But WhatsApp isn’t just another channel to add to your marketing stack for the sake of it. It’s delivering standout engagement that exceeds expectations, and if you’re not already using it as part of a thoughtful, permission-based strategy, now’s the time to start.

What marketers are saying about WhatsApp (and why the numbers back them up)

WhatsApp has 2.5 billion monthly users. The average person spends 33 minutes a day on the app. In Dotdigital’s Global Benchmark Report 2026, we found that it delivers an average click-through rate of 51.1%, which is ten times higher than email.

When you look at those numbers together, it’s easy to see why marketers are investing in WhatsApp. It’s where customers already spend time and actively engage, making it a natural part of the channel mix.

And when WhatsApp sits alongside your email and SMS on the same platform, it becomes even more powerful. You can trigger messages from the same customer data, build it into your existing journeys, and manage it without needing to jump between tools, manually export or import customer data, or have more places to manage marketing consent

Here at Dotdigital, we’re big fans of WhatsApp, but don’t just take our word for it. We went straight to the source and asked marketers already on the channel to share how they’re finding it.

How Ultima Media uses WhatsApp to reach 90% open rates across event journeys

Ultima Media is a B2B media company that connects the automotive manufacturing, logistics, and design industries through expert content and professional events.

Like most event-led teams, email was doing a lot of the heavy lifting. But with crowded inboxes and fast-moving schedules, important updates weren’t always being seen when they needed to.

The brand now uses WhatsApp to manage the full attendee journey across three stages:

• Pre-event: Branded messages with imagery and multiple links to build anticipation and share logistics

• During the event: Real-time updates, timing reminders, relevant articles, and links like photo albums

• Post-event: On-demand content distribution and promotion of related products

Open rates have reached as high as 90%, which shows how engaging WhatsApp is as a marketing channel, particularly for messages that contain important updates or are time-sensitive

To keep things running smoothly, Ultima Media now captures WhatsApp opt-ins at registration. Mobile number is a required field, so every new attendee enters the journey WhatsApp-ready.

“We use WhatsApp as a real-time concierge throughout the entire attendee journey. Unlike email, which gets buried in crowded inboxes, WhatsApp is more likely to get read. And unlike SMS, it lets us send fully branded messages with rich imagery and clear link previews, so attendees feel confident clicking. WhatsApp keeps the entire event journey in one continuous thread. It feels like a reliable resource rather than a series of disconnected alerts.”

– Giada Nacucchi, Marketing Manager, Ultima Media

What this means for you

What’s interesting here isn’t necessarily the open rates, but it’s more about how WhatsApp fits into the wider customer journey.

For Ultima Media, it works because the communication is time-sensitive, structured, and part of a clear experience from start to finish. Nothing feels isolated, and each message supports the next step in the attendee journey.

Using WhatsApp marketing gives teams a way to keep high-attention moments in a single, continuous thread, especially when timing really matters.

The takeaway is thinking less about WhatsApp as a standalone channel and more about where it strengthens the journeys you already have in place.

How Lease Loco grew a new WhatsApp channel to 80%+ open rates in three months

Lease Loco is a car leasing comparison site with an established email and SMS program, but they wanted a way to share richer, more detailed offers than SMS allows. So, WhatsApp felt like the natural next step.

The team uses it to share its best deals with either its full subscriber list or targeted segments, with full deal specs, pricing, and imagery that SMS simply doesn’t have space for.

It gives the brand a more flexible way to communicate offers that need more than a short line of text.

Open rates now range from 78% to 81%, with the WhatsApp subscriber base growing by 43% in just three months.

“We’ve built WhatsApp into our marketing mix as a natural next step after email and SMS,and it’s already proving its worth. What makes WhatsApp exciting for us is the freedom it gives you compared to SMS. No character limit, rich imagery, emojis, full deal specs. For context, our WhatsApp lead volume is already around a third of our SMS channel, despite having a much smaller, newer subscriber list.”

– Michaela Crawford, Digital Marketing Manager, Lease Loco

What this means for you

What stands out here is how quickly WhatsApp can slot into an existing setup.

Lease Loco extended their strategy rather than doing a full rebuild because email and SMS were already driving results. WhatsApp just gave them another way to show high-intent offers with more detail and more visual impact.

The takeaway is that WhatsApp doesn’t need to start as a big, complex programme. It can begin as an extension of what you’re already sending, especially for content that needs more space than SMS allows but more immediacy than email.

How Bolsover Cruise Club drove 80%+ open rates with personalized WhatsApp messaging

Bolsover Cruise Club is one of the UK’s leading independent cruise specialists. With a strong SMS program already in place, WhatsApp gave the team a way to build on what was already working, with richer and more flexible messaging.

The team uses it to reach both existing and prospective customers with exclusive offers, new cruise launches, and partner campaign updates. What’s changed is the variety in how these messages can be displayed, and how it fits into the recipients’ day, landing on a channel that they’re already spending time on.

WhatsApp has opened up more room for personalized, automated communication, with richer content and a cadence that feels natural rather than intrusive.

And that’s reflected in the results, with open rates sitting above 80%, and early sign-up demand exceeding their expectations.

“We’d already seen sustained success with SMS, but WhatsApp opened up a whole new level of personalization and automation, with richer, more engaging content and the ability to communicate more regularly without it feeling intrusive. We use it to reach a mix of existing and prospective customers with exclusive offers, new product launches, and key partner campaign updates.

The appetite for sign-ups has been incredible, and the engagement speaks for itself. WhatsApp currently has far less noise than email, which means your messages genuinely cut through. We’re still in the early stages, but I’m convinced the best is yet to come. 

My advice to any travel brand on the fence? Be an early adopter. Get ahead now while the opportunity is there.”

– Danny Forsythe, Head of Marketing, Bolsover Cruise Club

What this means for you

This example shows how WhatsApp works best when it’s used consistently and not just for standalone campaigns.

For Bolsover Cruise Club, WhatsApp has become a way to deliver more personalized messaging, support automation, and keep engagement high, without feeling crowded. 

The opportunity here is building WhatsApp into your broader communication strategy early, while attention is still strong.

How a UK pub chain drove 82%+ open rates by shifting from telesales to WhatsApp

This UK hospitality brand was relying heavily on telesales and email to reach customers. With email engagement declining, the team needed a better way to stay connected with its audience without adding complexity to its setup.

The brand now uses WhatsApp to send promotions, business updates, and service messages, targeting either specific customer groups or its wider base, depending on the message.

By changing to this strategy, the brand has seen open rates at around 82%, compared to 48% for email, which shows how much more attention WhatsApp is getting.

“Before WhatsApp, we relied heavily on telesales and email to reach our customers. With email engagement declining, it made sense to diversify, and WhatsApp was the obvious next step. If you want to make sure your message is actually seen, add WhatsApp to the mix. Every customer has different preferences, and covering more channels means more of them hear from you.”

– Anonymous, UK pub chain

What this means for you

This shows what’s possible when you’re willing to rethink your channel mix. For this brand, email engagement was slipping, and telesales alone wasn’t enough – so the team brought WhatsApp in to fill the gap, not as a replacement, but as another route to reach its customers.

Where WhatsApp is working right now

Across very different industries and use cases, one pattern stands out. Messages perform better when they appear in channels people already use and in formats that make them easy to read and respond to.

WhatsApp is becoming part of the marketing mix for more brands, and those using it now are already seeing stronger engagement rates and deeper connections with their customers.

In this final blog in our not-so-basic basics series, where we look at essential marketing channels with a fresh lens for 2026, we’re turning our focus to WhatsApp marketing.

Przemek Szustak, Senior Product Manager, is sharing his experiences, advice, and knowledge on WhatsApp. Sharing why the channel performs so strongly, how brands can use it effectively, and how to do so without crossing the line into spam.

What is WhatsApp marketing?

First up, what is WhatsApp marketing? Many of us use WhatsApp with friends and family, and the app has over 3 billion users worldwide. WhatsApp is sometimes classed as a social media platform, but it is more of a messaging app than a typical social media platform.

WhatsApp marketing is the use of WhatsApp to communicate with customers via opt-in messages that feel conversational, timely, and personal. Brands typically use it to deliver rich media messages through WhatsApp Business, including:

• Promotions
• Updates
• Documents
• Customer support interactions

Because WhatsApp is primarily used to talk to friends and family, it’s a more intimate channel than email or SMS, which makes relevance, consent, and message quality especially important. When done right, WhatsApp marketing can feel incredibly helpful and natural, making a great customer experience.

The benefits of rich media mobile marketing

Rich media mobile marketing goes beyond plain text. WhatsApp supports images, PDFs, emojis, and special characters, allowing brands to create expressive messages that still render perfectly across Android, iPhone, and desktop devices.

Two trends are driving its growth:

1. A shift back to organic channels

• Paid digital advertising costs continue to fluctuate, and algorithms are constantly changing. This uncertainty is pushing brands to invest more heavily in owned channels like email, social, and messaging apps.

2. Mobile-first attention

• With people spending around five hours a day on their phones, rich media messaging offers a direct way to meet customers where their attention already lives.

Why WhatsApp marketing works

WhatsApp combines reach, familiarity, and functionality in a way few channels can match. 71% of adults are more likely to purchase from a company they can contact via messaging.

What are the average engagement rates for WhatsApp?

• Open rate: 66.6%
• Click-through rate: 51.1%
• Delivery rate: 94.7%

These benchmarks reinforce WhatsApp’s role as a high-attention, high-impact channel when messages are relevant and well-timed.

WhatsApp vs SMS vs email: choosing the right channel

There’s no single “best” channel; the strongest strategies use email, SMS, and WhatsApp together, each playing a distinct role.

• Email is ideal for storytelling, longer-form content, and ongoing relationship building
• SMS excels at urgency, alerts, and time-sensitive actions
• WhatsApp bridges the gap with rich, conversational messages that feel personal and interactive

The key is understanding when to use each channel and how they complement one another, rather than treating them as standalone tactics.

The Dotdigital channel playbook breaks this down in detail, sharing the pros and cons of each channel so you can decide which channel to use, when to use it, and how to make them all work together seamlessly.

How to use WhatsApp for marketing (without being spammy)

Because WhatsApp is such a personal space, brands need to be extra mindful of the messages they’re sending.

1. Avoid excessive messaging. Even when you have exciting updates to share, resist the urge to over-message. Customers value brands that respect their time.
2. Send relevant, valuable content. Every message should have a clear purpose for the recipient. Irrelevant or repetitive messages are one of the fastest ways to be marked as spam.
3. Respect opt-outs immediately. Any request to stop receiving messages should be honored straight away. This protects trust and your sender reputation.

WhatsApp compliance, consent, and Meta’s rules

You can message anyone on WhatsApp as long as you stick to Meta’s rules and guidelines. Because WhatsApp is powered by Meta, there are strict rules designed to keep the channel high-quality.

Mandatory templates

All business-initiated WhatsApp messages (except direct replies) must use pre-approved templates. These act as structured frameworks that Meta reviews to prevent spammy behavior.

Template categories

Templates fall into two main categories:

• Marketing: Flexible templates used for promotions, announcements, and awareness campaigns.
• Utility: Transactional messages triggered by customer actions, such as order confirmations. These must include specific details, like an order number. Utility messages sent within an active customer service window are typically free.

Get more information on this in our WhatsApp playbook, or speak with Dotdigital to discuss how WhatsApp can work for your brand.

Best practices for building a strong WhatsApp sender reputation

WhatsApp is built on quality over quantity. When brands first start using the channel, Meta may limit daily send volumes until responsible behavior is established.

How to build a strong WhatsApp sender reputation:

To ramp up safely and effectively:

• Create a complete, professional WhatsApp Business profile
• Obtain explicit opt-in before sending messages
• Personalize templates wherever possible
• Monitor engagement and delivery closely
• Limit marketing message frequency

The faster you prove you’re a responsible sender, the more flexibility you gain.

WhatsApp marketing use cases to inspire your strategy

WhatsApp works best in moments that matter. Common high-performing use cases include:

How to use WhatsApp for marketing

• Birthday messages: Stand out on a customer’s special day and build an emotional connection on a channel where birthday messages are already flowing in from friends and family.
• Promotions and exclusive offers: Share time-sensitive deals with imagery and direct links to drive click-throughs
• Transactional updates: Send important updates like order confirmation and delivery tracking
• Customer support and follow-ups: Use the 24-hour conversation window to resolve questions quickly and personally

Different industries apply these use cases in different ways, but the common thread is relevance, timing, and respect for the customer’s attention.

You can explore all seven WhatsApp use cases in our full WhatsApp playbook.

WhatsApp marketing in 2026

We are starting to see WhatsApp take root as a marketing channel, and the potential of what it can offer is still untapped for many brands. Most people use it to chat with friends and family, so marketers should keep its personal nature in mind and focus on sending relevant, timely, and personalized messages.

WhatsApp stands out from other channels, driving strong performance with high open and click-through rates and delivering exceptional ROI. WhatsApp is used in over 180 countries, and over 200 million businesses are already using WhatsApp Business.

Check out the other blogs in this series to stay up to date on the marketing channels that matter most in 2026. You’ll find expert guidance on email engagement, email deliverability, and SMS marketing.

All benchmarks in this blog are from Dotdigital’s 2026 Global benchmark report. Check out the full report for more marketing channel benchmarks, expert advice, and numbers unique to your industry and region.

With over two billion users globally, our customers can send messages on the app where your audience spends an average of 33 minutes per day – that’s the same time it takes the average person to run a 5k. I know many of you will know how long that feels…

Maybe you’re thinking, “What? WhatsApp? For marketing?”. I hear you. It’s true that whilst billions of people worldwide are using the app every day, it’s not used by all marketing teams just yet. But why not? 

My opinion? Their marketing automation platform hasn’t made it easy for them. We’ve been on a mission to change that at Dotdigital HQ.

Dotdigital customers are already seeing remarkable results

Early adopters of WhatsApp in our private preview saw results that exceeded our expectations. Once we made it easy for our customers to send WhatsApp messages, they were seeing industry-defying open and conversion rates. Some had a 50X return on ad spend (ROAS). We knew this was going to be a game-changer. 

But what makes WhatsApp different from other channels and why did we know it was worth investing in? Email marketing is great, but we didn’t want to stop there. A whopping 73% of shoppers use multiple channels during their buying journey, so its clear we need to think beyond traditional channels. WhatsApp, as a widely used and trusted platform, offers a unique chance to reach an audience through their favorite messaging app. Here’s why.

Why WhatsApp?

Dotdigital customers can now add WhatsApp into their existing channel mix to drive higher conversions and industry-defying open rates.

• It’s a crowd favorite: Billions use it. Daily. It’s the perfect place to reach your audience.
• Results that make a difference: With open rates over 90% and click-through rates typically between 45-60%, your messages will get the attention they deserve.
• Content beyond characters: Go beyond text on a screen. WhatsApp supports images, PDFs, headers, emojis, and special characters, making your messages pop.
• Go global: With access to audiences in 180+ countries, your messages aren’t bound by borders. Send once, worldwide.
• Safe and secure: End-to-end encryption keeps all messages private and secure.

Like the sound of that? So do we. That’s why we’ve worked so hard to get it baked into Dotdigital. Here’s how you can use it. 

Five ideas to get you started with WhatsApp

Encourage first-time engagement by adding WhatsApp to your welcome journey

Put your brand in the spotlight

• Show your product line, creating interactive campaigns, and telling stories with images and videos

Drive repeat purchases

• Share personalized coupon codes or let customers know about a new product drop on a channel they engage with regularly

Share updates and notifications

• Create a great experience for customers, donors, spectators, holidaymakers… whoever you want to market to

Download our WhatsApp marketing playbook: Your guide to success for even more ways to use the channel as well as how you can get started with capturing consent.

But maybe you don’t already use Dotdigital and need a reminder about why you should. Well, here goes:

Why Dotdigital?

• Unbeatable usability: Our customers will tell you how easy it is to build an email in Dotdigital. Building a WhatsApp message is no different.
• Trim your tech stack: Manage your email, SMS, web, and WhatsApp marketing in just one platform and say goodbye to third-party providers.
• We’ve got your back: Starting any new channel can be daunting. Not with Dotdigital. From deliverability experts who make sure your messages land, to strategic support on what to send and when from your Customer Success Manager.

If you’re ready to start using WhatsApp on Dotdigital, request a call back with your CSM or book a demo today.

We’re introducing new features designed to simplify your workflows, expand your reach, and maximize your marketing campaigns, so you can focus on what matters most: growing your business.

Scale smarter and sharper

Creating effective marketing programs involves a lot of work. You might find yourself rebuilding programs repeatedly, which can waste valuable time. With Dotdigital, you can achieve quicker results. Imagine not starting campaigns from scratch whenever you want to promote new products, reach new audiences, or develop new brands. 

What’s new

Copy programs, journeys, and content across accounts

We’re excited to introduce the ability to copy programs, segments, pages, and more in bulk across related accounts. For example, if you have a parent account for your main brand and child accounts for individual stores or regions, you can now copy a successful email campaign template from the parent account to all child accounts in just a few clicks. 

If you have an especially effective segment, you can now share it with any of your accounts. This feature will save you hours of repetitive work, allowing you to concentrate on optimizing your growth strategy. You now can:

• Copy easily: Transfer program templates, campaigns, segments, and custom building blocks across all your accounts with ease.
• Be flexible: Move content between accounts in any direction you choose.
• Select in bulk: Choose multiple pieces of content to copy across various accounts and sync them automatically with just a few clicks.

Dotdigital and Shopify Markets

Expanding into new markets just got easier. Our Shopify Markets integration empowers you to personalize the customer journey across borders, driving international growth and boosting global sales. 

By connecting Dotdigital’s personalization engine with Shopify Markets, you can manage all your international sales from a single Shopify store, creating seamless, localized experiences for every customer. With this integration, you can:

• Simplify global sales: Manage all your international sales from one Shopify store.
• Sync pricing accurately: Keep pricing automatically updated to ensure a consistent and accurate customer experience across all markets.
• Create localized experiences: Import market-specific pricing and translations with just a few clicks.

Smarter data, better results

87% of marketers know data is important, but turning it into effective action can be a challenge. Dotdigital empowers you to turn your data into action. We surface the insights you need to stay ahead of the competition and drive better results.

What’s new

Data Firehose (preview)

Data should drive your growth strategy, not slow it down. Empower your data and marketing teams to operate quickly and efficiently with our new Data Firehose. This powerful tool enables the automatic export of your Dotdigital engagement data directly into your data warehouse, ensuring your teams have instant access to the information they need.

You can sync raw engagement data—such as opens, clicks, and sends from your email and SMS campaigns—into your Amazon S3, FTP server, or other data warehouses.

Why is this helpful? Having all your data in one place gives you a much clearer picture of your customer’s journey so you can optimize in real-time. With this complete view, you can:

• Spot trends: Easily see patterns in your customer’s behavior.
• Understand purchase intent: Get a better idea of what your customers will likely buy.
• Improve recommendations: Give your sales and marketing teams the insights they need to boost revenue.
• Connect to your tech stack: Seamlessly integrate with your data warehouses and customer data platforms (CDPs).

Trustpilot Service Reviews

We’ve improved our Trustpilot integration, making it easier than ever to collect and use customer feedback. You can now work with both Service Reviews (for your overall business) and Product Reviews directly within Dotdigital. This means automating the entire feedback process and putting those reviews to work.

Here’s what you can do:

• Automated review requests: Send automatic invitations for service or product reviews straight from Dotdigital.
• Sync product reviews: Bring verified product reviews into Dotdigital and use them as contact data for smarter segmentation and automation.
• Show reviews in emails: Easily drag and drop recent reviews into your email campaigns.

What does this mean for you?

• Import all reviews: Import service reviews, product reviews, or both into Dotdigital for powerful segmentation.
• Target reviewers: Automatically enroll verified reviewers into specific programs based on their feedback.
• Boost credibility: Use positive reviews as social proof in your campaigns to build trust with potential customers.

Expand your reach

With your audience spending an average of five hours a day on their phones, it’s essential to adopt a mobile-first strategy. By diversifying your channel approach, you can effectively engage a broader audience and drive growth. Dotdigital’s latest features empower you to connect with customers across various platforms, maximizing your outreach.

What’s new

SMS click-to-unsubscribe

We’re making sure you aren’t wasting your marketing budget by streamlining the unsubscribe process for your contacts. Now available in supported regions, each campaign includes now includes a simple, personalized link that allows your contacts to automatically unsubscribe with just one click. The benefits include:

• Cost savings: Reduce costs, particularly if you are sending to multiple regions. 
• Improved customer experience: Offer a hassle-free unsubscribe option for contacts.

For those sending SMS worldwide, this significantly reduces the cost of getting started, especially if your business operates across multiple countries.

TikTok Audiences 

TikTok Audiences help you understand your followers better, so you can improve your social strategy. Here are some of the new features:

• Get new analytics to track your performance.
• Receive a daily summary of any new or removed contacts, along with info about any sync issues you might have.

Enhanced product recommendations 

Our AI-powered recommendation system now takes into account product variants, which are different versions of a base product (e.g., size, color, style).

• Similar products: The AI system assesses all products and their variants to suggest the most similar items to shoppers. You have control over merchandising rules and can create tag blends to highlight variations in color, size, or material.
• Purchased with products: Recommendations accurately display the relevant product variants that customers have purchased together.

Dotdigital App blocks

Sending hyper-personalized emails has never been easier. You can now edit SmartBlocks right within the Dotdigital platform. Enhance your email campaigns without the need for team training or switching between platforms. You can now:

• Effortless editing: Craft eye-catching personalized banners, enticing coupons, dynamic countdown timers, advanced product recommendations, and engaging weather widgets with just a few clicks.
• User-friendly interface: Our email builder makes it a breeze to incorporate content—no technical skills required.
• All-in-one experience: Enjoy a seamless, unified journey across all of Dotdigital’s products.

WhatsApp (preview)

Want to see the power of WhatsApp marketing firsthand? We’re bringing the world’s most popular messaging channel to Dotdigital, opening up a world of possibilities for your customer engagement.

Imagine reaching customers in 180 countries, engaging them in rich conversations, all without being limited by character counts. This is the potential of WhatsApp.

Interested in WhatsApp marketing? Visit our WhatsApp page for launch updates.

Other integrations and updates

We’ve been busy adding even more value with some exciting new integrations and updates:

What’s new

Migrating from Klaviyo to Dotdigital?

Feeling the pinch of Klaviyo’s recent price changes? Now’s the perfect time to explore a more powerful alternative. Switching to Dotdigital is easier than ever with our new Klaviyo migration tool. We’ll help you make a smooth, seamless transition, so you can get back to what matters most: growing your business.

Our Klaviyo migration tool lets you:

• Select and sync lists: Choose the specific lists you want to bring over from Klaviyo and sync them directly into Dotdigital.
• Map data fields: Select the data fields you need and easily map them to the corresponding fields in Dotdigital, or create new ones as needed.
• Sync unsubscribes and suppressions: Ensure a clean and compliant transition by automatically syncing your unsubscribes and suppressions.

No manual data transfer is required. Plus, take advantage of our exclusive offer for Klaviyo migrators. We’re proud to be the platform that fuels your growth.

Raiser’s Edge NXT

We’re thrilled to announce a direct integration with Raiser’s Edge NXT, available on the Blackbaud Marketplace. This exclusive integration (one of only two available) gives Dotdigital users a significant advantage. 

With automatic syncing, contacts, and customer details are seamlessly pulled from Raiser’s Edge into Dotdigital, making it easier than ever to manage your communications.