WhatsApp marketing automation and Utility conversation

WhatsApp marketing automation and Utility conversation

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!


    • Sticky Posts

    • 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

    • Marketer's Space: Streamline marketing and sales by integrating ZMA's Planner with Zoho CRM

      In a competitive market, clear goal-setting and seamless campaign execution are crucial for marketing and sales alignment. When integrated with Zoho CRM, Zoho Marketing Automation's Planner enables marketers to create, manage, and measure campaigns effectively

    • 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

      • What do the Image Sizes mean in Zoho CRM Email Templates?

        Below you can see the image options in email templates: Banner, Fit, Small, Medium, Original, Custom. Can someone from Zoho please share with me: What each is/means? How each will look on desktop AND mobile? How to edit "custom"?  If I choose "Custom"

      • Translate any published presentation to the language of your choice

        As part of our constant effort to enrich your presentation experience, Zoho Show has rolled out a new feature for translating published presentations. Consider the following scenario: Zylker IT services, a multinational corporation, has announced product

      • Blueprint: multi-select lookup field not available in the criteria option

        I read this old forum post which stated that multi-select lookup fields are now selectable as an option in a Blueprint transition configuration: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/blueprint-multi-select-lookup-field-not-available-within-blueprint-transition

      • Apply Credit Note Automatically

        We need the ability to apply open Credit Notes toward invoices generated by recurring invoice as the first, priority payment. This should be an option that we can enable/disable in the recurring profile and/or the Credit Note. Other invoicing systems can do this. I'm not sure why Zoho Invoice doesn't have it. Here's an example for a Recurring Invoice... If a customer has open Credit Notes, and a saved credit card set for auto-pay, once an invoice goes out, the credit balance gets automatically applied

      • Workflow for "Expenses" module?

        Hi there, over the last 2 years, Zoho Expense has seen tremendous growth and we are happy with it. But, sometimes it is frustrating to see things are being implemented halfheartedly, or so it seems. For example, There is the possibility to create workflows

      • Record Template - Conditionally printing sections

        Is there a way to conditionally print a section of a Record Template? More specifically I am printing records from a Form "Invoice". That Form has 3 SubForms. I'd like to print the content of those SubForms using a Record Template but only if they have at least one line item. If they have no line items, I'd like to hide the headers for that section on the printout.

      • User can choose the PDF report

        Hi. I would like to find out if a user (Creator or customer portal) to choose from the different PDF customised reports that have been built?

      • Query table pull last 12 months

        I am tying to pull the following criteria and the date is always what causes me the issue. I want to pull people (pco_id) who have entries of "event_id" being these 2 events and whos "kind" is Regular or Guest and where the event_starts_at (date column)

      • PLEASE FIX Search options and consider a Global seach option

        A recent update has removed the ability to search for addresses and phone numbers under contacts. We cannot find where this moved to (If it is still available). Please put these options back as we cannot locate specific projects anymore. Also please consider allowing for a Global search. This would really improve the search engine. For example: If I search for "Sally Jones" then all invoices , estimates, vendors etc.. would populate.. Please let me know if you need any more information. Thank You....

      • Customize your calendar based on personal preferences

        Greetings, We're happy to introduce a few new capabilities to the Activities module's Calendar View! Now you can tailor your calendar's appearance and notification settings to suit your needs. In the past, the Calendar View lacked customization options

      • BUG ALERT: Client Script + Commands -> $Page contextual data is not updated

        When using the new Client Script Commands feature, there is an issue with the Client Script $Page contextual data not accurately being updated each time a Command is run. Assuming a Client Script Command called "Client Script Command Bug" with the following

      • Show iFrame of related List inside of Blueprint Transition

        Hey, is it possible to show an iFrame of a related list like this inside of a Blueprint transition?

      • Lookup Fields not Converting

        I manage holiday properties. I have a lookup to the Accounts (Properties) in the Leads module. The lookup is connected to the property address field. When I convert it the lookup field does not update in Deals, although the property address does. There

      • 2024: A Year of Transformation with Zoho Forms

        As we close the curtain on another exciting year, it’s time to reflect on the strides Zoho Forms has taken in 2024. From empowering businesses with advanced tools to simplifying workflows and enhancing user experiences, our updates this year were all

      • Stop selling out of stock Items.

        Hi I have been using Zohobooks for a around 8 month now. I am not involved in selling process but my staff cant stop selling product which they do not hold in stock, this is a big headache for me as physical count never matches what is shown on the books. 

      • Bigin API Token Request ("invalid_client")

        Hi people, I tried to connect to the API without success, I've read all of the documentation multiple time and tried just about everything. I tried to do it with Python Request module and with Postman, passing the information through both the URL parameter

      • Customer Happiness not clickable when using API

        Is there a way to automatically add the Customer Feedback links when generating email drafts via the API? Currently, the feedback links are only added when generating an email draft using the UI. I tried using the endpoint described in https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#CustomerFeedback#CustomerFeedback_Getthecustomerfeedbackplaceholderlink

      • Send To Zoho Sign not Showing

        The button send to Zoho sign is not showing on my Zoho CRM . Is there additional steps I need to take after installing Zoho Sign to CRM ?

      • How to Get An Image's URL once it's uploaded to library?

        I manage to find URLs to the images I uploaded to my library, but after a day, it seems the links stop working like its only temporary. Where can I find the ACTUAL solid URL for my images that I upload to my Library so I can use them for my custom template / HTML coded template? Thanks, Mac

      • 【Zoho CRM】インポート機能のアップデート：既存データへのタグ追加が可能に！

        ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中のインポート機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 Zoho CRMのタグは、データを効率的に分類、認識するためのラベルです。 タグ付けは次の3つの方法で行えます： 個別タグ付け：少数のデータを手動でタグ付け 自動化：特定のタイミングで繰り返しタグ付け 一括更新：インポート機能でタグを追加または更新 今回のアップデートでは、インポート時に既存のタグを残したまま、新しいタグの追加、既存タグを置き換えできるようになりました。

      • Link to Desk tickets

        Hello, We are using Analytics to analyze data in Desk. Is there a way to embed a link to a ticket in reports?  We'd love to be able to see the drill down data, and click a value in a result row that would launch the Desk Ticket in another window/tab. Thanks in advance for any ideas!

      • Bluerprints: How to connect the created record back?

        I've a blueprint which creates another record as part of an 'After' transition. But the two records don't seem to be linked together. If it's not automatic - how do I get the created record ID to link it to the original record? Thanks!

      • Populate a Related List Item based on a Stage

        I would like to know if I can populate a CLOSED DEAL section in a contact that populates only when a Deal (something in the Deal Module) is listed as Closed - Won. I'd like another section that is just called deals, which shows me all other deals that

      • Being able to draw inside a module ?

        I was wondering if anyone know of a solution for this request. We would like to be able to draw directly from one module in the CRM and have it attached to that record. Here is an example. Paul would go to the customer once he as done the measuring, he

      • 2 serial numbers for 1 item (Mac address and Serial number)

        There is a way to track 2 serial number type for 1 Item. Ex: Some electronic devices have a MAC address and a serial number. I need to track those 2 numbers

      • Holidays

        Hi; For defining Holidays, you need to add logic to handle the year as well as the month & day. We need to be able to enter Holidays for the next year. I need to add a holiday for January 2, 2017, but I can't until January 1st, which is a Sunday and we

      • Delete a department or category

        How do I delete a Department?  Also, how do I delete a Category? This is pretty basic stuff here and it's impossible to find.

      • Remove or hide default views

        I'm looking to only have the views pertinent to my organization.  Is there a way to show only my custom views (or separate them to a different area or something)? If not, this should be a feature as switching from Zendesk we had this option...

      • Analytics Module: Can you move items from one dashboard to another?

        Is there a way to move items from one dashboard to another? I want to rearrange my dashboard now that I know what i'm doing but i don't want to remake my various widgets? Edit: Hey Zoho, This would be a good feature: to be able to move/copy widgets to

      • Copy Widget to another Dashboard

        I can see the option to clone a widget to the same dashboard but is it possible to copy it to another dashboard?

      • Is there a way to print the dashboard?

        I would like the capability of printing the dashboard - is that possible?

      • Custom Deal Name in Lead Conversion Mapping

        I know there are ways to change the name of a Deal after conversion using a custom function, so no need to repost that information. I would like to see the CRM Improved with Deal Name Customisation and I think the Lead Conversion Mapping page would be

      • Introducing Record Summary: smarter insights at your fingertips

        Hello everyone, Building on the recent launch of Zoho's in-house Zia Large Language Model (Zia LLM)—a major milestone in Zoho CRM’s AI capabilities—we’re excited to introduce the Record Summary feature. This powerful addition makes use of Zia LLM to simplify

      • Suppress "spreadsheet will not be saved" message on published sheet

        I have published a sheet and have one column on that sheet that the user can edit (a dropdown picklist where the user can select the status for each line). Is there a way to suppress the Zoho Sheet message "Any changes made to this published spreadsheet

      • Missing "Email Authentication" tab

        Backstage is alerting users about "Unauthenticated Domains" with a large prompt in the backend. It adds a link to learn more. On this tutorial page, it shows where to find the "Email Authentication" tab in this screenshot. However, in our Backstage, that

      • Show item Cost value on Item screen

        The Item screen shows Accounting Stock and Physical Stock. It would be very helpful if value information could be displayed here as well, for instance Cost Price. Currently, to find the Cost Price (as used for inventory valuations) from inside the item

      • Zoho Analytics to Zoho Sheets - automatic update?

        Hi all, If I create a zoho sheet from an Analytics Report or Analytics Data, is there a way for the zoho sheet to automatically update as the Report / Data in analytics updates?

      • Integration with Moodle

        Greetings, I hope find all doing well and safe. I've recently returned to using Zoho Flow after a break and was hoping to connect my WooCommerce store with Moodle, the world's most widely used learning management system. My goal was to automatically enroll

      • How to Record Loan with interest

        I have received loans from friend he give me like 2 loans so far one is one year repayment and one short, how to properly record his payment, and repayment and give him statement  for each loan he give me 

      • Task status - completed - other options

        I have a dumb question I know i can make custom statuses for the tasks - but is there anyway to make additional "completed" statuses like for instance if i have a task "call back customer" and i leave a vm for them to call back marking it "completed -

      • Next Page