How to Build and Grow a WhatsApp Community : Beginner to Advanced
WhatsApp has about 3 billion monthly active users. It’s the default mode of online communication in countries like India, Brazil, Philippines and UAE. In this step-by-step guide, you will learn how to use WhatsApp to build your community. You will also learn some of the growth hacks to grow your community.
Note: If you have implemented all the growth-hacks discussed in this article and facing challenges in growing your community further, it’s likely that your community needs a dedicated community platform optimised for organic growth and user retention. We’ll discuss about it towards the end of this article.
What is a WhatsApp Community?
It’s important to note that WhatsApp is not a dedicated community platform. A WhatsApp Community is a ‘Group of WhatsApp Groups’. In order to create a WhatsApp community, you will have to define different groups within WhatsApp.
Benefits of a WhatsApp Community
Direct to consumer broadcast
Better alternative to email which suffers from poor open rate and CTR
End-to-end encrypted communication
Limitation of WhatsApp Community
No organic discovery
Heavy dependence on ‘Chat’, no content variety (articles, gamified quizzes, events etc.)
Short content life-span limited to few minutes or hours
Scalability - limited to 100 groups and 1024 members per group
No analytics
Multiple groups make it difficult to manage and moderate
Turns chaotic if group has multiple active members
No member moderation tools
No branding and ownership
Privacy issues - member’s phone numbers are exposed
No integrated monetization opportunities
Constant FOMO among members
No third-party integrations
WhatsApp is great choice for building the ‘Minimum Viable Community’. The MVC allows you to test your community before switching to a full-fledged community platform.
How to Create a WhatsApp Community - Step By Step
You can create a new WhatsApp community on your Android, iOS, Windows or Mac devices or through the Web. The instructions are mostly the same.
Go to the Chats Tab
Tap on [+]
Click or Tap on New Community
Tap ( → )
Enter the details: Community Name, Description, Icon etc.
Click ✓ to finish setting up your community.
An ‘Announcements’ section will be automatically created for your Community and all the members of your community will have ‘read’ access to it.
Note: For up to date information, refer: Create WhatsApp Community.
WhatsApp Community Limitations:
You can add up to 2000 members to ‘Announcements’.
There can be max 100 groups
Each WhatsApp group can have max 1024 members
Planning WhatsApp Community Groups
A WhatsApp community consists of multiple groups. This approach makes it difficult to manage and moderate groups. It is therefore important that the groups are carefully planned.
General tips to create and manage WhatsApp groups:
Group Limit: Keep the group count to minimum. I recommend up to 5 groups per community.
Group Names: Keep group names simple. An introductions group should be named “Introduce Yourself” or “Introductions”. Avoid fancy names that confuse members.
Group Description: Provide apt group description. Keep it clear and straightforward.
Group Invite Link: Prevent abuse of the Group Invite Link.
Community Growth Strategy
It’s time to scale your WhatsApp community. Following are some of the growth hacks to attract new members and keep them engaged.
1. Offer Exclusive Content
It is observed that WhatsApp communities that offer exclusive content to its members grow rapidly. People join communities for value. Give your WhatsApp members something they can’t find elsewhere on the Internet.
It could be as simple as tips, behind-the-scenes updates, sneak peek, early access to new features. The key is to make the members feel special so that they stay longer and also invite their friends and family.
2. Launch Incentivised Referral Program
A stock traders WhatsApp group that I am a part of grew rapidly after they launched a referral program. Keep it simple. For example: Invite 3 friends and get our digital toolkit.
It is important that the incentive should be worthy of user’s action. A personal invitation from a friend carries a lot more trust than a regular ad campaign.
3. Cross-Promote Across Channels.
Go beyond member referrals. Tap into existing popular channels relevant to your members. You could advertise your WhatsApp community via newsletters, link-in-bio campaigns on your social media, YouTube videos etc.
You may even prominently display you WhatsApp Community invitation link on your homepage or landing pages.
4. Create Useful Content
Instead of just sharing announcements once in a while; follow a community content calendar. A content calendar allows you to plan your content efficiently so that your members always have something interesting to engage with.
Create content in the form of low-effort discussions, polls, questions, videos. Motivate users to share their views and opinions.
Acknowledge members publicly when they create useful content.
5. Create FOMO
Make your group feel like the place to be. Highlight limited-time offers, countdowns to events, or member-only perks. When people see real benefits, they’re more likely to engage - and invite others.
Tactics:
Time-limited live Q&As
24-hour challenges
Flash sales or bonus drops
6. Bonus Growth Hacks
Want to explore more WhatsApp community growth hacks? Read - WhatsApp Community Growth and Engagement Guide.
Tried Everything, But No Growth?
If you’ve tried every growth hack: referrals, exclusive content, consistent updates; but still see low engagement or no meaningful growth in your WhatsApp community, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
The reality is that WhatsApp wasn’t designed to be a full-fledged community platform. It has serious limitations.
While it’s easy to add members on WhatsApp, that initial spike in growth can be misleading. A community isn’t just about vanity metrics - it’s about connection and interaction. Without active participation, your group is just another muted chat.
That’s why most thriving communities eventually move to dedicated platforms built for engagement, growth, and sustainability. These platforms offer better content formats, moderation tools, analytics, and monetization features.
WhatsApp is a great place to start; but not the best place to scale.
If you're facing this challenge, don’t hesitate to comment below or reach out. We’d love to help you take the next step in building a high-impact community.