How WhatsApp is trying to help brands connect with consumers

Messaging apps have become increasingly popular, especially with younger Gen Z audiences, and brands are trying to find a way into these more private conversations. The Drone Race League was an early adopter of WhatsApp Channels, which underwent beta testing in June as a way for brands and organizations to communicate with fans and customers. The 7-year-old league saw an early burst of followers in the Meta-owned WhatsApp when CEO Mark Zuckerberg shouted out DRL in a launch video for Channels. Now, DRL has close to 2 million followers on its channel. While messaging apps have been popular for small groups and personal communications—WhatsApp surpassed 500 million monthly users in the second half of last year—brands and organizations now have an opportunity to chat with consumers and provide customer service on these platforms. “It feels ridiculous to say we’re an early mover on the platform because WhatsApp launched in 2009, before even Instagram,” said Anne Marie Gianutsos, chief marketing officer at the Drone Racing League, “which is why we’re thinking this is insane that WhatsApp was our fastest growing channel of 2023.” The launch of Channels fundamentally altered the marketing landscape on WhatsApp, Gianutsos continued. “Before channels, brands would have to act like a person, so it wasn’t a great brand platform.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Off to the races Racing leagues have been some of the early adopters of WhatsApp Channels. Aside from DRL, Nascar has also been utilizing the app. And in December, WhatsApp sponsored the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team, which helped promote the global launch of Channels. For its part, DRL has used WhatsApp to coordinate with drone pilots and talk with business partners. On its channel, DRL has been sharing videos, mostly clips of first-person views of speedy drones. Then followers react to the videos with emojis. WhatsApp has become a crucial part of Meta’s app strategy. When Meta (then Facebook) bought the company in 2014 for $19 billion, it was looking for a way to turn a free messaging service into a revenue-generating business. WhatsApp has since grown to more than 2 billion global users. Prior to the launch of Channels, businesses promoted services and stores on WhatsApp through personal messages with their consumer contacts, but there was no social media element. The idea of Channels, though, is not a new concept in the messaging world: WhatsApp rival Telegram has become a source of news and entertainment with its channels. “At the core we are a messaging app that’s focusing on connecting you with the people that you feel closest too,” said Vivian Odior, WhatsApp’s head of marketing. “Channels sits on the ‘updates’ tab and it’s really a way for you to stay up to speed on the things that you care about, that build you up personally.” In December, WhatsApp sponsored Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One as the team’s “first official messaging partner.” That was just in time for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which showed how WhatsApp and the Mercedes F1 team were looking for a greater U.S. audience with the push of Channels. The racing league and WhatsApp are both global brands that are gaining in popularity in the U.S., Odior said. Part of Odior’s marketing mission has been to shift the perception of WhatsApp in the U.S. WhatsApp is more than just the “travel app, the travel messaging app, or the international friend app,” Odior said. In the U.S., messaging behavior is different than in the rest of the world, where free communication and talking to family abroad is a necessity and messaging apps are at the center of people’s phone habits. Messaging is more private than traditional social media platforms, which is one of WhatsApp’s core selling points. The content and interactions are encrypted, so the engagement is more anonymous and harder to track. Also read: AI chatbots predict 2024 trends in social media and ad tech So far, the growth of WhatsApp Channels has been organic. There are no ways to pay to promote a channel and gain followers or to pay for higher visibility in search, but given Meta’s track record, ad support is likely. “We haven’t pushed out opportunities for promoting or highlighting channels,” Odior said, “but it’s definitely a conversation we’ve had.” But Netflix, NASCAR, UFC and other brands have still surfaced on Channels. WhatsApp is working on how Channels are discovered in search and featured on the updates tab. Fans of a channel can message their contacts, inviting them to join. “When people share, they’re sharing the channel, or the brand as a whole,” DRL’s Gianutsos said, “instead of an individual piece of content.” DRL expects a flurry of new users in January, when they could get a bump from the WhatsApp-run “Channel Crush” channel, which recommends channels to its more than 90 million followers. The league has an account team from WhatsApp, which helps them learn how to use the platform as it evolves, and they were told to expect a shoutout on Channel Crush. “They have so much information about how the platforms works, how the algorithm works, best practices, posting times,” DRL’s Gianutsos said, “and this reminds me of the early days of Instagram.” One feature DRL would like to see in WhatsApp is livestreaming. The league has no insights into WhatsApp’s product roadmap, but Gianutsos said live video would be a natural fit. “We can’t wait for that, that is not a current feature,” Gianutsos said, “but we’re going to dominate that if that launches.”

How WhatsApp is trying to help brands connect with consumers

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