Brand
Arcos Dorados, the largest Latin American operator of one of the world’s best-known fast casual restaurant brands, used ads that click to WhatsApp to grow its reach, and marketing messages on WhatsApp to deliver personalized, conversational campaigns to customers, resulting in 13X return on investment attributed to marketing messages and 3X higher open rates for marketing messages on WhatsApp compared to email.*
13X
return on investment attributed to marketing messages on WhatsApp*
7X
return on investment attributed to ads that click to WhatsApp*
3X
higher open rates for marketing messages on WhatsApp compared to email*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
Their Story
One of the world’s best-known brands
Arcos Dorados operates restaurants throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 100,000 employees working across 21 countries as of early 2026.
Their Goal
Immediate, personalized campaigns
The company’s previous approach to customer engagement combined email marketing, push notifications through its app and ads on social. While these channels were effective for driving broad communication and awareness, Arcos Dorados wanted to explore more immediate, personalized solutions for reaching customers.
“By elevating our digital engagement and loyalty strategy, with messaging on WhatsApp as a key conversational component, we are truly moving from millions of transactions to millions of relationships.”
Diego Higuera
Regional Customer Acquisition & Engagement Director, Arcos Dorados
Their Solution
Personalized customer connections
The company decided to embrace WhatsApp as a direct conversational channel by using ads that click to WhatsApp to grow its WhatsApp audience base, and marketing messages on WhatsApp to send personalized messages segmented by audience preferences and behaviors. The company also offered instant benefits such as discounts and exclusive content for people who initiated conversations with the brand on WhatsApp, as well as loyalty program rewards for dedicated members of the channel.
Ads were delivered to a custom audience modeled on Arcos Dorados’ CRM data. The company also leveraged this information in partnership with its communications solutions provider and technical provider to deliver personalized promotions and marketing message campaigns for key promotional moments and customer experiences across a six-month period (June-November, 2026), including its seasonal CyberDays and McCafé promotions.
Their Success
Improved open rates and ROI
Arcos Dorados compared performance against its regular channels and reported high return on investment for both ads and marketing messages, as well as higher open rates than email:
- 13X return on investment attributed to marketing messages on WhatsApp*
- 7X return on investment attributed to ads that click to WhatsApp*
- 3X higher open rates for marketing messages on WhatsApp compared to email*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
“We benefited from combining WhatsApp solutions to grow our impact—ads that click to WhatsApp to increase scale, followed by marketing messages on WhatsApp to deliver highly relevant campaigns to our most interested customers. The combination was a win-win that helped us drive higher engagement and earn more from our campaigns.”
Diego Higuera
Regional Customer Acquisition & Engagement Director, Arcos Dorados
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