Meta have announced that they’ll be introducing three new WhatsApp Ad Formats – it was bound to happen, WhatsApp is without a doubt Meta’s best property (at least from a user perspective) and now they want to start monetising it more heavily.
Good news for advertisers, bad news for communities is probably a fair assessment. If you think Facebook and Instagram, users complain that they see updates from their friends and family less and less while being deluged with ads. Small businesses complain that they’re never seen unless they pay to play. Now Meta look like they’re starting the journey down the same path.
But, if you’re a WhatsApp user don’t panic quite yet, Meta are leaving the all important messaging (Chats) tab alone and you won’t be getting any robo calls just yet. The ad formats will all live in the ‘Updates’ tab and frankly I don’t even know what it’s for. Today, WhatsApp are inviting me to join the ‘Minecraft’, ‘Labourer Jobs UK’, ‘WhatsApp’, and ‘Catch A Gem – UK Freebies’ channels. Needless to say it’s the first time since I install WhatsApp that I’ve looked at the updates tab and I won’t be going back any time soon.
WhatsApp Ad Formats
Someone somewhere (apparently about 1.5 billion users per day) must be using the updates tab to subscribe to random channels however, so if you want to advertise to these rare breeds, here’s what’s new:
- Channel subscriptions: You’ll be able to support your favorite channel by subscribing to receive exclusive updates for a monthly fee.
- Promoted Channels: We’ll help you discover new channels that might be interesting to you when you’re looking through the directory. For the first time, admins have a way to increase their Channel’s visibility.
- Ads in Status: You’ll be able to find a new business and easily start a conversation with them about a product or service they’re promoting in Status.
We’ve been talking about our plans to build a business that does not interrupt your personal chats for years and we believe the Updates tab is the right place for these new features to work.
To show you ads in Status or Channels that WhatsApp say that ‘you might care about’, they’ll use limited info like your country or city, language, the Channels you’re following, and how you interact with the ads you see. For people that have chosen to add WhatsApp to Accounts Center, they’ll also use your ad preferences and info from across your Meta accounts.
If you’re an advertiser and want to get started and find out more about WhatsApp Ad Formats, then their ad page is the place to go.
