WhatsApp marketing for restaurants
The cheapest customer you will ever get is one who has already eaten your food. You do not have to advertise to them, discount for them, or pay a commission to reach them.
You only need two things: their number, and permission to use it.
Consent is not paperwork, it is what keeps your number alive
WhatsApp is strict, and rightly so. Enough people reporting your messages and your number's quality drops, your limits fall, and eventually you cannot message anyone.
Waplo asks customers for permission and records the answer. If somebody opts out, a marketing message to them is refused at the point of sending — not left to whoever wrote the campaign to remember.
The three messages worth sending
Almost every restaurant over-thinks this. Three do nearly all the work.
- The win-back. Someone who used to come every fortnight has not been in for two months. One message, no discount needed at first.
- The occasion. A birthday, an anniversary, a festival — a reason to book a table rather than an ad.
- The regular's offer. Something small for the people who come most often, which costs little and is noticed a lot.
What not to do
Do not buy a list. Do not import numbers from an aggregator dashboard. Do not message everyone every week.
Each of these is a fast route to a blocked number, and in India the data protection rules have teeth now as well.
Where the numbers come from in the first place
You do not run a signup campaign. The number arrives naturally with the order — the QR order at the table, the WhatsApp thread, the party booking, the takeaway.
By the end of a normal month of trading you have a real list, built from people who genuinely ate with you.
Common questions
Do I need Meta's approval to send a campaign?
Yes — a message that starts a conversation must use a template approved by Meta in advance. Waplo helps you get one submitted.
What does a campaign cost?
Meta charges your own account per conversation started. Waplo adds nothing to it.
How do customers opt out?
They reply STOP, and it is honoured. They can also ask you or write to Waplo's grievance address.
Bring back the customers you already have
A real customer list, consent recorded properly, and the three messages that actually fill tables.