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Meta Announces New Business Tools for WhatsApp as it Continues to Expand in India

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Meta Announces New Business Tools for WhatsApp as it Continues to Expand in India

Meta continues to expand its WhatsApp business push, with some new elements announced at its second annual Conversations conference in Mumbai today.

India has become a key focus on this front, with the nation now WhatsApp’s biggest usage region by far, with over 500 million users, and rising. Given its reach and ubiquity as a connection tool, Meta’s very keen to convert WhatsApp into a key platform for all sorts of interactive and transactional exchanges, though conflicts with local regulators have slowed progress to this point.

Still, Meta’s pushing ahead, with the addition of a new business option called “WhatsApp Flows” that will enable businesses, in all regions, to offer expanded functionality in the app.

As you can see in this example, with Flows, businesses on WhatsApp will be able to give users more capacity to conduct additional transactional processes, like “choosing your train seat, ordering a meal or booking an appointment – all without leaving your chat”.

As per WhatsApp:

“With Flows, businesses will be able to provide rich menus and customizable forms that support different needs. We’ll make Flows available to businesses around the world using the WhatsApp Business Platform in the coming weeks.

It’s another move towards a more WeChat-style approach to messaging, where users are able to conduct a far broader range of activities within the app. The next question, then, is whether users actually want that, but it will provide more options to consider for brands in the app.

WhatsApp’s also expanding its in-stream payment options, with users in India now able to add items to their cart, and send a payment using the method of their choice.

WhatsApp payments

WhatsApp’s updated payment flow will now support all UPI apps, debit and credit cards, via partnership with Razorpay and PayU, which will significantly expand its payment capacity in the region.

Meta’s still going to be somewhat restricted in how far it can expand payments (the Indian Government has given Meta approval to enable 100 million people to use its payment services in the region at present), but its partnerships with local providers will enable broader payment options.

Meta also announced that its Meta Verified program will soon be expanded to business profiles as well, with WhatsApp verification also set to be another offering within this element.

Meta Verified on WhatsApp

Verified business on WhatsApp will get a blue checkmark, along with access to direct support, while they’ll also have the ability to create a custom WhatsApp page that’s discoverable via a web search.

“We’ll begin testing Meta Verified soon with small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app before introducing it to businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform in the future.

As noted, Meta’s been making messaging a bigger focus of late, in line with shifting usage behaviors, which have seen more people moving away from public posting, and towards private group interactions. Though in India, it’s even more pressing, due to the popularity of WhatsApp, and its capacity to become a bigger platform for all transactions.

Like Elon Musk, Meta wants to make WhatsApp the Indian “everything app”. But pushing forward, under the watch of an increasingly wary Indian Government, will take time and patience.

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New Guide Highlights Key Considerations for Effective TikTok Ads

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New Guide Highlights Key Considerations for Effective TikTok Ads

Looking to make TikTok a bigger focus of your marketing effort in 2024?

This will help. TikTok recently partnered with creator intelligence platform CreatorIQ to conduct an analysis of the key factors that make for a resonant TikTok promotion, culminating in a 26-page report which covers a range of key notes and tips for your planning.

You can download CreatorIQ’s full TikTok ads guide here, but in this post, we’ll look at some of the key notes.

The report is broken up into five key pillars of TikTok ads creation, which echo much of the best advice that’s been shared for the platform over time.

CreatorIQ’s five key TikTok marketing notes are:

  • Grab attention from the start
  • Foster a personal connection
  • Show your product in action
  • Use high-impact creative elements
  • Close with a clear call to action

For each of these elements, the guide digs deeper into how to enact them, and the critical considerations of each, including stats on effectiveness:

Tips on TikTok-specific trends and tools:

CreatorIQ TikTok Ads Report

As well as case study examples to underline each point:

CreatorIQ TikTok Ads Report

It’s a handy overview, with a range of valuable notes, though the main finding, above all of the creative pointers and advice, is that established creators perform better for TikTok promotions.

As per CreatorIQ:

The report found that creators overwhelmingly make the best-performing TikTok ads, with recommendations carrying more weight than traditional brand advertisements and celebrity spokespeople. In fact, after watching a creator-driven Spark Ad, 57% of TikTok community members say the creator is trustworthy, 56% say they can trust the brand because the creator shared it, and 71% say creator authenticity led them to buy a product.

So while there are a heap of practical notes and pointers for increasing the resonance of your in-app promotions – like this:

CreatorIQ TikTok Ads Report

The key point of emphasis is that creators make better TikToks, and thus, better ads, so partnering with relevant influencers in your niche is still likely a better way to go.

Some good considerations, and some valuable, data-backed tips, which could help to get your TikTok promotion plan on the right track in the new year.

You can download CreatorIQ’s full TikTok marketing report here.

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Adobe Highlights Rising Visual Trends in 2024 Creative Trends Report

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Adobe Highlights Rising Visual Trends in 2024 Creative Trends Report

Looking for creative inspiration for your 2024 strategic planning?

This will help. Today, Adobe has published its annual Creative Trends Report, which incorporates insights from Adobe’s 30 million+ Creative Cloud users, in order to determine rising visual styles of interest, which look set to resonate with audiences in the new year.

Based on its research, the Adobe team has established four creative trends that are worthy of note:

  • Calming Rhythms – Fluid and flowing forms that soothe the senses and support emotional balance
  • Wonder and Joy – Visuals that inspire a sense of awe, joy, and enchantment
  • Dynamic Dimensions – Where all dimensions and types of content seamlessly merge
  • The New Nostalgia – Contemporary interpretations of vintage styles

Adobe’s 22-page report, which you can download here (with email sign-up), provides more insight into each of these trends, along with various examples, and data that explains why they’re set to gain more momentum.

There are handy notes and insights for each, which help to illustrate how to use them in your process.

Adobe 2024 Creative Trends Report

Interestingly, a lot of the images used by Adobe in the report look like they’ve been created by generative AI. I don’t know that they have, but it is worth noting the composition in this regard, as another potential means to tap into these trends.

Adobe 2024 Creative Trends Report

The report provides some interesting perspective on rising visual trends, which could help in your planning. Maybe one of these resonates especially well with your branding, or aligns with what your target audience has been sharing.

Either way, some additional, data-backed considerations, which could be helpful in your process.

You can download Adobe’s “2024 Creative Trends Report” here.

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Elon Musk’s X and Amazon discuss potential collaboration

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Elon Musk’s X and Amazon discuss potential collaboration

In a significant development in the social media industry, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is reportedly engaging in preliminary discussions …

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