Friday afternoon in the bakery. Tomorrow the new spelt croissants go on sale for the first time, and every regular really ought to know about it. So the owner sits down at the computer, writes an email to her list and hits send. On Saturday she asks a few people at the counter. The answer is almost always the same: “An email? I never saw it.”
That is where a lot of small businesses are stuck. The offers are good and customers like the place, but the messages simply do not arrive. A WhatsApp newsletter solves that, because it lands where your customers already look several times a day. WhatsApp messages reach an open rate of 98%, and that changes everything you thought you knew about newsletters.
This guide walks you through the whole process, from setting things up to sending your first message.
What a WhatsApp newsletter is, and what it is not
A WhatsApp newsletter is one message you send at the same time to every contact who has actively signed up for it. Each person gets it as a normal, personal WhatsApp message in their own chat. Not in an anonymous group where everyone can see everyone else’s number.
The distinction matters. A WhatsApp newsletter is not a group, and it is not a broadcast from the small WhatsApp Business app, which hits its limits once you have more than a few hundred contacts. Professional newsletters run through Meta’s official WhatsApp API. That lets you send to as many recipients as you like, manage replies properly and set the whole thing up on a sound legal footing. The WhatsApp newsletter feature page shows how that works in detail.
Step by step to your first newsletter
Here is how it goes in practice:
- Set up the tool. You connect your WhatsApp Business number to a newsletter platform. With SmartChat you are ready in under 60 seconds, because the AI builds your landing page straight from your website.
- Share the landing page. This is the page where people sign up with their mobile number. Link to it from your website, from your Instagram bio and from your Google profile.
- Collect contacts. Ask your customers directly, put a QR code in the window, and mention the newsletter at the till. Nobody signs up without an invitation.
- Write the first message. Short, personal, with a clear reason why signing up was worth it. An exclusive offer at the start works almost every time.
- Send, then reply. Once you send, the replies come in, because WhatsApp is a two-way channel. Set aside time for that. This is exactly where loyalty is built.
The most common mistake is skipping step 3 and then being disappointed when only a handful of people sign up. Give your list a few weeks to build before you judge the channel.
Nothing works without double opt-in
Before you send a single message, you need explicit consent from every recipient. The proper way to get it is called double opt-in: the customer signs up, then confirms that sign-up a second time, for example with a short reply in WhatsApp. Only then are you allowed to send marketing messages.
It sounds like red tape, but it is your best protection. You can prove at any time that every contact on your list wants to be there, and that is exactly what the GDPR requires. SmartChat handles the whole process automatically, documentation included. There is more on the double opt-in page.
A small list built on genuine consent beats any big list of bought numbers.
What sending costs
WhatsApp charges a fee for every marketing message delivered, and Meta bills it directly. SmartChat passes those costs on without a markup, so you pay your platform plan plus Meta’s fees, and nothing else. Plans start at 299 euros, and your contact list can grow without limit. You can see the full picture on the pricing page.
Judge this channel by its impact, not by its cost. A message almost everyone reads is worth far more than an email that disappears into a promotions folder.
Your first message: how to make it sound right
Write the way you talk across the counter. A good first message has three parts: a personal greeting with a first name, one concrete benefit and one easy next step.
Here is an example from the bakery at the start of this article: “Hi Emma, lovely to have you with us! Tomorrow from 7 a.m. we are baking our spelt croissants for the first time. As a newsletter contact you get one free with your purchase until 9 a.m. Just mention it at the till.”
No marketing speak, no long paragraphs, no wall of links. One message, one point, one next step.
The bottom line
A WhatsApp newsletter is not complicated: set up the tool, share the landing page, collect contacts with double opt-in, write honestly and personally. The rest is sticking with it. With SmartChat you are ready in under 60 seconds, because the AI creates the landing page, the newsletter and the follow-ups straight from your website. Have a look at the WhatsApp newsletter feature page.