Inside WhatsApp Business

You’re Spending Billions on Ads— Time to Maximize Your Spend with Messaging

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October 18, 2022

Person sitting in cafe sending messages through WhatsApp

Global digital ad spending is predicted to exceed $645 billion by 2024 (Small Biz Genius, 2022).


This massive number comes from a recent 2022 study, and it’s a clear indication of the role that digital advertising can have in your business’s marketing strategy. But businesses, take note: If you’re not executing on that digital ad spend with the right strategic approach, that massive spend might not get you the return on investment your business needs. Rather than a ‘set it and forget it’ approach, your business should be focused on getting maximum return from your investment in digital, and that requires, in part, a focus on connecting with customers at scale through your advertising spend.


But how do you do that?


For starters, it means walking away from the common ‘spray and pay’ approach to digital advertising, which is less of a strategy and more just throwing money at the problem. It’s time to embrace a method that allows you to get more from your ad spend while focusing on the right place for it—mobile.


In the digital advertising market, 70% of total ad spending will be generated through mobile in 2026.


That’s just shy of three quarters of your ad spend going toward mobile apps and platforms that your customers interact with most. Having a million or billion-dollar advertising budget is certainly impressive, but how are you ensuring you’re getting the most out of your ad spend?

The solution: communicate directly with your potential customers post-click via messaging.

Messaging provides a quick and easy way to nurture and engage prospects and customers who’ve clicked on your ads, so you can optimize your investment, build deeper relationships, and as a result, drive increased conversions.


Let’s dive a bit deeper.

Person laying in bed reading WhatsApp message post ad-click

The conversational approach to advertising

So, how exactly can messaging help enterprise businesses solve their ROI issues with ad spends? By integrating conversations into the ad flow, helping drive discovery and demand.


If a potential customer clicks on a product or service in one of your ads that interests them, they want a quick and easy answer to their inquiry. What’s more, your business needs to strike while the iron is hot and engage the customer before they lose interest, get distracted, or decide to shop elsewhere. They’ve already shown enough interest in your product to click, and now it’s your job to maximize that opportunity.


We’ll give you an example. Let’s say a user clicks on one of your ads to view a specific product. They can then be directed to a conversation to help them make a purchase decision, add the product to their cart, and convert. They reach out with an inquiry, and your business responds right away, helping move them through the funnel. Callouts and buttons on your digital ad saying “learn more” and “contact us” help encourage customers to message directly with your business, making it easier to capture the high-intent leads.


In addition, letting your customers know that they can now message you through your digital ads saves them time and opens up a quick and easy line of communication directly with your customer, allowing you to take more control over your chances of conversion.


You’ve seen how integrating messaging into ads can help drive business outcomes, but it’s also up to your business to ensure you’re running your digital ads in the right places. Dedicating ad spends to high-reach platforms, while also using messaging to engage customers, helps you not only cast a wider net with your ads, but helps you nurture those ad leads more effectively post-click.


A quick note on best practices: remember to always measure the performance of your ads over time to ensure that you’re taking a strategic and informed approach to your digital ad spends. Use this data to measure if your ad creative is engaging and encourages potential customers to start a conversation with your business. That will make your chances of engaging with users post-click all the more likely.

Messaging fits into your ads at every stage of the funnel

Now, let’s go a bit deeper into how integrating messaging into your digital ad flow can help generate leads, drive sales, and build loyalty with customers.


First things first, 90% of searchers haven’t made up their mind about a brand before starting their search. That means there’s plenty of competition out there for businesses running digital ads. If a user types in a search for “best” or “highest-rated” (two of the most popular search terms for discovering products), your product is going to have to beat out all the other similar products that are also claiming this title. Running a convincing digital ad can help entice users to choose your product, but ultimately the best way to help ensure that users convert is through a conversation with your business.


Messaging with a business not only helps potential customers form positive opinions of your brand, but it’s also a prime opportunity to help them discover new products. Your business can help interested users with specific criteria find exactly what they need by recommending products that fit those criteria, making the customer more likely to convert.


So, how exactly can you implement messaging across the customer journey? We’ll show you.

Customer journey showing how ads that click to WhatsApp can help at every stage

Generate leads

Your business can help generate more qualified leads from your digital ads by responding to opted-in users who want to learn more about your product or services with an engaging and helpful message. In addition, you can create rich experiences in-chat by sending an interested user images, videos, links, maps, and more, allowing them to learn about your product or brand.


Here’s an example: Your mobile services company runs a carousel ad for a new two-for-one phone deal. A user interested in the deal then clicks the ad, and initiates a conversation with your business saying they’d like to know more about the available colors. Your business takes advantage of this opportunity by responding immediately in-chat with images of the new phone in 3 different colors. Now you’ve engaged a high-intent lead.

Drive sales

Capturing interest to generate leads with messaging is just the start. You can actually help move sales as well.


Your business can create personalized shopping experiences with curated product lists that engage and motivate potential customers. Sharing product links and shopping cart links in-chat with potential customers can help motivate them to make the purchase and check out. By helping customers who click your ad to choose the product that’s right for them, your business takes more control over your funnel, ensuring that the customer gets the product they want, and you make the sale. In addition, allowing customers to opt-in to receive notifications about relevant products and recent orders can help forge closer relationships with your customer base by making sure they don’t miss out.


Let’s say your clothing company runs a video ad for a new leather tote bag. A customer clicks the “contact us” button on your ad and starts a conversation with your business to see if there are also cross-body bags available. Your business then sends a curated list of similar cross-body bags, helping the customer make a purchase decision and ensuring that this high-intent lead checks out.

Build loyalty

Now that we’ve come to the end of the customer journey, you can help keep customers coming back by offering exclusive deals in-chat. You can help increase engagement and foster longer-lasting customer relationships by delighting them with media messages, interactive chat buttons, and personalized offers for products you know they’ll enjoy.


If your bank runs a digital ad for a new cash back credit card, you can send a message to previous customers who’ve opted-in, letting them know they get an exclusive promotion with a lower interest rate in the first 12 months. Your returning customer then sends a message saying they’re interested in learning more. Your bank can respond to their inquiry with a short video message explaining the promotion. The returning customer is now engaged and ready to sign up, and they click “get started”. You’ve now built loyalty with this customer by attracting them with exclusive deals and richer media.

Re-engage customers

It’s a hard truth that about 81% of all online shopping carts are abandoned. So, how can your business take back the sale and regain interest with customers?


Your business can revive the conversation with a personalized offer to help incentivize the customer’s purchase. By sending them a quick message with a reminder including free shipping when they add to cart, your business helps bring the potential customer back into the funnel.

Person sitting at desk working on laptop in the evening

It’s time to do more with your ad spend

Messaging can help you maximize the value of your ads by increasing chances of engagement and conversion via personalized and helpful conversations with customers. Rather than shirking strategy to “spray and pay” with your ads, take control over the success of your ads by integrating messaging at every stage of your sales funnel.

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