WhatsApp Marketing ROI and Conversation Pricing: A Budgeting Method

The cost parts

• Meta's per-message charges, which depend on category and country.
• Your platform or provider plan.
• Staff time to answer and manage conversations.
• Any tooling around it, such as a CRM.

Categories decide the price

Meta prices utility, marketing, authentication and service messages differently, and rates change. Always read the current rate card from Meta. Our pricing guide explains the categories and how to keep messages in the right one.

A budgeting method

• Estimate how many messages of each category you will send in a month.
• Multiply each by the current rate for your country.
• Add your platform plan and a share of staff time.
• That is your monthly cost, before any revenue.

Working out ROI

Take the revenue from customers whose purchase began in a WhatsApp conversation or campaign. Subtract the monthly cost. Divide the result by the cost. If you cannot yet attribute revenue, start recording the source on every lead. Most ROI guesses fail because the tracking is missing, not the channel.

Delivery estimation

Not every message is delivered or read. Use your own last campaigns to estimate delivery and read rates, and use those in planning instead of a generic figure.

Cutting waste

• Target segments instead of everyone.
• Use service replies inside the free window where you can.
• Review templates quarterly for the right category.
• Stop messaging contacts who never respond.