in personalization. By leveraging real-time data, brands can transform generic WhatsApp messages into highly engaging, clickable content. For example, instead of sending a static picture, the brand pictured below could overlay weather targeting for the image. If a traveler is searching for a beach destination, showing sunny skies and clear waters makes the offer far more compelling.

But it’s not only weather data marketers can now use in WhatsApp. Brands can dynamically insert location-based data, countdown timers or add-to-calendar CTAs, or even real-time website content via APIs or Website Data Sources to create a truly interactive customer experience.

Bringing Images to Life

WhatsApp supports the same level of dynamic image personalization that customers enjoy in email. This means marketers can deploy rich media that adapts in real-time, such as first-name callouts, loyalty summaries, abandoned cart reminders, product recommendations, and more.

Let’s take a closer look at how this brand can elevate its WhatsApp messaging with advanced image personalization:

Rather than a static image, this brand could dynamically enhance visuals with real-time data to drive action. Instead of just showcasing a meal in this WhatsApp promotion, they could include:

• Social proof: "10,000+ customers ordered this dish today!"

• Personalized recommendations: Suggest add-ons based on past orders

• Geo-targeted content: Highlight the nearest pickup location

Ultimately, these new personalization capabilities for WhatsApp mean one thing: marketers can combine email-level personalization with the inherent urgency that the mobile channel provides, creating the perfect environment for customers to engage.

WhatsApp Personalization at its Best

For optimal results, marketers can combine multiple personalization tactics within a single WhatsApp campaign. Let’s explore two high-impact approaches:

Omni-Channel Retargeting

This QSR brand takes an omni-channel approach seriously. With an aim to reach historically in-store customers, the brand used WhatsApp to deploy exclusive mobile-only offers to entice users to make their next order through the app.

By personalizing these promotions based on purchase history, the brand not only increased immediate sales but also reinforced long-term customer loyalty.

Tailored Product Recommendations

Tailored recommendations are one of the tried-and-true strategies from email that is extremely effective for WhatsApp. In this example, the brand sends a rich, clickable image of the suggested product along with a quick summary of the item’s features.

The result? Higher click-through rates and an intuitive path to purchase that all operate within the WhatsApp ecosystem.

Bring Personalization to Every Mobile Channel

These examples are just the beginning of what’s possible with WhatsApp personalization. Now, marketers can combine the power of email-level customization with the urgency of mobile messaging to deliver content that truly resonates with their audience.

Discover all of Movable Ink and Braze’s newest omni-channel releases in our recent announcement. For further mobile resources, explore the related content below.