Marketing Yourself or Your Business
Offer your services directly. Use WhatsApp to tell the world about a special product, skill or opportunity that you think would benefit others. Simply address the needs of your various contacts individually or send out a broadcast message to reach them all at once. Use the app’s file sharing features to send out promotional graphics, videos and other assorted media. Start a mailing list that’s only available to a specific set of your WhatsApp contacts.
Link to your website. Rather than simply mentioning that you run a lawn care business or offer personal training, let your contacts see what you have to offer for themselves. Displaying a simple link can help you get the word out about your professional enterprises, helping you generate attention and interest. Create a custom signature for your messages that includes a link to your website or social media profiles.
Host an E-conference or seminar. Express your ideas on a larger stage using WhatsApp's group video call feature. When users tune in, they’ll be able to see and hear you in real time. You can use PayPal to charge a small admission fee for viewing privileges, or only make the broadcast accessible to those who have paid dues to join a specific group. Ideally, you should be able to present some kind of specialized knowledge or information. Conducting seminars in multiple installments can increase the amount of profit you stand to make and give a wider audience a chance to join in.
Provide live customer support. WhatsApp person-to-person format makes it well-suited for handling questions and concerns discreetly. Customers can text, send images of faulty products or even video chat with a live representative to come up with solutions. Respond to questions yourself or have a colleague or employee manage your business’s support correspondence duties. Communication through WhatsApp is more fluid than programs like Facebook and Twitter, where comments might only be addressed a couple times a day.
Working with Other Companies
Advertise on behalf of a larger company. Some companies make it a policy to give out modest cash rewards to individuals who refer new customers. On the internet, this type of word-of-mouth marketing involves providing testimonials through direct messaging, getting users to click sponsored ads and sending links to special offers and events. You may be able to find opportunities to collaborate with prominent companies like restaurants, retail superstores and hotel chains by messaging them and offering to share sponsored promotional content in posts on WhatsApp. Try not to be pushy. Forceful advertising efforts won’t be met with appreciation, and may even get you reported.
Generate ad revenue. Though the app itself doesn’t allow ads, there’s nothing stopping you from sharing links via direct messaging. If your website or another that you’re in partnership with is supported by paid advertisements, drop a URL and encourage your contacts to check it out. Every time they someone opens the page, you’ll earn a small amount of money. Keep link-spamming to a minimum. If all you ever do is send out URLs with no description or introduction, there’s a chance you may be mistaken for a spambot.
Contribute to local news stories. Pay attention to open calls from news networks and other publications for unique multimedia content to go on their WhatsApp feed. More often than not, these outlets will be willing to pay for high quality photos, sound bites and video footage of important breaking news stories. When you have something good, you can send it to the appropriate channels directly through the app. Be ready to capture exciting and unusual occurrences that you think might be newsworthy. Not all news outlets pay for outsider contributions. You may have to do a little research to learn which ones can net you a profit.
Extending Your Reach
Add as many contacts as you can. A good place to start is by importing all the personal contacts from your phone. After that, you can start expanding your search to include business connections, friends of friends and casual acquaintances. In order to multiply your money-making opportunities, you’ll want to make sure that you’re able to hook as many eyes and ears as possible. Encourage your close friends and associates to begin using the app so that you can expand your professional network.
Target interested parties specifically. With your audience now in place, you can begin zeroing in on who has the most to gain from your services. Tailor the content of your story feed to captivate the attention of these people, or communicate with them personally to really wow them. Athletes, for example, will be more likely to want nutritional supplements, while new mothers may be interested in a seminar on how to manage time more effectively. Analyze prospective customers based on the activities and interests listed on their social media profiles.
Build private groups. One of the most useful features of WhatsApp is the ability to create closed groups of users based on some common interest or classification. A well-structured group can serve as a pool of contacts who you can guarantee will be responsive to your branding and promotions. Your groups should have a definite purpose—for instance, they might give customers a place to offer suggestions about things they’d like to see in the future or provide feedback about a new product line. Become a part of as many different groups at one time as you want. This will give you the freedom to fine-tune your marketing strategies even further.
Cross-promote on other social media platforms. WhatsApp still doesn’t have the visibility of apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Fortunately, clever users can work through these other programs to build a bigger following. Make regular posts to keep your contacts updated, then guide them toward your WhatsApp profile for more information. Let your friends on social media know about exclusive offers and other content that they’ll only be able to get by connecting with you on WhatsApp. Use WhatsApp as an alternative to other person-to-person chat options like Facebook Messenger or Snapchat.
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