Over 3 billion people use WhatsApp Messenger every month (We think that’s almost half the planet, isn’t it?!) It’s popular, it’s great – from quick chats with friends to family group messages, people are double-tapping their way through life, and clearly live on this app. So, why not meet your customers where they already are?
The WhatsApp marketing tool has achieved that rare status of being both unavoidable and actually really useful! It has a massive reach, high engagement rates and interactive features that make it quite an essential channel for marketing, creating 1:1 connections alongside email, push, or social media.
So, how can businesses tap into all that potential? Here’s why WhatsApp business is a powerful marketing channel for businesses and why it deserves a starring role in your CRM strategy.
The Best Marketing Is the One That Doesn’t Feel Like Marketing
It’s true, the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing at all. It feels natural and genuinely helpful, and we think WhatsApp delivers exactly that! Open rates are around 98% compared to an average of 20-25% for email, so those two-way conversations with personalised messages or even customer support feel easy. That’s a marketer’s dream!
We’ve talked a lot about personalisation this year, and for good reason. Customers are drawn to brands that listen, understand and genuinely care about them. At the end of the day, we are emotional beings; we connect through relevance and empathy. With the world of marketing shifting towards this approach, those personal messages are fast becoming one of the most effective ways to sell. WhatsApp does this in a way that traditional marketing channels simply cannot match.
P.S. – If you want to learn more, you can read our article all about that wonderful topic here: What Is Personalisation?
Hear from a CRM manager at WeDoCRM:
“Think about it, when was the last time you enthusiastically opened a marketing email vs responding to a WhatsApp message? The psychology is completely different. WhatsApp sits in the same space as conversations with friends, family, and people you actually want to hear from. When customers opt into your WhatsApp communications, they’re inviting you into that trusted space.
This shift is profound. WhatsApp isn’t just where people talk to friends anymore; it’s where they want to talk to businesses. They’re booking appointments, tracking orders, asking questions, and making purchases, all through the same app they use to chat with their mum.”
Adding a High-Performing New Channel to Your Marketing Ecosystem
Your customers are already on WhatsApp, so the real question is… is your CRM keeping up? The WhatsApp business platform plugs right into leading CRM systems, letting you create those amazing customer journeys that feel as natural as a chat with a friend. You can trigger messages based on real customer behaviour, segment audiences for personalised campaigns, automate responses without sounding like a robot and track the engagement levels right alongside your other CRM data.
Do you know why we love it? All those WhatsApp conversations sit nicely and neatly next to email opens, purchase history, and support tickets, giving you a complete, 360° view of your customer relationships. Bliss.
Lifecycle Marketing That Actually Reaches People
All the sophisticated lifecycle marketing you are already doing becomes so much more effective when delivered through WhatsApp. Those welcome sequences, abandoned cart reminders, post-purchase follow-ups, loyalty rewards, re-engagement campaigns… people actually see and READ these messages. Imagine your beautifully designed customer journey, all mapped out in your CRM, turns into real engagement.
Here’s the paradox WhatsApp solves brilliantly… how do you maintain personal, meaningful relationships with thousands of customers? WhatsApp lets you stay personal at scale. Automated messages feel like real conversations thanks to their familiar interface and two-way chat. Customers can reply, ask questions, turning one-way spammy broadcasts into genuine chatty dialogues.
Oh, and because it’s integrated with your CRM, you can personalise using the rich customer data you already have. You’re not choosing between efficiency and personalisation anymore. You’re getting both!
What About WhatsApp vs. Traditional Channels
Marketers, take a step back for a second and put yourself in your customers’ shoes.
Channel fatigue is a real thing. Your customers are absolutely flooded with marketing messages every day, and most channels are fighting a losing battle for attention. Here’s what the data shows:
| Marketing Channel | Average Open Rate | Average Response Time | Click-Through Rate | Conversion Potential |
| 98% | 90 seconds | 45-60% | High | |
| 37-42% | 6+ hours | 2-5% | Medium | |
| SMS | 95-98% | 90 seconds | 6-8% | Medium |
| Social Media | 2-6% | Variable | 1-3% | Low-Medium |
| Push Notifications | 7-10% | 3-5 minutes | 7-10% | Medium |
(Sources: WapiKitTrengo, & Email Marketing Benchmarks 2025)
Although the numbers don’t lie, what the table doesn’t show is intent. When someone engages with your WhatsApp message, they’re not passively scrolling; they’re actively participating. This leads nicely to customer expectations in 2025….
Customer Expectations Are Accelerating
Here’s something we’ve seen working with hundreds of brands: customer expectations have shifted massively. Five years ago, waiting 24 hours for an email response seemed quite normal, but in 2025, it seems like forever. With the rapid tech advancements and the growth of online platforms like our favourites (Amazon and Netflix), setting up standards that are just convenient, personal and give immediate gratification, we want things done right away.
The 2025 Customer Expectation Timeline (Our Experience)
Instant (under 5 minutes): WhatsApp, SMS, Live Chat
Fast (under 2 hours): Social media DMs, phone
Eventually (within 24 hours): Email
Whenever (24+ hours): Traditional mail, some support tickets
When we have discussions with clients, we acknowledge this reality. Email still definitely serves a purpose for newsletters, detailed content and formal communications, but for time-sensitive, action-packed relationship-building messages, WhatsApp and SMS win every time.
WhatsApp and CRM Integration
You might be thinking, “This sounds great, but isn’t WhatsApp integration complicated?”
Not anymore. Modern WhatsApp Business API connects with virtually every major CRM and marketing automation platform. Here are some of the integrations we have done with our partners and some of the best WhatsApp marketing software:
- Salesforce – WhatsApp messaging was integrated in 2022
- HubSpot – Direct WhatsApp messaging from contact records
- Klaviyo – WhatsApp integration with Klaviyo was announced in September 2023
- Adobe Campaign – Adobe Campaign Classic can connect with WhatsApp
- Iterable – Cross-channel journeys with WhatsApp as a first-class channel
- Customer.io – Behavioural triggers and WhatsApp automation
- Bloomreach – Bloomreach offers WhatsApp integration to create impactful campaigns
- Dotdigital – WhatsApp is available to businesses through Dotdigital’s API
We partner with leading CRM and ESP platforms to deliver tailored, high-impact solutions. You can meet them all here: WeDoCRM Tech Partners.
How You Can Add WhatsApp to Your CRM Strategy
Most CRM strategies were built in a world where email was king and customers checked their inboxes religiously. It’s time to start rebuilding your customer engagement architecture around where attention actually lives. They’re not abandoning email, SMS or push, but with WhatsApp increasingly taking centre stage for high-value interactions, we are seeing a clear pattern.
Brands that integrate it into their lifecycle marketing strategy see their engagement rates double or triple almost immediately. Not because the messaging got better, but because it’s finally reaching people where they’re already paying attention. The technology is ready, the customers are there waiting, the only question is, are you? If yes, get in touch with us today, we can’t wait to hear all about your marketing strategies, support where you need it and smash your goals together.
Get in touch with us via WhatsApp (see what we did!?) with a discovery call here. And hey, we still love email, so you can get in touch with us here too. hello@wedocrm.co
