Stop sending mass messages into your customers' most personal channel

By Shawn Tan, July 15th, 2026

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When AirAsia moved customers away from its call-centre queue to AVA — its automated chat assistant — it was not following a trend. It was solving a real business problem. A surge in flight disruptions that once led to thousands of missed calls became something different: a chat conversation that resolved most cases automatically, without a human agent involved. This is the potential that brands across APAC are now trying to unlock on WhatsApp, LINE, and RCS. Most are not doing it well.

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

In this region, messaging is not just one of many channels — it is the primary channel. In Indonesia and Malaysia, WhatsApp is used by more than 80% of smartphone users. In Thailand, LINE is used by almost the entire online population. In China, WeChat is part of daily life for hundreds of millions of people. Business messages sent through these apps regularly achieve open rates of around 90%, compared to roughly 20% for email.

The technology infrastructure is now in place. Meta, Google — with RCS (Rich Communication Services) now working on Android and, since iOS 18, on Apple devices as well — and LINE have all developed their platforms into full commerce and customer service tools. Your customers are already using these apps every day. The key question is: what value will you deliver to them there?

"You have damaged the most personal channel you own — just to send a weekend sale promotion."

WHERE MOST TEAMS GET IT WRONG

Three common mistakes appear repeatedly across programmes in the region:

1. Treating WhatsApp like a mass messaging tool. When marketers see a 90% open rate, they often send the same promotional message to everyone on their list at once. This may work the first time. But customers then start to opt out, Meta's quality score for your account drops, and your sender number gets restricted. The result: you have damaged your most personal customer channel simply to run a short-term promotion.

2. A chatbot with no way forward. A chatbot that can answer simple questions like "where is my order?" but cannot handle anything more complex will cause customers to lose trust in the channel entirely. The ability to smoothly pass a conversation to a live human agent is just as important as the bot itself — but most teams do not plan for this properly.

3. Using one channel for all markets. A customer in Bangkok uses LINE. A customer in Jakarta uses WhatsApp. Building a solution that only works on WhatsApp across all of Southeast Asia means you are not reaching large parts of your customer base at all.

WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

Start with useful messages, not promotions

The most valuable messages you can send are ones triggered by a real event — a flight change, a delivery update, a card transaction alert, or a reminder that reward points are about to expire. Siam Commercial Bank built much of its digital service on LINE because that is where Thai customers already spend their time, putting balance checks and account alerts directly into the chat. Get this right first. Once customers trust that your messages are useful, they will be more open to receiving your offers later.

Plan the handoff to a human agent from the start

Let the automated assistant handle routine questions — typically around 60–70% of all enquiries — and pass the rest to a live agent. When doing so, include the full conversation history so the customer does not have to repeat what they already said. AirAsia's model works because this handoff is built into the design from the beginning, not added later. The bot handles what it can; a human steps in when it matters.

Match the right channel to each market — and connect your loyalty programme to it

Use WhatsApp in Malaysia and Indonesia, LINE in Thailand, and WeChat in China — managed through a single platform, but delivered through the channel each market prefers. Then bring your loyalty programme into those conversations: tier status, points balance, and redeemable offers delivered where customers already spend their time — not hidden inside an app they open only once or twice a year.

The outcome

When done well, conversational messaging reduces costs and improves customer retention at the same time. Routing routine questions to a well-built automated assistant can cut the cost of handling those enquiries by half or more. Triggered messages consistently achieve much higher response rates than email. But the more important benefit is long-term loyalty: a member who checks their points balance and redeems a reward inside a chat thread is interacting with your brand every week — not once a year. Members who engage regularly are far less likely to leave.

"Stop sending mass messages into your customers' most personal channel. Start real conversations that are worth responding to — and make sure a human agent is ready to help when it matters."

This is an article published by Interactive Rewards.