Using WhatsApp Links in Email Campaigns (Mailchimp, Brevo, Klaviyo)

Email is great at reaching people; WhatsApp is great at closing. Putting a WhatsApp link inside your email campaigns connects the two — a subscriber reads your offer, taps one button, and lands in a conversation with you instead of a form. This guide shows how to do it in Mailchimp, Brevo and Klaviyo, plus the details that decide whether the link actually works on phones and desktops.

The link format that works in email

Use the standard click-to-chat URL with an encoded pre-filled message:

https://wa.me/15551234567?text=Hi!%20I%20saw%20your%20email%20about%20the%20spring%20offer

Three rules:

• Always use https://wa.me/ with the full international number and no plus sign, spaces or dashes.
• URL-encode the message. Spaces become %20, and characters like & or ? inside the text must be encoded or the link breaks. Create your free WhatsApp link and the encoding is handled for you.
• Keep the message short. The subscriber can edit it, but a one-line opener gets sent as-is far more often.

On a phone, the link opens the WhatsApp app. On desktop, it opens WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. You don't need separate links for each platform.

Mailchimp

1. In the email builder, add a Button block where you want the call to action.
2. Set the button text to something like "Chat with us on WhatsApp".
3. In the link field, paste your wa.me URL.
4. Style the button — a green #25D366 background is instantly recognisable.
5. Send a test email to yourself and tap the button on your phone.

Mailchimp wraps links with click tracking by default. That's fine — the redirect ends at WhatsApp. If you see the link being flagged in the pre-send checklist, it's usually because the pre-filled text contains unencoded characters.

Merge tags: you can personalise the pre-filled message with *|FNAME|*, but encode the surrounding text yourself, for example ?text=Hi,%20I'm%20*|FNAME|*%20and%20I'd%20like%20a%20quote. Test with a contact that has a first name containing accents or spaces.

Brevo

1. Drag a Button block into the template.
2. Enter the button label and paste the WhatsApp link into the URL field.
3. Under link tracking, leave tracking on so the click appears in campaign statistics.
4. Preview on mobile before sending.

Brevo also lets you add an image block with a link — useful if you want a WhatsApp QR code in the email for people reading on desktop. Generate the image from the WhatsApp QR code generator, upload it, and link the image to the same wa.me URL so it works on mobile too.

Personalisation: Brevo uses {{ contact.FIRSTNAME }}. The same encoding advice applies; put the tag inside already-encoded text.

Klaviyo

1. Add a Button block to your flow or campaign email.
2. Paste the WhatsApp link into the button URL.
3. In the block settings, confirm Track clicks is enabled so the click shows in flow analytics.
4. Optionally add a text link below the button ("Or message us on WhatsApp") for email clients that strip button styling.

Klaviyo's UTM feature can append parameters automatically; make sure they attach to the link without breaking the text= parameter. Test the final URL by copying it from a sent email.

Where to put the button

• Order confirmations and shipping emails: "Question about your order? Chat with us." These emails get the highest open rates you'll ever see.
• Abandoned cart flows: "Need help deciding? Message us." A human answer often beats a discount.
• Newsletters: near the main offer, not in the footer.
• Re-engagement campaigns: offering a chat is less pushy than another promo.
• Signature area of every transactional email as a permanent secondary CTA.

Tracking the results

Email clicks are counted by your email tool, but the conversation starts in WhatsApp, where the email platform can't see it. To connect the two:

• Use a different pre-filled message per campaign so the first line of the chat tells you where it came from.
• Add utm_source=email&utm_campaign=spring-offer to the message text as explained in our UTM tracking guide.
• Label incoming chats in the WhatsApp Business app by campaign for a quick weekly count.

Deliverability and compliance

• A wa.me link on its own doesn't hurt deliverability. What hurts is a poorly encoded URL that looks broken, or a shortened link from a service with a bad reputation. Use the full wa.me URL rather than a generic shortener.
• Include your normal unsubscribe link and physical address — adding WhatsApp doesn't change email law.
• The email click is not WhatsApp opt-in. Once a subscriber messages you, ask before adding them to any WhatsApp broadcast or template campaign. See the broadcast marketing rules.

Copy ideas for the button and surrounding text

| Context | Button text | Pre-filled message | |---|---|---| | Sale announcement | Ask about the sale | Hi! I'm interested in the sale from your email | | Product launch | Chat before you buy | Hi, I have a question about the new product | | Service business | Book a free call | Hi, I'd like to book a call after reading your email | | B2B outreach | Reply on WhatsApp | Hi, following up on your email about pricing |

Checklist before sending

1. The link opens WhatsApp on iPhone and Android with the correct number.
2. The pre-filled message appears correctly, with no stray %20 or broken characters.
3. Merge tags render for contacts with and without a first name.
4. Click tracking is on and the tracked link still lands in WhatsApp.
5. Someone is actually available to reply when the campaign goes out.

Do that once, save the button as a reusable block, and every future campaign gets a conversation-starting CTA for free.