Complete Guide on WhatsApp Ads to Enhance Your Conversational Marketing

Guide: Advertising on WhatsApp

Complete Guide on Ads in WhatsApp

WhatsApp has become an effective channel for direct communication between businesses and users. Ads with Click to WhatsApp buttons allow you to turn advertising interest into a real conversation, by directing users from a social media ad to an open chat with the business. This approach reduces friction, shortens the conversion cycle, and enhances the user experience.

This guide outlines the key steps to set up, run, and optimize WhatsApp advertising campaigns. It includes segmentation criteria, creative considerations, key performance indicators, automation mechanisms, and sector-specific recommendations.

Precise targeting from Meta Ads and Google Ads

Meta Ads

The success of a WhatsApp campaign starts with reaching the right audience. Meta Ads allows you to target using multiple variables:
  • Demographics: age, gender, location, language.
  • Interests and behaviors: users with thematic affinities or purchase history.
  • Custom audiences: generated from previous interactions (web, email, audiovisual content).
  • Lookalike audiences: built based on existing customer profiles.

To improve accuracy, it's recommended to work with an organized contact database from a CRM or platforms like WOZTELL. This facilitates remarketing campaigns and improves message personalization.

Getting your WhatsApp campaign off to a strong start means reaching the right people. Google Ads enables precise targeting through several key options:
  1. Demographics: age, gender, location, language.
  2. Interests and behaviors: users with thematic affinities or purchase history.
  3. Retargeting audiences: generated from previous interactions (web, app users, YouTube views, Analytics...).
  4. Lookalike segments: built based on existing customer profiles for Demand Gen campaigns.
To enhance effectiveness, having a well-organized contact list—ideally from a CRM or platforms like WOZTELL—makes it easier to run retargeting campaigns and tailor messages more accurately.

Effective content: Copy, visuals, and A/B tests

Creative decisions directly influence the ad’s ability to generate conversations. The recommended structure is as follows:

Copywriting

  1. Adapt the language to the final user profile.
  1. Focus the message on tangible benefits.
  1. Include specific calls to action.
  1. Use predefined message templates to facilitate user response.

Visuals

  • Well-lit, high-resolution images.

  • Avoid text overload (maximum 20% of the visual space).

  • In case of videos, capture attention in the first 3 seconds.

  • Ensure the visual format is appropriate for the channel (square, vertical, horizontal).

A/B Tests

It is recommended to validate hypotheses by testing variations of copy, visuals, targeting, or CTAs. Meta Ads allows you to set up these tests directly from the Ads Manager.

Measurement: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To assess the performance of a campaign, it is important to monitor the right metrics from the start. The most relevant ones are:
  • CTR (Click Through Rate): ratio of clicks to total impressions.

  • Conversation start rate: measures how many users start a chat after clicking.

  • Response rate: reflects the response capacity of the team or the bot.

  • Cost per conversation: calculation of investment divided by conversations started.

  • Final conversion: number of qualified leads or sales derived from the campaign.

Generally, the CTR alone does not reflect the impact of the campaign if not accompanied by data on the subsequent interaction.

UTM tagging and CRM integration

To link clicks to business results, it is necessary to implement UTM parameters in the ad URLs. This allows:

  • Identify the source and campaign associated with each conversation.

  • Evaluate performance on analytics platforms like Google Analytics.

  • Make decisions based on real data.

Additionally, connecting WhatsApp to a CRM allows:

  • Automatically register and classify new leads.

  • Assign workflows, tags, and responsible individuals.

  • Track the complete journey from the click to the closure.

Automation: Scalable conversation management

A successful campaign can generate a high volume of conversations. To respond efficiently:

  • Implement chatbots to filter queries, request basic information, and redirect to the appropriate teams.

  • Use CRM automation for internal notifications, tagging, and follow-up emails (reminders, remarketing).

  • Ensure 24/7 availability through automated responses.

This approach ensures high-quality service even during large-scale campaigns.

Sector adaptation: Examples and recommendations

Click to WhatsApp ads can be adapted to multiple industries. Below, we describe strategies and flows suggested by vertical:
  1. Real Estate: Lead generation through visual ads of properties. Chatbot collecting information about the area, budget, and type of property.
  2. Education: Student acquisition with ads focused on educational benefits. Chatbot classifying by area of interest.
  3. Insurance: Lead generation for quotes with messages focused on savings and coverage. Automation to collect initial data (age, type of insurance).
  4. Ecommerce and Retail: Solving pre-purchase doubts and providing real-time assistance. Chatbot with frequently asked questions and recommendations.
  5. Health and Beauty: Increasing bookings with testimonial content. Automation for appointment scheduling with service selection, date, and professional.

The effectiveness of Click to WhatsApp ads depends on rigorous implementation, based on segmentation, conversion-driven creativity, automation, and continuous analysis. This approach allows you to transform interactions into measurable results within the conversational marketing ecosystem.