Behind the Notifications: Direct Marketing Strategies via WhatsApp at Cikole Lembang Luwak Coffee Agrotourism: Di Balik Notifikasi: Strategi Pemasaran Langsung via WhatsApp di Agrowisata Kopi Luwak Cikole Lembang

Julia Rachmitayanti (Program Studi Manajemen, Fakultas Bisnis, Hukum, dan Ilmu Sosial, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)
Devania Aulia (Program Studi Manajemen, Fakultas Bisnis, Hukum, dan Ilmu Sosial, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)
Tantika Wachyuning Putri (Program Studi Manajemen, Fakultas Bisnis, Hukum, dan Ilmu Sosial, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)
Fatma Maria Ulva (Program Studi Manajemen, Fakultas Bisnis, Hukum, dan Ilmu Sosial, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)
Dewi Komala Sari (Program Studi Manajemen, Fakultas Bisnis, Hukum, dan Ilmu Sosial, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)

Procedia of Social Sciences and Humanities
Vol. 9 No. 1 (2026): International Conference of Fostering Sustainable Economic Growth and Innovatio

General Background Digital communication technologies have fundamentally transformed how tourism businesses interact with customers, with WhatsApp emerging as a dominant marketing communication channel in Indonesia. Specific Background Direct marketing through WhatsApp offers high open rates, minimal distribution costs, and strong personalization capacities, making it a critical strategic infrastructure for agrowisata facilities like Kopi Luwak Cikole in Lembang. Knowledge Gap Despite high adoption, research specifically exploring how field staff manage and interpret direct marketing functions through this platform remains extremely limited. Aims This single case study aims to explore the direct marketing strategy through WhatsApp implemented at Kopi Luwak Cikole from the operational staff's perspective and formulate developmental recommendations. Results Findings indicate that WhatsApp functions across five key activities—promotional broadcasts, reservation confirmations, pre-visit services, post-visit follow-ups, and product inquiries—where reservation confirmation is most effective and post-visit follow-ups remain unsystematic. Novelty This study uncovers that staff-managed direct marketing via WhatsApp remains reactive and dependent on individual initiative rather than a structured framework. Implications Standardizing message templates, developing post-visit workflows, and migrating to the WhatsApp Business API will support the scalability and structural optimization of marketing communication. Highlights: WhatsApp functions primarily across promotional broadcasts, reservation confirmations, pre-visit services, post-visit follow-ups, and product inquiry responses. Reservation confirmation serves as the most effective operational activity, whereas post-visit follow-up procedures are currently unorganized. Recommended improvements include message standardization, workflow development, and migration to business platform application programming interfaces. Keywords: Direct Marketing, WhatsApp Business, Digital Marketing Communication, Agrowisata, Kopi Luwak Cikole