Everything a business can do with WhatsApp messaging
Grouped the way WhatsApp itself groups them, because each category has its own rules and its own price. Most examples come from cruise and travel, where we started, but they apply to almost any business that talks to customers.
Marketing messages
Anything that tries to sell, re-engage or announce. These go to people who opted in, use a template Meta has approved, and are where most of the revenue from WhatsApp is made.
How it's billed
Billed by Meta per delivered message. The rate depends on the country of the person receiving it, so a campaign to the UK costs a different amount from the same campaign to the UAE.
New itineraries and season launches
Announce a new ship, a new route or next year's programme to the people who asked to hear about it, with an image and a button that opens the conversation.
The 2027 Norwegian Fjords programme goes to everyone tagged 'Northern Europe', with the ship photo and a 'See sailings' button.
Seasonal campaigns
Time-boxed pushes around the dates your customers actually book: Wave season, Black Friday, school holidays, Ramadan and Eid, summer, Christmas.
A January Wave season message with onboard credit for bookings made before 31 March.
Last-minute deals and price drops
When a sailing has unsold cabins close to departure, tell the people who already showed interest in that ship, region or month.
Six balcony cabins left on the 14-night Mediterranean from Barcelona, offered first to past enquirers for that sailing.
Quote follow-ups
Most quotes die in silence. A polite follow-up 48 hours later, with the option to hold the cabin or change dates, recovers a meaningful share.
"Still thinking about the Caribbean quote? The fare is held until Friday. Reply HOLD and I'll keep the cabin."
Abandoned cart and browse recovery
For businesses with online checkout, a reminder with the exact item or package left behind, sent while the customer still remembers why they wanted it.
Win-back campaigns
Reach customers who have not bought in a year or two with something specific to what they did last time, not a generic newsletter.
Guests who sailed the Arabian Gulf last winter get first access to the new Dubai and Oman round trips.
Upsells and add-ons after booking
Shore excursions, drinks packages, Wi-Fi, cabin upgrades, pre-cruise hotels and transfers. Meta counts these as marketing, so they are sent as approved templates to opted-in guests.
Three weeks before sailing: "Your ship calls at Santorini. Want the shore excursion list?"
Loyalty, referrals and rewards
Points balances, member-only fares and refer-a-friend offers, delivered where people read them rather than in an inbox folder they never open.
Event and webinar invitations
Invite customers to cruise nights, travel shows, open evenings or a live webinar with a cruise line, and take RSVPs in the same chat.
Invitations to a cruise evening at your Dubai office during Arabian Travel Market week.
Waitlist and back-in-stock alerts
When something people wanted becomes available again, the people on the list hear first.
A sold-out suite category reopens after a cancellation and the waitlist is offered it in order.
Birthday and anniversary offers
A personal message on a date that matters to the customer. Honeymoon and anniversary cruises are a natural fit.
Click-to-WhatsApp ad follow-up
People who tap a Facebook or Instagram ad land straight in a WhatsApp chat. Meta does not charge for the replies you send in the 72 hours after that tap, as long as you answer within the first 24.
Catalogue and product drops
Share products, packages or room types from a WhatsApp catalogue so customers can browse and ask about a specific item without leaving the chat.
Utility messages
Updates about something the customer has already bought, booked or asked for. They are expected, they get read, and they cut a large share of "just checking" calls and emails.
How it's billed
Billed per delivered message when sent outside an open customer service window. When the customer has messaged you in the last 24 hours, utility templates are free.
Booking and order confirmations
Confirmation the moment a booking or payment goes through, with the reference, dates and what happens next.
Booking ref, ship, sailing date, cabin number and the balance due date, in one message.
Payment receipts and invoices
A receipt or PDF invoice in the chat, so nobody has to dig through email to prove they paid.
Deposit and balance-due reminders
Reminders before the final payment date, with the amount and a payment link, that stop the moment the balance is paid.
Cruise balances are usually due 60 to 90 days before sailing. Reminders at 14, 7 and 2 days before that date.
Travel documents and e-tickets
E-tickets, boarding passes, luggage tags, vouchers and itineraries sent as documents customers can open at the terminal without signal.
Cruise e-docs and luggage tags go out when the line releases them, with a note on how to print the tags.
Pre-departure checklists
What to sort out before travel: passport validity, visas, online check-in, health forms and what to pack, sent in stages rather than one long email.
"Your passport needs six months' validity after you return. Reply with a photo of the photo page and we'll check it."
Schedule changes and delays
When a time, port, gate or room changes, the customer hears it from you first, with what it means for them.
A port call is swapped because of weather. Every guest on that sailing is told, and replies route to an agent.
Appointment confirmations and reminders
Confirm a consultation, viewing or service slot, remind the day before, and let the customer confirm or reschedule by replying.
Delivery and shipping updates
Dispatched, out for delivery, delivered, or delayed, with tracking, so the support team is not answering "where is my order" all day.
Document and information requests
Ask for the details you need to complete a booking: passport copies, passenger names as they appear on documents, dietary needs, insurance details.
Cancellation and refund status
Confirm a cancellation, explain the refund amount and timing, and update the customer when the money is on its way.
Account and security alerts
Changes to an account, a new login, an updated payment method or a policy change that affects something the customer already has.
Post-trip feedback
A short feedback request after a completed booking or service, tied to that transaction. Unhappy replies go to a person straight away.
Two days after disembarkation: "How was the sailing? Reply 1 to 5." Anything below 4 creates a task for the agent.
Authentication messages
One-time codes and verification. WhatsApp codes tend to arrive more reliably than SMS in many markets, and they cannot be intercepted by SIM-swap the way SMS can.
How it's billed
Billed per delivered message, with volume discounts at higher tiers. In some countries Meta charges a separate rate when the sending business is registered elsewhere.
Login one-time passcodes
Codes for signing in to a customer portal or app, with Meta's copy-code or one-tap autofill button.
Guests log in to the booking portal to see documents and pay a balance with a WhatsApp code instead of a password.
Two-factor authentication
A second step for sensitive actions such as changing bank details, viewing documents or adding a payment method.
Account recovery
Password resets and account recovery codes delivered to a number the customer actually checks.
Transaction verification
Confirm a high-value payment, a booking change or a refund request before it is processed.
Phone number verification
Check that a number belongs to the person at signup, so later booking updates reach the right person.
Customer service conversations
Replies to customers who message you first. This is where an AI agent earns its keep: it answers the repeat questions straight away and hands the rest to your team with the full conversation attached.
How it's billed
Free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are not charged by Meta. Your cost here is the infrastructure and AI, not the messages.
Instant answers to common questions
Prices, dates, what is included, policies, baggage, dress codes, age limits. The AI answers from the material you give it and says so when it does not know.
"Are gratuities included?", "Is there a dress code on formal night?", "Can my 5-month-old sail?"
Booking and order status
Customers check their booking, payment or delivery status by sending a reference, without waiting for an agent.
Handover to a person
When the question needs judgement, or the customer asks for a person, the chat moves to the right agent with everything said so far.
Group bookings over eight cabins, accessibility requests and complaints always go to a named agent.
Shared team inbox
Every WhatsApp conversation in one place, assigned to an owner, searchable, and visible to managers. No more customer chats on a personal phone.
Answers in the customer's language
The agent replies in the language the customer writes in. English, Arabic, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Hindi and many more are handled.
Brochures, deck plans and videos on request
Upload your files once. When someone asks for the deck plan, the cabin video or the excursion PDF, the agent sends that file instead of describing it.
"Can I see the balcony cabin?" gets the cabin photo set and the deck plan with the cabin's location marked.
Voice notes
Customers send voice notes and the agent understands them. Where it helps, it can reply with a voice note too.
Complaints and issue resolution
Complaints are recognised, tagged and routed to a person quickly, with the booking details pulled up and a response time you can measure.
Out-of-hours cover
Questions at midnight in Dubai are lunchtime in New York. The agent covers the hours your office is closed and leaves a clear summary for the morning.
Calls and call-back requests
Where Meta's business calling is available, customers can call from the chat. Where calling is restricted, as it is in the UAE, the agent books a call-back instead.
Bookings, payments and commerce in chat
Taking the customer from a question to a confirmed, paid booking without sending them to a website form they abandon halfway through.
How it's billed
Mostly free service messages inside the 24-hour window, plus utility templates for confirmations and reminders sent later.
Enquiry capture and qualification
The agent asks the questions your sales team would ask first, then hands over a qualified lead instead of "hi, price?".
Travel month, number of guests, ages of children, cabin type, budget, departure port preference and whether they have sailed before.
Quotes in the chat
A quote or itinerary PDF sent in the conversation, with buttons to accept, hold or ask a question.
In-chat booking forms
WhatsApp Flows open a form inside the chat for structured details such as passenger names, dates of birth and dietary needs. Nobody has to leave WhatsApp.
Each guest's name exactly as on their passport, nationality and date of birth, collected in one Flow.
Appointment and slot booking
Real availability from your calendar, offered as options. Once a slot is taken it cannot be offered twice.
Customers book a 30-minute video consultation with a cruise specialist from the chat.
Payment links and deposits
A secure link from your payment provider, such as Stripe, Checkout.com, Adyen or a local acquirer, sent in the chat. When the payment lands, the customer gets a confirmation and your team gets a ping.
Instalment and balance plans
Split payments with reminders before each one, and a clear message when the booking is fully paid.
Group bookings
Weddings, incentive trips, family reunions and clubs. Collect each traveller's details, track who has paid, and send the whole group updates at once.
A 40-cabin wedding group where each couple pays their own deposit and the organiser sees who is still outstanding.
Reservations
Tables, viewings, test drives, treatments and classes, confirmed in the chat with a reminder before the time.
Catalogue and cart
Customers browse a WhatsApp catalogue, add items to a cart and send the order, which arrives as a structured order rather than a free-text message.
Operations and team messaging
The internal side: getting the right information to your own staff, partners and suppliers fast enough to matter.
How it's billed
Usually utility templates, billed like any other business-initiated message. Recipients must have opted in, staff included.
New lead and booking alerts
The assigned agent gets a WhatsApp ping with the lead summary the moment the AI hands over, so warm enquiries do not sit in a queue.
Escalations to managers
Complaints, high-value bookings or anything waiting too long is flagged to a manager automatically.
Supplier and partner coordination
Transfer companies, ground handlers, hotels and guides get booking manifests and changes in a format they can act on.
The transfer company gets each guest's arrival time and terminal the day before embarkation.
Field and branch team updates
Shift changes, daily targets and urgent notices to staff who are rarely at a desk.
System and CRM sync
Every conversation, lead and booking is written back to your CRM or booking system, so WhatsApp does not become another place where information gets lost.
Ways to get customers to message you first
A conversation the customer starts opens a free 24-hour window. These are the entry points we set up so that happens more often.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads
Facebook and Instagram ads that open a chat instead of a landing page. Replies in the first 72 hours are free when you answer within 24.
Website chat button
A WhatsApp button on your site and booking pages, prefilled with the page the customer was on.
QR codes
On brochures, shop windows, travel show stands, boarding documents and receipts.
Email and signature links
A wa.me link in confirmation emails and staff signatures, so the next question comes in on WhatsApp.
Instagram and Facebook profiles
The WhatsApp button on your social profiles routes straight into the same inbox.
Google Business Profile
A chat link on your Google listing for people who find you on Maps or search.
How WhatsApp message types work
Pick the use cases. We'll build them and price them.
Book a 30-minute meeting. We'll go through the use cases that fit your business, the countries you message, and send a proposal with per-message rates and the infrastructure fee.
Scan to chat on WhatsApp+91 99018 0552130-minute meeting · Written proposal in 2 working days · Official WhatsApp Business Platform