Introducing automation and utility conversations in WhatsApp marketing

We’re excited to announce the addition of two new features to our WhatsApp integration: Automation and Utility conversations. These enhancements will allow you to streamline your marketing efforts and engage with your customers more effectively by automating messages and providing essential information seamlessly.

WhatsApp marketing has become a prominent player in many marketing strategies, having demonstrated a 44.5% uptick in customers engagement. You can enhance your customer journey using WhatsApp automations to deliver personalized messages at the perfect moments and generate meaningful engagement with your contacts.

Enhanced engagement through journeys

Zoho Marketing Automation's journey builder takes WhatsApp engagement a step further by enabling you to create automated workflows that initiate conversations based on specific customer actions and ensure you trigger various types of interactions throughout the customer journey. The result is a seamless, personalized experience that delivers the right message at the right time.

Benefits for marketers:

• Holistic customer engagement: Combine marketing efforts with essential service updates for a well-rounded customer experience.

• Improved customer satisfaction: Foster trust and loyalty by ensuring customers have the information they need, when they need it.

• Streamlined workflows: Automate routine tasks and free up valuable time for strategic marketing initiatives.

 

A quick walkthrough 

Trigger 

Similar to an email campaign trigger, if a contact from a WhatsApp campaign meets certain criteria, they will be added to a journey. Only actions can be added as criteria for journey enrollment, however. This restriction ensures that only specific customer behaviors—such as responding to messages or clicking links—qualify them as contacts worthy of inclusion. By focusing on these actions, we can enhance engagement and tailor our communications to those who show genuine interest.

Process 

Once a contact is added to a journey, you can define a Process > WhatsApp activity to categorize and send  based on user's activity. In this case, you can choose from multiple activities to associate with a WhatsApp message for greater flexibility and customization in your messaging strategy. 

You can use a single WhatsApp activity component to trigger specific actions based on user interactions. For example, if a user clicks on a specific link in a WhatsApp message, they may automatically move to a different lead stage. Alternatively, if a user responds with a specific keyword, you can automatically send a different WhatsApp message. These use cases highlight how you can engage with users effectively through WhatsApp activities.

 

Action 

You can use this action to send a WhatsApp message to all qualified contacts associated with the journey. By delivering personalized messages to contacts associated with a specific journey, you can achieve more targeted and relevant communication. Additionally, creating and sending purchase confirmation and transactional messages, collectively known as Utility Conversations, allows users to automate personalized marketing campaigns based on user behavior.

 

 

 

Utility Conversations

We've also added a new feature: utility conversations. Previously, Zoho Marketing Automation only supported promotional messages, offers, and updates. Now, with utility conversations, you can deliver essential, purchase-related information directly through WhatsApp.

This enables you to:

• Provide timely updates: Send order confirmations and other critical information directly to customers to ensure they stay informed throughout the journey.

• Streamline transactions: Use automated payment reminders and transactional messages to simplify the buying process and reduce friction.

• Gather valuable feedback: Easily collect customer feedback through surveys to foster continuous improvement and increase customer satisfaction.

  
  

Note: Utility conversations have a distinct pricing structure compared to marketing conversations. You can visit our pricing page to calculate these costs accurately. Additionally, utility conversations will be included only in Professional and Enterprise plans.

 

 

With this update, we expect our users to get more out of Zoho Marketing Automation and enhance their brands' reputations with timely campaigns. We're always here to help marketers at every step in their marketing endeavor with Zoho Marketing Automation. Please reach out to us at support@zohomarketingautomation.com. We'll be more than happy to provide assistance!

• Topic Participants

• Mohamed Ashraf J

  

• keith

• Jeshua Edward

  

• Sticky Posts

• Marketer’s Space - Automating CRM Actions with Journeys – Part 2

  Hello marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space. In our previous post, we explored how CRM actions in Journeys help marketing and sales teams work together by nurturing CRM leads and pushing only engaged prospects back to sales. If you

• Introducing automation and utility conversations in WhatsApp marketing

  We’re excited to announce the addition of two new features to our WhatsApp integration: Automation and Utility conversations. These enhancements will allow you to streamline your marketing efforts and engage with your customers more effectively by automating

• Tip of the week 02 - The art of 'seeing' your leads

  What's the last page that your lead visited before signing up for your brand? What was the page that first convinced your lead to explore more about you? Where are your leads coming in from? Well, these are some perennial questions today's marketers live upon. And, knowing the answers to these questions is crucial, considering the vitality of leads in every business. In the journey of finding lead opportunities, it's important to understand that every detail about a lead is useful. While the channels

• Zoho Marketing Automation Update: Topics, Contacts, and List Management

  At Zoho Marketing Automation, our highest priority is making it easier for you to use our product to accomplish your business goals. With that in mind, we are updating three of our pivotal features: Topic, Contacts, and List Management.   These existing

• Important: Zoho MarketingHub is now Zoho Marketing Automation

  Hello Everyone,   We hope you all are doing well. We'd like to notify you that we have rebranded Zoho MarketingHub to Zoho Marketing Automation. We'll discontinue using the term "MarketingHub" from May 26, 2021. However, there will be no changes in the

• Recent Topics

• DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present

  Hi Support Team, For Domain DKIM record trying to enable status. but showing error "DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present" So, please resolve the issue. Thank you.

• I can't log in to my account on Thunderbird

  I've just had to rebuild my PC (calamitous mess from Microsoft with Win10/Win 11 'upgrade' - they confirmed I had to start with a new build). I have used Zoho mail for years via Mozilla Thunderbird, but now I've had to download the latest version of TBird,

• Sorten the domain of zoho mail ids

  I recently created zoho mail id and am quite excited with the features. But one issue ig nobody wanna type this big zohoaccounts.com I mean silly bold Suggestion zmail.com (sound gmail) (attraction) or some genz words looks cool

• Weekly Tips : Customize your Zoho Mail Notifications

  In a professional context, email communication remains one of the most crucial channels for staying connected and managing workflows. Keeping track of your emails, task updates, or important announcements can be overwhelming—especially if you are juggling

• How to move emails to Shared Mailbox?

  Hello, I created a Shred Mailbox instead of using a distribution group. But I cannot move previous emails to certain shared mailbox. Is it possible move some emails from inbox to shared mailbox?

• Email task creator when task is updated/marked complete

  I am looking for a way to notify the creator of a task in zoho todo when - Task is updated Task is closed Comments entered 1 and 2 are critical, and I cannot find a zoho flow to do this. There is no way that as a manager I will know when someone has completed

• The attendees will now be redirected to the landing webpage when they exit the webinar, set by the organizer.

  Hello All, In the latest version of the Zoho Meeting iOS mobile app (v1.3.16), we have brought in the below enhancements:   Post Webinar Re-direction Revamped exit UI for Webinar Post Webinar Re-direction:  The attendees will now be redirected to the

• Download API file contents from browser

  Hi Team - is there something being planned to be able to trigger file downloads from the browser via a deluge script? i.e. retrieve a file via API, trigger the file download directly from the browser. Or... using the convertToPdf function (https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/functions/file/convert-to-pdf.html)

• March 15, 2023: Zoho Docs is discontinued

  As of today (March 15, 2023) Zoho Docs is discontinued for all users. We would like to thank our customers for trusting us for so many years! Going forward, we're confident you'll enjoy using Zoho WorkDrive for all your advanced file management and collaboration

• When using "locations" in zoho books, can you keep the two locations totally separate from each other?

  I am looking to add a location but I don't want to intermingle the banking or other accounts. I want that to be like two separate independent branches that use different banking accounts, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. The people who are in

• Adding a Channel to SalesIQ

  I have a client that currently uses Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk. They would like a live chat to place on their website that has a mobile app and chat bots (something like SalesIQ). However, they would also like to have all this work over SMS as well. Does the SalesIQ API allow this? Can I add visitors without them being a visitor on a website? Thanks! Bryan Redeagle

• DataPrep Bigquery Connection failed

  Hello everybody, I want to create a connnection beetwen Bigquery and Dataprep but when I try to connect my project I got this error Loading tables has failed. Table list fetched from the data source expired.

• Zoho CRM IP Addresses to Whitelist

  We were told to whitelist IP addresses from Zoho CRM.  (CRM, not Zoho Mail.) What is the current list of IP Addresses to whitelist for outbound mail? Is there a website where these IP addresses are published and updated?  Everything I could find is over

• How Do I Refund a Customer Directly to Their Credit Card?

  Hi, I use books to auto-charge my customers credit card. But when I create a credit note there doesn't seem to be a way to directly refund the amount back to their credit card. Is the only way to refund a credit note by doing it "offline" - or manually-

• Zoho Flow Needs to Embrace AI Agent Protocols to Stay Competitive

  Zoho Flow has long been a reliable platform for automating workflows and integrating various applications. However, in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-driven automation, it risks falling behind competitors like n8n, which are pioneering advancements

• Important Features Missing

  Hey all I love linkthread, but i am missing some important features. I want to be able to include my Google Tag Manager. I have all the important stuff in my GTM Container: Facebook Pixel, LinkIn Pixel, Zoho Pagesense and so on. So i am able to do retargeting

• Zoho SignForms: Prefill parameters with spaces render as “+” in the document (even when using %20)

  Hello Zoho Sign team, we are using SignForms with prefill parameters passed via URL. Spaces in parameter values are being rendered as “+” in the finalized document—even when we URL-encode spaces as %20. This is critical for us because we prefill addresses

• Currency selector (based on variable) usage in comparsion

  Hi, I've developed a currency selector based on the following topic, and it's working well in pivot tables and charts: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/how-can-i-allow-my-users-to-choose-a-currency-for-the-dashboard I also have a comparison

• Customize Column in Projects - Default View for Template?

  Is there a way to have the columns you'd like to see added to a template? I want my customized columns to show up every single time I create a project from that template. It appears I can customize them in the template but when I create the project they do not transfer over.  Template: See below how the columns in order are : Task, Owner, Status, Assigned, Website URL, Blog H1..etc. When I create a project from that same template it comes out as: Task, Owner, Status, Tags, Start Date, End Date, etc

• Ask the Experts 24: Analytics, data administration, and mobile experience with Zoho Desk

  Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the Ask the Experts(ATE) series! We were so focused on our Autumn 2025 release that we didn't host an ATE session last month. In this month's ATE, we'd like to expand our areas for discussion: we'd like to listen to your

• Multi-Page Forms in Zoho Creator!

  Let’s make long applications easier to handle by dividing them into pages, adding a progress bar, and guiding users step by step through complex data entry. This would be a total game-changer for the user experience and could significantly boost completion

• Unable to Receive Emails on Zoho Mail After Office 365 Coexistence Setup – Error: 553 Relaying Disallowed

  Hello, My domain name is bigniter.com, and I’ve been using Zoho Mail as my email service provider without any issues. Recently, I followed the steps outlined in the Zoho documentation to enable Coexistence with Office 365: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/coexistence-with-office365.html#multi-server

• Email login error

  Login successfully but email page error

• Shared Mailboxes Disappeared

  Zoho Mail users in our company haven't been able to see their Shared Mailboxes for the past few hours. I've checked with App and Web Access, but they can't access them. When I send emails to their addresses, I get no error messages. They're still visible

• Remote Server is misconfigured

  Dear Team, I am unable to use email id as remote server is misconfigured. It would be really great if you could help on this and get this resolved. Thanks & Regard Rohit Gupta

• why cant i access my email account. it keeps asking me for reverifiying my account by entering my password.

  I cant access my account. it keeps asking me for reverifcaton by entering my password. once its entered it asks for it over and over.

• Free webinar alert on October 16 - Less Complexity, More Security: Workplace + Directory

  Hello Zoho Workplace Community! Security and productivity shouldn't be at odds—and with Zoho, they're not. Discover how Zoho Workplace + Directory delivers seamless collaboration with enterprise-grade security, all in one integrated ecosystem. Join our

• Email Recall Feature In Zoho Mail Which Should Also Work For Outside Organisation Members

  Add a feature to recall or undo sending an email within a configurable short time window (e.g., 30 seconds to 2 minutes) after hitting send, similar to Gmail’s undo send. Currently the sent email can not be recall If the recipient is not from within your

• Workdrive and ChatGPT Team Synced Connectors

  Hi, we want to be able to integrate Zoho Workdrive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Team plan. Google Drive and OneDrive both offer this, zoho please catch up asap. We dont want to have to put our company files in google drive, we want to allow chatgpt Team edition

• Alias Name (on items) use case in Zoho inventory

  Hey, Hope everyone is well. Wondering if anyone can shed some light on the use case of Alias Names on Products in Zoho Inventory? Cheers, Chris

• Updating an Invoice Line Item's Discount Account via API Call / Deluge Custom Function

  I need help updating an invoice line item's discount account via API. Below is a screenshot of the line item field I am referring to. Now the field to the left of the highlighted field (discount account) is the sales income account. I am able to modify

• Send e-mail with attachments

  Dear Zoho, How is that possible in Zoho Flow to send an e-mail with attachment?  Just a simple example: Zoho Flow checks my Zoho mails and if the conditions starts the trigger then I would like to send an email with the original email's attachment. Any idea? BR, Adam

• How to I get checkboxes on a subform to update via deluge

  Hello, would someone be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong here? I am trying to take the contents of a Deals subform and add them to an invoice then update the checkbox on each row so that 'add to invoice' is unticked and 'invoiced' is ticked. The output

• CRM Related list table in Zoho analytics

  In Zoho Analytics, where can I view the tables created from zoho crm related lists? For example, in my Zoho CRM setup, I have added the Product module as a related list in the Lead module, and also the Lead module as a related list in the Product module.

• Cadences

  I have just started using Cadences for follow-up up email pipeline. Is it just me or do you find the functionality very basic? For example, it will tell me (if I go looking for it) if someone has replied to a follow-up and been unenrolled; but it won't

• Add Webhook Response Module to Zoho Flow

  Hi Zoho Flow Team, We’d like to request a Webhook Response capability for Zoho Flow that can return a dynamic, computed reply to the original webhook caller after / during the flow runs. What exists today Zoho Flow’s webhook trigger can send custom acknowledgements

• Your bot just got smarter: AI-Powered routing that reads between the lines

  What if your bot could tell the difference? Between a visitor who just needs a quick answer, someone actively comparing options, and a frustrated customer one click away from leaving? Most bots can't. They deliver the same response to everyone, missing

• Tips & tricks: Make SalesIQ automations work for you

  Every day, thousands of visitors land on your website. Some browse, some buy, and some leave without a word. But, wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically know who’s interested, engage them at the right moment, and never miss a lead, and all this

• Good news! Calendar in Zoho CRM gets a face lift

  Dear Customers, We are delighted to unveil the revamped calendar UI in Zoho CRM. With a complete visual overhaul aligned with CRM for Everyone, the calendar now offers a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience. What’s new? Distinguish activities

• Urgent Security Feature Request – Add MFA to Zoho Projects Client Portal Hello Zoho Projects Team,

  Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit an urgent security enhancement request regarding the Zoho Projects Client Portal. At this time, as far as we are aware, there is no Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) available

• Next Page