WhatsApp has ceased to be just a messaging app and has become one of the most strategic tools in contemporary digital marketing. With over 2.78 billion active monthly users as of April 2024, according to Statista, the app has become a central piece in communication between brands and consumers, expanding the reach and effectiveness of campaigns.
According to Luiz Santos, founder of Unnichat, the official WhatsApp API automation platform and digital marketing expert, the change in consumer behavior was crucial for the app to become a mandatory channel for those who want to engage and sell efficiently. “Consumers are more impatient, selective, and want to feel they are being uniquely served, without that robotic communication. Despite this, the basic behavior has not changed much: WhatsApp was already the first app many would open upon waking up. It is an intimate, direct channel that captures attention uniquely. Additionally, in times of information overload and fake news, people seek references in their groups, returning to the community instinct. And where does this happen today? In WhatsApp. Groups have exploded, becoming spaces for exchange, much like Orkut was, but with much more usage.”
Facing the rising costs of advertising and the difficulty in capturing attention on social media, many companies have shifted their sales strategies to a more direct and efficient channel. “In social media, the organic path is unpredictable and the paid one is becoming increasingly expensive, and you still pay to impact those who are not even interested. In e-commerce, you rely on people getting there and searching. But on WhatsApp, you have a direct, personal channel where you can send contextualized and personalized messages, like reminding the customer that the whey protein they viewed is on sale or that the average repurchase time has passed. It is a channel that allows you to build relationships and have control: you only speak to those who have shown interest and pay a fixed amount per delivered message, with a real chance of response,” highlights Luiz.
Even with the popularization of the tool, many companies still make mistakes that compromise the entire commercial operation. “The first mistake is using an unofficial API: unstable, insecure, and subject to bans, a risk for any serious operation. The second is treating WhatsApp as a broadcast list, sending generic messages without context. This leads to bans and does not create a relationship with the customer. Another mistake is relying solely on chatbots or only on the sales team, without considering a hybrid operation. The bot needs to be intelligent and know when to involve a human, for example, at the time of purchase or a refund. And, finally, the biggest mistake: not having a relationship plan. Sending offers to those who are still researching, for example. Everything has to seem like a real conversation. If it looks like an email, it’s wrong,” explains the specialist.
More than automation, selling through WhatsApp demands real connection. Sales-generating conversations follow a flexible script but with a strong sense of context and personalization. Luiz points out what cannot be missing in this process: “The dispatch and automatic flow serve to identify who is interested. When the person interacts, it signals intention, and then the human comes in, with a contextual conversation. The secret is to appear human: knowing what the person saw, remembering what they commented before (like a problem with their child) and bringing that into the conversation. In other words, you can have a base script, but it needs to be flexible so that the conversation truly connects.”
Choosing the right technological infrastructure is crucial to ensure stability and scale. The entrepreneur compares the two most commonly used approaches today and warns about the risks of opting for the wrong option: “The system with the official API is stable, secure, and authorized by Meta. It has clear rules, delivery metrics, support, and scalability. On the other hand, tools that use WhatsApp Web (via QR Code) are not official: they are unstable, crash, have a risk of banning, and may stop working at any time, especially during important actions, like sales campaigns. It’s the path of uncertainty.”
Not every business has a robust sales team, and often in a small business, it is the owner who needs to attend to customers. “Small businesses benefit greatly from WhatsApp, as with an initial automated response and some simple automations, it is possible to attend to more people with minimal effort. Since the cost only incurs when the company sends active messages, it can save by responding only to received messages (which are free). In addition, specific actions, such as end-of-month campaigns, help recover contacts that have not yet made a purchase. All of this with minimal investment and without needing an exclusive sales team, only with well-configured automations and occasional attention from the owner or manager.”
WhatsApp has evolved from a conversation channel to an essential marketing and sales tool, taking the lead in this field. “Today, having the customer’s number is more valuable than email, as it allows contact via calls, SMS, and messages. When we analyze structured Unnichat campaigns on WhatsApp using the official API, we see click rates between 40% and 50%, while emails range from 1% to 3% and SMS from 5% to 10%. The open rate follows this difference. Furthermore, customers respond faster and interact more frequently when the approach is conversational and human, not automatic and generic,” Luiz Santos concludes.
