Bold and Italic in WhatsApp: How to Format Marketing Messages That Read Faster

Short answer: in WhatsApp you make text bold by wrapping it in asterisks, italic with underscores, strikethrough with tildes, and monospace with three backticks. There are also bulleted and numbered lists, quotes, and inline code. In marketing messages, use bold for just one piece of information per paragraph, like the discount or the offer deadline, strikethrough for the old price, and lists to line up the benefits. Overformatting makes a message look like spam instead of reading faster.

Customers do not read your message word by word. They see the notification, open the chat, and scan the text in two seconds looking for one thing: what is in it for me? If the message is one block of text, the key detail gets lost in the middle. Formatting is what steers the customer's eye to the detail you want seen first.

Every WhatsApp formatting symbol in one table

These are all the symbols WhatsApp supports on mobile and WhatsApp Web:

The figures in the table are illustrations, so use your own prices and offers. If you would rather not memorize the symbols, type your text into the free WhatsApp text formatter, pick the format, watch the live preview, and copy the result ready to paste.

Small rules that make formatting work

The most common reason formatting fails to show is spacing. Keep these rules in mind:

• No space between the symbol and the word, so the asterisk sits right against the first and last characters.
• Place symbols around a whole word or phrase, since formatting usually does not apply in the middle of a word.
• You can combine two formats, like bold italic, by putting the asterisks outside the underscores.
• List and quote symbols must start the line and be followed by a space.

With Arabic text the symbols are typed the same way, and the app handles the line direction automatically. If you see the symbol showing as-is after sending, there is usually an extra space or a punctuation mark stuck to the symbol on the inside.

How to use formatting in a marketing message

The golden rule: every format needs a job. Take this message for an abaya store, before and after formatting.

Before:

Hi Noura, the new winter abaya collection has arrived and we have 25 percent off the whole collection until the end of the week and delivery is free on orders over 300 SAR and use the code WINTER25 at checkout

After:

Hi Noura,

The new winter abaya collection has arrived, with *25% off* the whole collection.

- Free delivery on orders over 300 SAR

- Code at checkout: `WINTER25`

_Offer ends this weekend_

Exactly the same words, but the second reads in two seconds: the eye goes to the discount first, then the benefits on two lines, and finally the deadline in calm italics. The details here are illustrative, and your real message carries your own figures.

Exactly where bold belongs

Bold is your strongest tool, which is also why it is the easiest to misuse. Use it for one thing per paragraph: the discount, the deadline, or the new product name. If half the message is bold, nothing in it stands out.

Strikethrough for the old price

An old price struck through next to the new one makes the point without even writing the word discount, like ~250~ *199 SAR*. It is clear and persuasive, and it works especially well for seasonal offers such as Saudi National Day and Ramadan.

Lists instead of commas

If you have more than two benefits, put them in a bulleted list instead of a long sentence full of commas. A list gives each benefit its own line, and the customer reads it at a glance.

Monospace for discount codes

A discount code in monospace looks different from the rest of the text, so the customer knows it is the thing to copy. Use it for order numbers and tracking numbers too.

Mistakes that make your message look spammy

Formatting can lift your message or sink it, and these are the mistakes we see most:

• The whole message in bold, which reads like shouting at the customer.
• Emojis between every other word plus heavy formatting, which ends up looking like a scam message.
• Three formats in a single line, scattering the eye instead of focusing it.
• Lots of links inside formatted text, when one clear link at the end works better.

Messages that look overly promotional raise the chance that recipients block or report you, so before a large campaign, run the text through the ban-risk checker, which flags patterns like too many links, promotional words, and excessive symbols.

Formatting in campaigns and official templates

The core formatting symbols, such as bold, italic, and strikethrough, also work in official Meta-approved templates, so you can build your campaign template formatted from the start. To personalize the message with each customer's name before sending, try the bulk personalized message generator, and check the length with the character counter.

When you are ready to send to a full list, WhatsLoop bulk WhatsApp campaigns let you schedule the formatted message, personalize it, and track results from one place. Good formatting does not take design skills, it only takes knowing the one detail you want the customer to see first.