WhatsApp Ads - The Next Story Ad Platform?

Any of us who are actively prowling Facebook and Instagram would be familiar with the Facebook Story and Instagram Story feature. However, as much as we use WhatsApp as our chat and communication platform, the WhatsApp Status feature is not explored as often.

You might remember rumors from last year stating that WhatsApp is going to start charging its users for using the platform. The original USD0.99 annual charge decision was later on removed the same year after much protest and complaints from the users, and WhatsApp has stayed monetization-free ever since. While that issue is thankfully out of the way, there is something new brewing about the WhatsApp Status feature.

WhatsApp has confirmed that they will be utilizing their Status feature as their main monetization product, starting with Facebook’s native advertising system. While this can be a good opportunity for Facebook to open up more ad spaces to even more advertisers around the world, FALCON’s co-founder has also remarked how these ad spaces are only good for the short term. Prospecting long-term wise, WhatsApp’s decision to run these Status Ads could be deemed as damaging for the company.

Currently, Facebook has ads showing in its messenger app, between Facebook posts, in the sidebars, and even between Instagram stories and posts as well. Recent news have confirmed that WhatsApp has confirmed their app monetization by inserting ads between WhatsApp statuses, although the date of commencement for this is still yet to be confirmed.

There were also some speculations where there could be a programmatic change to WhatsApp that allows business owners to send and receive messages from WhatsApp users from those status ads once they are live.

WhatsApp has been a user-centric app so far with its decision to stay free-of-charge and not to run ads on their platform to ensure maximum user satisfaction. It’s no surprise that WhatsApp has managed to maintain its user base, but what next after plans to run these WhatsApp status ads?

There has been enough complaints that the ads are getting too intrusive on Facebook and Instagram, giving a bad user experience for anyone using these apps.

Are WhatsApp Status ads a good business opportunity, or a downward cycle of advertising?

Your business decides this.

Meanwhile, why not find out whether your business is suitable for WhatsApp marketing with PanPages TRINITY? We are offering free consultations for you to find out what is the next best step for you! Leave us your inquiries on our official website or call us at 03-56118099 to get started!