WhatsApp marketing software: what to look for to unlock channel growth and engagement

WhatsApp is now the most popular messaging app in the world.

But the personal nature of the channel is both a blessing and a curse for brands. 

Unlike email, where people expect promotional content, WhatsApp is where people chat with friends and family. That means irrelevant or pushy messages break the unspoken trust that comes with access to that space.

That’s why it’s not enough to just send promotions through WhatsApp. You need to deliver two-way, interactive experiences, and that’s only possible with a WhatsApp marketing platform built to nurture ongoing customer relationships.

Here are a few things to look for when selecting your WhatsApp marketing platform: 

1. WhatsApp list growth and consent management

Meta keeps WhatsApp tightly regulated because it’s such a private space on people’s phones. That means you need explicit consent before sending promotional messages on WhatsApp. 

The right WhatsApp marketing platform will let you: 

• Collect opt-ins through sign-up forms, keywords (“Text YES to get WhatsApp updates”), or even QR codes on packaging or in-store signage.
• Store channel-level preferences so customers can opt in or out of WhatsApp separately from email or SMS. The platform should track these preferences at a channel level, so you only message people where you have permission.
• Store consent so every opt-in is logged, time-stamped, and tied to the customer’s profile. That way, you can prove consent if WhatsApp ever audits your program.

On top of getting explicit consent, Meta requires you to use pre-approved message templates for communications like offers, product announcements, and reminders. Transactional updates like order confirmations or shipping notifications follow different rules, but the same principle applies: every message must meet WhatsApp’s standards.

Before you can send a WhatsApp marketing message, you need to submit the template text for approval. You can personalise details like names, product info, or order numbers, but the overall format needs to stay consistent with what’s been approved.

A good platform handles this for you by:

• Automating the approval process with WhatsApp
• Flagging when you’re trying to send something that doesn’t meet requirements

2. Built-in customer data and WhatsApp segmentation capabilities

Instead of treating your entire audience as one big list, segmentation groups people by shared behaviours, preferences, or circumstances so you can send them more personalised, relevant marketing messages. 

But successful segmentation is only possible if you have high-quality data. Most brands are juggling 10-15 different systems at any given time, from their ecommerce platform to their marketing platforms to their reviews, loyalty, and customer service tech. And each one is collecting valuable signals about your customers.

On their own, those signals are just fragments. But when you bring them together into a single source of truth, you suddenly have the ability to understand what your customers are doing and why.  

When you have this information, you can turn it into personalised WhatsApp messages for each customer. 

For example: 

• A customer who just asked a sizing question might appreciate a WhatsApp follow-up with fit recommendations or a direct link to what’s in stock.
• Someone in your top spending tier might get early-access messages that highlight exclusivity because they’ve shown they’ll pay more for VIP treatment.
• Someone who’s looked at the same pair of trainers 3x without purchasing might respond to a WhatsApp carousel of similar styles, paired with a reminder that their size is nearly sold out.

With WhatsApp, where the bar for relevance is higher, segmentation is a smart way to keep your messages feeling like a natural extension of the conversations your customers are already having with their friends and family.

3. Rich, interactive WhatsApp messaging features

The beauty of WhatsApp is that it doesn’t have to feel like marketing at all. With the right platform, you can use rich features like images, GIFs, carousels, and quick-reply buttons to turn a one-way message into an interactive experience.

Let’s say a customer gets a shipping update. Instead of plain text, they see a branded product photo and a live “Track my order” button. A few weeks later, you run a flash sale. You use WhatsApp to send a GIF that builds hype, plus quick-reply buttons like “shop now” or “remind me later” so they can act right in the thread.

Or, when you drop a new collection, customers can swipe through a WhatsApp carousel showcasing all the different colors or styles. If they run into a problem, support-related quick-reply options like “Return an item” or “Talk to an agent,” save the customer from hunting down a help page.

4. Omnichannel automation and campaign-building functionality

WhatsApp works best as part of a bigger, connected marketing strategy where all your channels (email, SMS, push, and WhatsApp) work together. The right platform lets you coordinate those touchpoints so every message feels like it’s part of the same conversation, regardless of where it lands. 

If your channels are split across different systems, you risk sending duplicate messages and creating gaps in the customer journey. 

This matters for both big campaigns, or one-off sends to various audience segments, and flows, which trigger automatically based on a customer’s actions. When all your marketing channels live under one roof, WhatsApp can play an integral part in both campaigns and flows. Here’s what that may look like in action: 

• Launch a holiday promotion where your first email builds excitement, a push notification drops when the sale goes live, and a WhatsApp message later in the day gives VIP customers early access to bestsellers.
• Follow up with an email reminder shortly after a shopper abandons their cart. If they don’t take action, send them a WhatsApp carousel 24 hours later showcasing the exact items they left behind, complete with a “Check out now” button.
• Confirm an order via email, then send a WhatsApp delivery update with a tracking link. A week after the order arrives, trigger a text message asking for a review.

5. WhatsApp customer service functionality

On that note: one of WhatsApp’s biggest strengths is how effortlessly it blends marketing and customer support. Customers don’t really care if they’re “in a campaign” or “opening a ticket.” They just want to reach you on the channel that’s easiest for them.

A strong WhatsApp marketing platform helps make that possible, bringing service and marketing under one roof and: 

• Letting shoppers reach out on any channel, including WhatsApp: Customers expect to get help wherever they already spend their time. If they want to ask about an order while scrolling through messages from friends, make sure they’re able to.
• Using automations to handle common customer questions: Automations can take care of simple, predictable requests, like checking order status, updating contact details, or sharing return instructions. This lets your team on focus on more complex issues. Setting up automated replies for these frequent inquiries ensures customers get instant answers while keeping your support team free for higher-value conversations.
• Making it easy to reach a human agent when necessary: Sometimes a customer needs a real person to help solve their problem. A human agent should get the full context: past purchases, loyalty status, browsing behavior, and the entire conversation history, so the customer never has to repeat themselves and the agent doesn’t waste their time digging for information.
• Equipping your team with a unified helpdesk and shared inbox: Behind the scenes, your team needs a single workspace where all conversations live together, no matter what channel the customer initially used to reach out. A unified helpdesk pulls in every customer interaction, including WhatsApp inquiries, along with each customer’s complete profile. 

6. WhatsApp measurement and performance insights

To know whether WhatsApp is truly driving growth, you need reporting that goes beyond basic opens and clicks. A good WhatsApp marketing platform connects message engagement directly to revenue, so you can see: 

• Campaign performance: who opened and clicked, and how much revenue each campaign actually generated
• Customer value: whether customers who engage with WhatsApp go on to spend more, repurchase faster, or show higher lifetime value (LTV) compared to those who don’t
• Funnel insights: how WhatsApp impacts the buyer journey (e.g., driving first-time purchases, nudging repeat orders, keeping loyal members active)

Cross-channel reporting is just as important. Customers tend to flow between email, SMS, mobile push, and WhatsApp, and the right platform gives you a single view of performance across all channels. This shows how WhatsApp fits into the bigger picture: it might be the final push that closes a sale after an email, or the follow-up that prevents someone from churning. 

Finally, make sure your WhatsApp marketing platform empowers you to test, optimize, and model future behavior by using AI to run A/B tests on message timing, analyze cohorts, or spot patterns in high-value segments.

Even the best WhatsApp strategy will fall flat without the right platform

It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation: does your WhatsApp strategy shape the platform you choose, or does the platform shape what you can actually do with your strategy? The truth is, it’s both.

If all you want is to blast out promotions, almost any provider will get the job done. But if your aim is to build real relationships, recover revenue at key moments, and mix customer service in with your marketing, you’ll need a WhatsApp marketing platform that covers segmentation, automation, compliance, and measurement in one place.

That’s where Klaviyo, the AI-first B2C CRM, stands out. Unlike point solutions or siloed add-ons, Klaviyo is purpose-built for B2C brands, which means WhatsApp is powered by the same unified data foundation that powers your email, SMS, push, and service channels. 

With Klaviyo WhatsApp, you get:

• Unified customer data: Pull signals from every corner of your tech stack into one place.
• Omnichannel campaigns and automations: Orchestrate WhatsApp alongside email, SMS, and mobile push, without juggling tools.
• Built-in compliance and consent management: Collect, store, and manage opt-ins across channels, with pre-approved WhatsApp templates baked in.
• Deep reporting and analytics: See exactly how much revenue WhatsApp campaigns drive, compare the LTV of WhatsApp-engaged customers, and understand how the channel contributes across the funnel.
• Service and marketing in one platform: AI agents resolve common issues instantly and seamlessly escalate conversations to humans with full customer context when necessary, and your support team works from a unified inbox tied directly to marketing data.