WhatsApp marketing strategy: a 90-day plan with 20 campaign ideas and example messages

A WhatsApp marketing strategy fits on one page: who you message, how often, about what, and how you’ll know it paid. Most small businesses skip the page and send a festive offer to everyone the night before. This is the page, written as a 90-day calendar from Monday 5 October 2026 to Saturday 2 January 2027, with 20 campaign ideas and an example message for each.

It assumes you’re on the WhatsApp Business Platform and know the basics. If terms like template, opt-in or messaging limit are new, read our WhatsApp marketing guide first; it explains the rules this plan works inside.

The example business is Mrunal Kamat’s. She makes scented candles, incense and brass diyas in Kolhapur with nine people, and sells through a Shopify store and a counter at the workshop. She has about 11,000 customer phone numbers, of which about 2,400 opted in to offers on WhatsApp. Her business is verified with Meta, so she can message 2,000 different people in a rolling 24 hours.

Four dates to plan around

These come from the central government’s holiday list for 2026:

Date	Day	Occasion
20 October	Tuesday	Dussehra
8 November	Sunday	Diwali
24 November	Tuesday	Guru Nanak’s Birthday
25 December	Friday	Christmas Day

The same list notes that some states observe Diwali a day earlier, on Naraka Chaturdashi. Regional festivals vary by state, so add your own from your state’s calendar.

Weeks 1 and 2 (5 to 18 October): the list and the paperwork

No campaigns yet.

Week 1: count and collect

Count the people with an opt-in you could show someone: where they agreed, when, and to what wording. That’s the audience; for Mrunal it’s 2,400, not 11,000. Then put opt-in where new customers already are: an unticked checkbox on the order page, a QR code at the counter, and a question at the end of every enquiry chat. Our opt-in guide has the wording.

Week 2: segments and templates

Split the list into segments you’ll use all quarter. Mrunal’s are: bought a festive hamper last year (800), bought anything in the last 12 months (1,100), and opted in but never bought (500). Submit your first six templates now. Review takes up to 24 hours and a rejection costs a day each time. Pick wording from our template examples and put a “Stop offers” button on every marketing one.

Write down one baseline before you send anything: orders per week from repeat customers. You’ll compare against it in week 13.

Weeks 3 to 6 (19 October to 15 November): first campaigns

Week 3: a small send at Dussehra

Dussehra is on Tuesday 20 October. Send an early look at the Diwali range to the best segment only (idea 2 below). New templates can be paced by Meta on their first sends, so a small send to people who know you is the safest start. Watch the read rate.

Week 4: the Diwali offer

The main Diwali offer (idea 3) goes to all 2,400 over two days, best segment first. Two days because the messaging limit is 2,000 people in 24 hours, and order updates use the same limit. Corporate gifting (idea 4) goes only to the forty or so people who’ve placed a bulk order before, too few to move the bill.

Week 5: last orders, then stop

One last-order-date message (idea 5) to the roughly 900 people who read or tapped an earlier send. Use the courier’s real cut-off. Then stop: nothing promotional on Diwali weekend itself.

Week 6: send nothing

Send nothing. Read the numbers from the three sends instead, and expect some failures with error 131049, WhatsApp’s per-person cap on marketing, which bites harder when every brand is sending. Don’t retry those inside 24 hours. The Diwali send plan covers this fortnight in more depth, and our 131049 guide explains the cap.

Weeks 7 to 9 (16 November to 6 December): automation

The quiet weeks after Diwali are when to build the follow-ups that run without you. Build five and resist a sixth.

1. Welcome (idea 1): goes out when someone opts in.
2. Cart reminder (idea 8): one message, cancelled if they buy. The cart playbook has timing.
3. Refill (idea 7): for products that run out on a schedule.
4. Order feedback (idea 17): a utility template two days after delivery, naming the order.
5. Opt-out: anyone who taps “Stop offers” or types STOP leaves every marketing segment the same day and keeps getting order updates.

Week 7 also carries the refill campaign to Diwali buyers. Week 8 has Guru Nanak’s Birthday on Tuesday 24 November; send a greeting only if you’d send one to those customers in person, because a greeting is billed as marketing whether or not it carries an offer. Week 9 is a new-range launch (idea 9) to people who bought in that category.

Weeks 10 to 12 (7 to 27 December): year-end

Week 10: win-back

One win-back message (idea 13) to people whose last order is 9 to 12 months old. If they don’t read it, take them out of regular sends. You’ll lose a few; you’ll stop paying 86 paise a time to be ignored.

Week 11: Christmas and New Year gifting

Christmas and New Year gifting (idea 15), sent by Tuesday 15 December so orders can ship before Friday the 25th. Send to people who read at least one of your last two campaigns.

Week 12: clearance and a billing check

A stock clearance (idea 16) to engaged buyers, and one piece of housekeeping: if your WhatsApp account is billed in dollars, Meta requires eligible Indian businesses to move to rupee billing by 31 December 2026. Our INR billing note has the steps.

Week 13 (28 December to 2 January): measure and decide

For each campaign, line up five numbers: delivered, read, button taps, orders, and Meta’s charge divided by orders. Then compare repeat orders per week with the week-2 baseline.

Three decisions come out of it. Which segment earns its sends, and which should hear from you half as often. Which of the five automations brought orders (keep) and which brought “Stop offers” taps (rewrite or switch off). And how much the opted-in list grew, because that sets the ceiling for the next quarter.

Mrunal’s rule is that no one gets more than three marketing messages in a month, automations included. That’s our recommendation, not Meta’s; Meta publishes no number.

20 WhatsApp campaign ideas, with an example message for each

M is a marketing template (₹0.8631 per delivered message to an Indian number), U a utility template (₹0.115), S a typed reply inside the 24-hour window. Text in double braces is a variable; square brackets are buttons. These are one-line starters. The template bank has fuller versions with the approval rules.

#	Campaign	Type	Example message
1	Welcome after opt-in	M	Hi {{1}}, you're on the {{2}} list. Expect new launches and offers about twice a month. [Stop offers]
2	Early look for past buyers	M	Hi {{1}}, our Diwali range opens to past customers today, before anyone else. Want the list? [Show me] [Not now]
3	Festive offer	M	Diwali at {{1}}: {{2}} off hampers until {{3}}, delivery in {{4}} days. [See hampers] [Stop offers]
4	Corporate or bulk gifting	M	Hi {{1}}, planning Diwali gifts for your team? Orders above {{2}} pieces close on {{3}}. [Get a quote]
5	Last order date	M	Hi {{1}}, orders placed by {{2}} reach {{3}} before Diwali. After that we can't promise it. [Order now]
6	Back in stock	M	Hi {{1}}, the {{2}} you asked about is back, and we made only {{3}} this batch. [Reserve one]
7	Refill reminder	M	Hi {{1}}, your {{2}} was delivered {{3}} weeks ago. Shall we send the same again? [Yes, same again] [Not now]
8	Abandoned cart	M	Hi {{1}}, you left {{2}} in your cart at {{3}}. It's still there if you want it. [Finish my order]
9	New range launch	M	New at {{1}}: {{2}}, from ₹{{3}}. Past buyers get first pick until {{4}}. [See the range]
10	Pop-up or exhibition invite	M	Hi {{1}}, we're at {{2}} in {{3}} on {{4}}. Come and smell everything before you buy. [Get directions]
11	Bundle offer	M	Hi {{1}}, add {{2}} to your usual {{3}} and the pair comes to ₹{{4}} this week. [Add the pair]
12	Referral	M	Hi {{1}}, share your code {{2}} with a friend and you both get ₹{{3}} off the next order.
13	Win-back	M	Hi {{1}}, it's been a while since your last order from {{2}}. Here's {{3}} off if you'd like to come back. [Order again] [Stop offers]
14	Festival greeting	M	Warm wishes for {{1}} from all of us at {{2}}. Thank you for your orders this year.
15	Christmas and New Year gifting	M	Hi {{1}}, gift boxes for Christmas and New Year are open. Order by {{2}} for delivery before the 25th. [See gift boxes]
16	Stock clearance	M	Year-end at {{1}}: the last {{2}} pieces of {{3}} at ₹{{4}}, until they're gone. [See what's left]
17	Feedback on an order	U	Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} arrived on {{3}}. Was everything as expected? [All good] [Something's wrong]
18	Review ask after “All good”	S	Glad to hear it. If you have a minute, a short review on our website helps a small workshop a lot.
19	Pre-order ready for pick-up	U	Hi {{1}}, your pre-order {{2}} is ready at our {{3}} counter. We're open {{4}} to {{5}} today. [Get directions]
20	First reply to an ad click	S	Hi, thanks for asking about the brass diya set. It's ₹1,450 with free delivery in Maharashtra. Shall I share photos?

Ideas 18 and 20 aren’t templates at all. A tap on “All good” or a message from a click-to-WhatsApp ad opens the 24-hour window, so the reply is typed or automated text. An ad click answered in time also opens a free window of up to 7 days; our ads guide covers it.

What the 90 days cost

Rates are Meta’s India prices per delivered message, before GST, on the rate card effective 1 July 2026 and unchanged on 1 October 2026. The volumes are Mrunal’s and are illustrative. Put your own in.

Line	Volume over 90 days	Rate	Meta charge
Marketing: October (early look 800, Diwali offer 2,400)	3,200	₹0.8631	₹2,762
Marketing: November (last-order 900, refill 600, launch 1,100, welcome and cart 400)	3,000	₹0.8631	₹2,589
Marketing: December (win-back 700, gifting 2,600, clearance 1,000, automations 750)	5,050	₹0.8631	₹4,359
Utility: two order updates and one feedback request on 1,500 orders	4,500	₹0.115	₹518
Service replies: 7,000 sent on one number, 1,000 a month free	4,000 charged	₹0.115	₹460
Total			about ₹10,688

That’s roughly ₹3,560 a month. Marketing is nine-tenths of it and has no free allowance and no volume discount, so the bill moves almost entirely with how many people you send offers to.

Replies have been charged since 1 October 2026: the first 1,000 per business number each month are free, then ₹0.115 each. Your provider’s software fee is separate. Our cost guide works through full monthly bills, and the glossary defines the terms.

Monday 5 October

Do the count. Open your contacts, filter to people with a recorded opt-in, and write the number at the top of the plan. Then book thirty minutes on Friday to add the checkbox and print the QR code. The Dussehra send is two weeks away and it needs that list.