So far, WhatsApp has remained true to its word about not putting advertisements in their messenger app, even though it is now owned by Facebook. But Facebook will now leverage WhatsApp’s popularity to monetise it without putting any ads in it.
“How?”, you ask. We’ll explain shortly, but trust Facebook to come up with something ingenious like this to earn even more money! It is an irrefutable fact that Facebook and WhatsApp are almost equally popular in their categories. WhatsApp has around 1 billion daily users.
Since Facebook cannot or doesn’t want to put ads in WhatsApp, what do they do? They approach the equation from a different angle altogether. It’s a simple solution, yet it will undoubtedly prove effective.
Facebook To WhatsApp: The Bridge To Monetization
Facebook has launched a new feature for Ads. They now let businesses add a button to Facebook Ads which enables users to connect directly with advertisers through WhatsApp. It is simple, yet will prove to be effective. At the other end WhatsApp is already rolling out WhatsApp for Business, which will be a perfect fit for this new approach from the other end.
Facebook has observed that, each month, more than 1 million Facebook Pages include a WhatsApp number in their posts. What this means that businesses are already using both these platforms together for business. Facebook is just making the process clearer and more streamlined.
Facebook’s product marketing manager, Pancham Gajjar has said in a statement,
“Many people already use WhatsApp to communicate with small businesses. It’s a fast, convenient way to stay in touch. By adding a click-to-WhatsApp button to Facebook ads, businesses can now make it even easier for people to learn about their products, set up an appointment or use their service.”
Facebook will be rolling out this feature in phases starting with North and South America, Africa, Australia and most of Asia. They will gauge people’s response before an eventual global rollout.
Will It Work Between Facebook Ads And WhatsApp?
Facebook had tried the same before with their own Messenger, when they had rolled out ‘Click-to-Messenger’ button in Facebook ads.
Debbie Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst commented,
“That format was the first ad product to explicitly link activity on Facebook with activity on Messenger, and it was followed by other ad formats on Messenger itself. It seems that Facebook is following a similar strategy for WhatsApp, starting with click-to-WhatsApp ads on Facebook, and presumably eventually rolling out ads on WhatsApp itself.”
Now this would be in contravention of WhatsApp’s promise of not having ads in WhatsApp ever. Now that would be sacrilege! As long as Facebook stays away from that temptation, all else will be forgiven. That is one of the main reasons WhatsApp was and continues to be popular. Facebook wouldn’t want to kill off its golden goose!
Such a button would be beneficial for prospective customers who would immediately want to connect with service providers. It would also mean a prospective conversion for businesses. Seeing as this would be a win-win situation for both parties, the prospects of this feature’s success are looking good.
For now, let’s wait and watch what the future holds for this new feature.