How to Create WhatsApp Ads

How to Create WhatsApp Ads

What’s up with WhatsApp? The multi-messaging platform now has 2 billion monthly active users (MAU). Last year, it is the 2nd most downloaded app behind Facebook with 600 million downloads. Every day, there’s 100 million WhatsApp messages exchange. 

According to a social media agency Hong Kong, 180 countries are using WhatsApp. It supports 60 languages among Android users and 40 languages among iOS users. It means that WhatsApp can be a great marketing platform in more than half of the countries in the world. Being a part of the Facebook family of apps, there are lots of potentials to promote products and services on WhatsApp. Below is a guide on how to create WhatsApp Ads

A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHATSAPP

In 2009, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, both former Yahoo employees, founded WhatsApp. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong has noted that WhatsApp was initially built on the foundation of “No Ads, No Games, No Gimmicks.” Such a foundation made WhatsApp win over messaging giants like Facebook Messenger, Kakao-Talk, LINE, Snapchat, WeChat, etc. 

In 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp. Five years after its acquisition, WhatsApp Ads were introduced in May 2019. During Facebook’s Marketing Summit in The Netherlands, the king of social media announced the upcoming features of WhatsApp Ads. These include a business manager API, product catalogs, richer messaging formats, and WhatsApp Stories ads.

HOW TO CREATE WHATSAPP ADS?

Step 1 – Set Up a WhatsApp Account for Business

The first step to create WhatsApp ads is to set up a WhatsApp account for Business. WhatsApp for Business can be downloaded free. It allows brands and businesses to connect to their customers, create product catalogs, and find helpful information about your customer base. If you still don’t have a WhatsApp account, here’s how to set up one.

  • Download WhatsApp on your smartphone. 
  • Enter your phone number. 
  • Enter the verification code sent to your phone number.
  • Once your WhatsApp account for Business is verified, you will need to add all the basic information about your business. These include your business name, description of what you offer, most relevant business category, and your business’ physical address. You will also need to upload your company logo for people to easily recognize your brand. 

WhatsApp recommends using a separate phone number for your business and personal account. In case you already have a WhatsApp personal account and you want to use the number for a business account, all you need to do is migrate your account to WhatsApp for Business.

  • Update your WhatsApp Messenger into WhatsApp for Business.
  • Agree with the terms of services of WhatsApp for Business.
  • The system will automatically identify your phone number. Proceed to the normal verification process of WhatsApp for Business.

Step 2 – Connect WhatsApp for Business to a Facebook Business Page

WhatsApp Ads can only be created through the Facebook Ads Manager. So, the next step to be able to create WhatsApp ads is to connect your WhatsApp account for Business to a Facebook business page. 

  • Go to Facebook Business Manager.
  • Login to your Facebook business page. 
  • After receiving an automatic prompt, confirm connecting your WhatsApp for business to your Facebook business page. 
  • Click the “Send Code” button.
  • Verify the integration using the code sent to your phone number.

You are now ready to create and run WhatsApp ads.

Step 3 – Setting Up WhatsApp Ads and Campaigns

There are two ways to create WhatsApp ads. These are through boosting or creating a Facebook Ad Campaign.

Here are the steps in setting up WhatsApp Ads to “Create a Facebook Ad Campaign.”

  • Go to Facebook Ads Manager and click the green “Create” button.
  • Choose from these three campaign objectives – “conversions”, “messages”, or “traffic. “
  • Set a daily or lifetime budget for your ad campaign. When setting up campaign budgets, it is important to know the basics of bid strategies. 
  • Select WhatsApp via the ad set level. It is the destination where you will send the traffic, receive messages, and track conversions. Do this when setting up WhatsApp ads with the “conversion” and “traffic” objectives. Under the “messages” objective, you can choose three destinations – WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram Direct. But if you want to test the true power of WhatsApp ads, you can choose to leave out Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct.
  • Decide whether to place your WhatsApp ads on Facebook or Instagram. 

Here are the steps in setting up WhatsApp Ads to “Boost a Facebook Page Post.”

  • To boost a published Facebook post, go to Facebook Business Manager.
  • Scroll down to locate the post that you want to boost.
  • Click the blue “Boost Post” button.
  • Click the drop-down menu and choose “Send WhatsApp Message.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

Congratulations! You have now learned how to create WhatsApp Ads! Be sure to monitor your results and review your success. Go to Facebook Ads Manager to see insights after setting up WhatsApp Ads to “Create a Facebook Ad Campaign.” Go to Facebook Creator Studio after setting up WhatsApp Ads to “Boost a Facebook Page Post.”

Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-create-a-facebook-ad-that-works-with-whatsapp-business/