WhatsApp is introducing new changes to its own interface in an attempt to truly monetise the massive audience it has garnered over the years. In addition to this, the app is also considering running ads and sponsorships.
WhatsApp, part of Facebook’s entourage of media-related platforms, has a strange place in the lexicon of social media services. While wildly popular and certainly doing well for itself, it isn’t quite the money printing machine that Instagram and Facebook have turned into. With a user base amassing to over 2 billion active users across the globe, and labelled the most downloaded non-gaming app for Android in November 2020, the app shows nothing but a straight trajectory to success. The COVID-19 pandemic was also kind to WhatsApp, as more and more users joined the app to connect with loved ones via chatting and video calls. A published report showed that, during the peak of quarantine, messages sent back and forth between users per day exceeded a billion! Impressive fare indeed.
While not much detail about the interface has been delved into, it appears that WhatsApp is working with full force to contact businesses directly, bypassing the need for hotlines and such. In a move to make interaction between consumers and their respective outlets smooth and convenient, the contact interface will directly connect a user with the relevant individual, without the hassle of waiting for minutes by your phone, as you’re put on hold, as explained by Whatapp's Boss Will Cathcart in an interview on Fortune. The practical applications of this, and to what degree they’ll improve the usual hotline experience, have yet to be observed and commented on. However, this is not the first attempt WhatsApp has made at such an endeavour. WhatsApp Business, a separate daughter app, acts as a one-on-one chat centre for all sorts of start-ups and businesses, large or small. With modern society’s proclivity towards texting as opposed to calling, this seems like a very well-thought out step, although Business has yet to receive the same massive audience that its parent application has amassed.
WhatsApp is also looking into advertising using the app. Early reports have stated that the ads, once implemented, will show up in the WhatsApp status bar. Much akin to fellow platform Instagram, users will encounter them while tapping through stories. A potential difference, however, may be seen in where the ads take their audiences. In Instagram, upon encountering an ad one must swipe up and they will be taken to a relevant website. WhatsApp, on the other hand, plans on having ads take people to relevant WhatsApp chats and groups, bringing their new feature full circle and entangling with the planned Businesses interface.
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Read next: A Small Business Guide to WhatsApp Business (Infographic)
WhatsApp, part of Facebook’s entourage of media-related platforms, has a strange place in the lexicon of social media services. While wildly popular and certainly doing well for itself, it isn’t quite the money printing machine that Instagram and Facebook have turned into. With a user base amassing to over 2 billion active users across the globe, and labelled the most downloaded non-gaming app for Android in November 2020, the app shows nothing but a straight trajectory to success. The COVID-19 pandemic was also kind to WhatsApp, as more and more users joined the app to connect with loved ones via chatting and video calls. A published report showed that, during the peak of quarantine, messages sent back and forth between users per day exceeded a billion! Impressive fare indeed.
While not much detail about the interface has been delved into, it appears that WhatsApp is working with full force to contact businesses directly, bypassing the need for hotlines and such. In a move to make interaction between consumers and their respective outlets smooth and convenient, the contact interface will directly connect a user with the relevant individual, without the hassle of waiting for minutes by your phone, as you’re put on hold, as explained by Whatapp's Boss Will Cathcart in an interview on Fortune. The practical applications of this, and to what degree they’ll improve the usual hotline experience, have yet to be observed and commented on. However, this is not the first attempt WhatsApp has made at such an endeavour. WhatsApp Business, a separate daughter app, acts as a one-on-one chat centre for all sorts of start-ups and businesses, large or small. With modern society’s proclivity towards texting as opposed to calling, this seems like a very well-thought out step, although Business has yet to receive the same massive audience that its parent application has amassed.
WhatsApp is also looking into advertising using the app. Early reports have stated that the ads, once implemented, will show up in the WhatsApp status bar. Much akin to fellow platform Instagram, users will encounter them while tapping through stories. A potential difference, however, may be seen in where the ads take their audiences. In Instagram, upon encountering an ad one must swipe up and they will be taken to a relevant website. WhatsApp, on the other hand, plans on having ads take people to relevant WhatsApp chats and groups, bringing their new feature full circle and entangling with the planned Businesses interface.
