This post is about WhatsApp Marketing (how to sell on WhatsApp). I will be showing you the proven strategies to sell on WhatsApp.
By the end of this post, you should be able to know what is WhatsApp marketing, how to get started, how to sell on WhatsApp using various methods, and how to build your WhatsApp list.
Maybe after reading this full article you might conclude this is to be one of the best free WhatsApp marketing courses.
WhatsApp is the most-used messaging app in the world with more than one billion users.
WhatsApp has become an important messaging channel for private interactions with friends, family, and customers.
The first messaging app people check on when they wake up in the morning is WhatsApp messages.
I am sure everyone reading this content already knows about WhatsApp. What some might not be aware of is the WhatsApp business app.
For selling on WhatsApp, it is best to use WhatsApp Business. It has business features that are not available on the other app.
Using the WhatsApp business app enhances the way you communicate and engage with your customers.
You can create a business profile with information like your business name, address, business description, phone number, email address and website detail.
There is more to do with the WhatsApp business application, download it and play around with it. It is not compulsory you must use it anyway.
People make money with WhatsApp by selling digital or physical products.
WhatsApp’s commerce policy is against selling digital products on the platform. If they discovered you are doing so, your account will be banned.
I made the mistake some time ago. I added a digital product to my product catalog. That was how I was banned from business WhatsApp.
I didn’t read their commerce policy well but now I know better.
I have made many other mistakes when it comes to WhatsApp marketing but I won’t be talking about them to bore you with sad stories.
Probably you must have Google how to make money on WhatsApp. I won’t be talking about the ways to make money on WhatsApp in this post, but maybe in a future post.
What you will learn from this post can be applied to make money on WhatsApp and it is selling or marketing techniques that this is all about.
Why You Should Start WhatsApp Marketing
More people are responsive to messages on WhatsApp than on other platforms.
It has a high open rate and is very easy to create. One way to use WhatsApp for business promotion is by selling products and services.
How to Sell on WhatsApp
There must be a product (digital or physical). The product doesn’t need to be your own, it could be an affiliate product.
If there isn’t any product, it could be a service; something you can do like web design, social media marketing, tutoring, etc.
If any of the above exists, then you can sell on WhatsApp using these methods;
- Your status
- WhatsApp groups
- WhatsApp broadcast list
- One-on-one messaging
- Others’ status or broadcast list
Like I said earlier before you sell on WhatsApp, there must be a product and an audience. The audience is your contact that eventually becomes your customers or clients.
Before you start WhatsApp marketing, there should be contacts of people on your phone. These people should not be your family and friends.
The sad reality of business these days is family and friends are not supportive.
People make more money from strangers than friends and family.
Another sad reality is that strangers don’t buy from people they don’t know online. They buy from people they know, like and trust.
This may sound confusing to you at this point.
You may be thinking this: If people make more money from strangers and strangers don’t buy from anyone except who they know, like and trust, how then can I use WhatsApp marketing effectively to make sales?
What I will be explaining in the next paragraphs is what has worked for many marketers and is still working.
Build Relationships
As stated earlier, I said you can do WhatsApp marketing using these methods: your status, WhatsApp groups, WhatsApp broadcast list, one-on-one messaging, others’ status or broadcast list.
Whatever method you choose to use or start with, you must first build relationships.
The mistake some people make is that once they save someone’s WhatsApp number, they end it there.
Later they start sending WhatsApp promotional messages.
If I was in the other person’s shoes, I won’t respond to your promotional messages.
It shows that you are only concerned about selling to me.
People have this same belief, that you only want to sell them and you don’t care about them.
No one loves being sold to. People want to see that you care.
That is why you need to start building relationships and trust from the initial contact.
How to Build Relationships on WhatsApp
From the first conversation, you need to introduce yourself and what you do.
Do not be promotional about yourself, that is trying to market or sell something. Keep it brief.
You could say:
Hello, I am Johanson Johnson from Thequickweb. Thequickweb is an internet marketing service.
Or you say:
Hello, I am Johanson Johnson, an editor at Thequickweb. May I get to know you?
The other person might reply:
I am Emelia John, a graphic designer.
The next step is to personalize your message. People love it when you address them by their names.
But there should be a measure of caution here. Not everyone is the same.
Some older people will see you as disrespectful when you call them directly by their names without adding a title eg; Mr, Mrs, or Miss. So you should use discernment.
Your next reply could be:
Nice to meet you, Miss Emelia. We could talk some other time. I have saved your number. You can save mine as Johanson or Thequickweb.
If the person doesn’t like it being called Mrs or Miss, she could tell you “call me Emelia”. At least you know you are on the safe side.
If you do follow all of these, you will see that you have started building a relationship.
Although this method is for one-one messaging, you can modify it for other methods.
How you acquire your contact or build your WhatsApp list determines how your first message will be.
For example, if you are using Facebook ads or any other paid method to send people to your WhatsApp, you could create a template message that they will automatically send to you.
You can use auto reply to respond to them. That is why WhatsApp Business is recommended except you have the time to reply to everyone one after the other.
Your auto reply message could be:
Thank you for ……………………..{this could be what led the person to you}. I am Johanson Johnson, an editor at Thequickweb. I have other free resources I love to share with you soon.
May I get to know you by your name so I can save your contact? You can save mine as Johanson or Thequickweb.
It will take you time to save all the numbers but the efforts are worth it. WhatsApp marketing takes a lot of time, effort, and money.
Some people build their WhatsApp list or acquire WhatsApp contact for status viewing.
They call it WhatsApp TV because they post entertaining or news content on their status.
If that is your aim, you could modify your message this way:
Hello, Welcome to Thequickweb. Let us help each other increase our WhatsApp status view. Please save my number as Thequickweb TV. How do I save yours?
These are just sample messages. It is not a must to use them, they are just ideas.
Tips: Never use these words xup, sup, how far, wad up, and what’s up to converse with a stranger. It shows a lack of courtesy.
WhatsApp Status
WhatsApp marketing using status view is easier than the other methods. I am still saying that you shouldn’t just go direct and start posting products for sale.
For the first few weeks, you could post valuable content and information that will improve their lives. This could be health, finance, tech, or relationship.
Stay away from politics, tribal or religious topics. There are a lot of differences, sentiments, and hate when it comes to matters of politics, tribe, and religion.
For this, I can’t give you a template of what to post because I don’t really know exactly what you want to sell on WhatsApp.
For someone like me, I focus more on digital products because they are easy to create and deliver.
There is no recurring cost of production. For example, you don’t continue to reproduce an ebook.
That one copy you saved on your computer or phone is what you will continue to send to thousands of people that buy the ebook.
For example, let’s say you want to sell a PDF book on affiliate marketing using your WhatsApp status.
Your status updates could be free and value-packed information centred on topics like how to make money online, make money while you sleep, etc.
Let every update lead to another just like a movie where one scene leads to another.
You have already positioned yourself as someone who knows what he is doing and can be trusted.
After one week you can now introduce your affiliate marketing PDF.
Know this: WhatsApp marketing gimmick is not direct selling.
Tips: Don’t be a self-centred WhatsApp marketer. When you tell people to save your number so that both of you can view each other’s status, try to view theirs. Don’t be a deceiver.
When you don’t view some people’s status, you are indirectly telling them that they have nothing reasonable or valuable to offer except you. Once in a while reply to their status but this is not necessary.
One-on-One Messaging
Let’s go back to the one-on-one messaging. By now you should understand it starts with building a relationship or having common ground.
Your aim is to sell. In this method, you could even speak your language with the person if you know both of you are from the same place using voice notes.
People feel more relaxed when you speak the language they understand. The same principle applies here when creating familiarity with a stranger on WhatsApp.
If you started reading from the beginning of this post you should have known how to introduce yourself without being promotional.
If you have taken that first step, then come back in a few days and start another conversation.
Remember to personalize your message. This is very important so they know that you are not just sending the same message to random people and spamming them.
You could message the person by saying:
Hello Emelia,
It’s been a while so I decided to check on you. I trust you are well?
This is not the time to start asking how your health is, how is school, how is business or irrelevant things.
Everyone has problems and you cannot or may not be able to solve their problems when they start pouring them out.
Some people don’t mind pouring their problems out to anyone especially when it has to do with money.
Will you be able to give them money to solve their problems or you will just reply the usual way some people do by saying “it is well” whereas nothing is well. It is an insensitive statement.
One needs to be very careful about the kind of questions to ask else you will destroy your purpose by yourself.
That aside!
Emelia may reply to you:
I am good and you?
You could reply:
I am fine but have been busy doing …………………….. {This could be about your business).
For me, I could say: I am fine but have been very busy writing an article for a client.
Emelia may show interest in what you do and want to ask further questions.
I can’t predict what will follow next but you have to be tactful in your responses not to appear selling.
Let’s move to the next method.
WhatsApp Groups
WhatsApp groups are more used for training and discussion based on similar interests.
When I first created a group some years back, it was for training purposes. I posted about it on Facebook and added people who showed interest. It was paid training.
After the training, the group continued to exist and in time other people were added.
The group became like a community for discussion based on similar interests. Anyone in the group could recommend or sell his or her products and services.
Groups can be used for WhatsApp marketing and it is easier to build trust faster. In WhatsApp groups, you can address everyone at the same time.
Personalizing your message is of no use because everyone already knows you are talking to a group of people. You must introduce yourself and what you do without being promotional.
Everything will depend on why you brought them to the group. Most people use free training to build WhatsApp groups. They use Facebook ads, emails and other channels to advertise their free training.
Some post on their social media pages, their followers see it and then share the post, and more people see it and follow the link to join the group.
Some people join WhatsApp groups to spam and scam, so be ready to face that challenge when you intend to use it for WhatsApp marketing.
Keep the messages on the WhatsApp group informative and educative.
If you created it for health purposes, you can post health information that people having certain health challenges may find a solution to.
Keep sharing vital and valuable information. Soon you can then introduce that weight loss or flat tummy product you intend to sell.
As a reminder, people buy from whom they know, like and trust. People trust the group admin more than the members.
So if you are not the owner of the group and you intend to sell there, make sure you read first the group rules.
If the group rules favour you, then start contributing and be active. Don’t behave like ghost members — people who will join a group and will never contribute to any discussion.
They will be in the group, spying and reading chats but will never send at least one emoji.
This post is not about them anyway but they might be reading this article now. You never can tell.
I no longer use WhatsApp groups for training anymore. There is a unique way I do my training using broadcast. Let’s move on to that.
WhatsApp Broadcast
WhatsApp broadcast is adding people to a broadcast list and sending them messages. These messages go to everyone at the same time as long they have saved your number.
You have to be ethical when sending broadcast messages on WhatsApp, or else they might report you and your number will be banned.
If they don’t report you, they will block you or delete your number.
Even if they don’t do anything, they might never read your messages just the way some people never open a single email coming from some marketers.
So what is the best way to do WhatsApp marketing using broadcast?
Never send broadcast messages to strangers. Some friends might not also like it.
When sending to friends or family members, it is advisable to let them know it is a broadcast message and if they choose not to receive your messages, they should signify.
Anyway, you might not be selling to family and existing friends. We are focusing on strangers.
WhatsApp marketing using broadcast can be tricky and must be done with tact despite trying to build relationships first.
You know that you are sending a message to a group of people at once. It matters a lot that you must personalize your message.
I am not saying that you add a name, everyone on that list has different names.
To Personalize your message, you should use phrases like “How are you”, “Hello friend”, and not “How are you all”, or “Hello friends”.
You can use the latter when addressing people in your group and status but the former on one-on-one messaging and broadcast.
The same messaging templates you use for building relationships when using one-on-one messaging are what you can apply with a little modification.
Imagine having like 1000+ people in your broadcast list. 1000+ is even much, let’s assume less like 500 or even 250.
There is no way you will be able to reply to all of them if they should respond to the question you asked in your message. Except you employed someone to do customer care service for you.
When trying to build rapport, you could start this way — the method I use too to do my training or mentorship.
When I bring people together for free training on WhatsApp, I don’t use add them to groups anymore.
These are my reasons:
- I want to eliminate spam from people
- I want to sieve out the serious ones from the unserious ones
- I want to eliminate ghost members or spies
- I want to avoid contact scraping.
There are ways to scrape or download people’s numbers in WhatsApp groups and then export them to any WhatsApp marketing software or application to start sending them WhatsApp promotional messages. I can’t teach that here but you can do your own research on it.
Another thing they do is to start adding you to groups without your consent and you be wondering how you were added since who did it isn’t in your contact list.
This is exactly what I do, I create a template message with a link to my WhatsApp so that when they click on it, they automatically send me a message like this:
Hello, I am …………………………{they will add their name to the allotted space}. I am interested in your 7 days of free training on how to move your business online.
I could reply using a message I have already drafted and saved.
Hello, I am Johanson from Thequickweb. I don’t know the kind of business you run but I know that almost every business needs an online presence.
We will be doing 7 days of free training on how to move your business online.
This free training will be done on WhatsApp and it is limited to 100 people only, completely free, with no presell or upsell.
We are not using the WhatsApp group for this training to avoid spammers posting irrelevant content or scamming members.
We will be sending you daily messages. We will add everyone to a broadcast list. These messages only get to those who have saved our number.
There is no intention to send unsolicited messages to you. If you want to be added to the free training broadcast, reply to this message with ‘Yes’.
No reply means ‘NO’
First of all, there was an introduction; I am Johanson from Thequickweb. Next, the method for the training was explained.
If you noticed, “we” was used several times. This is because this training isn’t by one person. It is a team effort. If you are the only one doing what you plan to do, you can use ‘I’.
The message ended by prompting them to reply yes if they are interested.
When I first tested this method, 90% of them replied yes and they were added to the broadcast list.
Note that because they replied yes doesn’t imply full interest in the training. Some might not save your number. They might forget or decide not to for reasons best known to them.
Some might just want to see what you offer just the way some join groups to spy on what is happening.
This is not an easy task cos you might omit adding people to the list. I discovered I omitted some numbers because the messages were just pouring in spontaneously.
Whatever the case may be, there is a list. The training can start!
That is the method I used for my training. After the training, I still send other relevant valued packed information. Some will ask questions and I will reply.
In time you need to check those who are actually reading your messages and those who are not. Maybe they must have deleted your number.
So what you need to do is send them a personal message.
Hello Emelia,
I am doing a routine check on those I usually send broadcasts. I hope you are doing well.
Just keep the message brief and simple. Wait for their response. If there is no response, decide for yourself what you will do.
As for me, I remove them from the broadcast list.
Once in a while, you can add to the bottom of your broadcast messages:
If you no longer wish to receive broadcast messages from Thequickweb, reply ‘Unsubscribe’ and we will stop sending you important messages.
Some people may get tired of your messages, and rather than allowing them to block you and delete your number, it is better to let them opt-out.
Removing them from your broadcast list isn’t the end. As long they have your number saved on their phone, they can still view your WhatsApp status.
I wanted to do a paid WhatsApp marketing class along with other strategies I thought of but decided to share it here for free.
I am not saying the method I used is the best for training people on WhatsApp.
The aim is to sell on WhatsApp by converting strangers into customers. Do whatever you know will work best for you.
Others’ Status or Broadcast Lists
In WhatsApp marketing, using other people’s statuses or broadcast lists is the fastest way to sell.
This is because they have already built relationships with their contacts over time. Their contacts believe in them.
That is why you see people use WhatsApp TV to market their products. People who run WhatsApp TV have a lot of contacts from 50,000 to 200,000+.
They have invested time and money to build their list so you are to pay if you want them to post your product on their status or send it to their broadcast list.
Perhaps you don’t want to spend money. You have no budget for advertising, you can ask your friends or family to post on their status.
Friends and family status have never worked for me. It might work for you especially if you have female friends that have many contacts.
There is more to WhatsApp marketing strategies. It goes beyond what you have read so far and this may lead to further questions.
Questions You May Ask
How do I send people to my WhatsApp?
You can use Facebook ads or any low-cost advertising platform.
You should learn how to run Facebook ads. Using traffic or messaging objectives will do best with Facebook ads. I can’t teach Facebook ads on this post.
If you know how to run Facebook ads, good for you. If you can’t, try and find a tutor or use YouTube. If you want me to tutor you, be ready to pay for my time.
You don’t want to use sponsored ads? You can use Facebook groups that have active members and engaging posts.
Make sure you read the group rules before posting. Make sure the group purpose is relevant to what you intend to sell.
For example, if you wish to sell slimming tea, you should join health groups that allow members to post and share health tips.
You could post about free training on how to lose weight naturally using different fruits.
I am not into the health and wellness niche. This is just an example and how you can go about it.
You can also post in telegram groups. Many telegram groups are set to delete links by their bots.
You can post your free offer and ask them to send you a message to be added on WhatsApp.
You should look for places people normally gather online and send them to your WhatsApp, but paid advertisement is always the fastest way.
WhatsApp Sales Messages
Whatsapp sales messages will be the main focus for the rest of this blog post. This aspect will highlight the methods to use to convert that traffic to sales.
What will you need is a sales page. A sales page is like a simple website you use to sell a product or a service. Traffic refers to the volume of users visiting your sales page (website).
You might be scared this is not for you because a website can be costly. Maybe in the past, you wanted to create one, and you were billed very heavily.
Creating a sales page doesn’t cost much. You are not making a website with so many functionalities and pages.
I won’t divert into website creation and forget that the remainder of this post is about WhatsApp sales messages and converting traffic to sales.
Selling is a skill
Some people can sell anything online because they have mastered the art of selling.
When selling online, you must put all other unfavourable factors into consideration. It would help if you ask yourself these questions.
- Will this product sell?
- How do I sell it?
- What will I say to convince people to buy it?
- Where will I find people to buy it?
- What price should I fix?
These are a few questions you should find the answers to before you think of selling online.
WhatsApp Promotion Messages
A Whatsapp promotion message is the same thing as a WhatsApp sales message.
They are messages you send or post as status that compels or persuades people to buy your product.
A good WhatsApp sales message should have a good copy and a catchy creative.
If you don’t know what I mean by a copy and a creative, I will explain here. I am so much aware that not everyone will be conversant with some advertising and marketing terms.
A copy is the write-up or text in your advert, which in this case is your WhatsApp sales message.
A creative is the photos or videos used in the advert. The first thing that might capture anyone’s attention in any marketing material is the creative.
When you saw an advert online, maybe on Facebook or Instagram, you were attracted to see what it’s all about because of the photo or the video.
After that, you read the text on the ad, which is called the copy.
A common way people sell their products online is by just posting what they have for sale.
Let’s consider these examples;
Jane has slimming tea she sells. She placed her WhatsApp sales message this way:
Slimming tea for sale. Lose weight in 7 days. N4000 per Pack.
Jane has a slimming tea that genuinely works. People with obesity or too much weight will need tea. They know the essence of losing weight and the health dangers of being overweight.
Despite that, people who fall in the category of being overweight or having fat in their bodies may not buy from Jane.
Why? Wait, let us consider another example.
Precious also sells slimming tea. She posted her WhatsApp sales message this way:
Having that extra fat or being overweight can affect your health and also your confidence. Why go through the discomfort of starving to lose weight when you can eat normally and still get that desired figure?
Get the {name of the tea}, slimming tea that helps you lose weight and that extra fat in 7 days. Say no to skipping meals or eating less to reduce weight.
The price is N4000 per pack. Limited packs are available. WhatsApp +234705xxxxxxxxx to place your order.
Out of these two people, Jane and Precious, who will you likely buy from after eliminating other odds like familiarity?
Selling is psychological and emotional; the mind and emotions are affected most times before buying something from a stranger.
These two instances above are examples used for direct selling. Even if you have built a relationship with your WhatsApp contacts, you will need to craft a persuasive WhatsApp promotion message.
The fact that someone knows you don’t mean they will throw their hard earn money at you anytime you post a product for sale.
You can’t just post a product for sale; contact me for details. Although, this might work for some products. For example, people sell Facebook pages or Instagram accounts.
These are hot products for some, but yet, you can’t just post an Instagram account for sale, contact me. Some people might not take you seriously for this.
They might see you as a time-waster. You might even attract time-wasters.
Instead, this would be better: an Instagram account with over 15k active followers for sale. Niche is Entertainment. The account was created in 2019—no policy violation, and it’s in good condition. Contact me to buy.
Everything boils down to how you craft your copy. That is why it is advisable to learn copywriting.
You don’t need to be an expert copywriter. I am not an expert in this too. Having a measure of knowledge will do you a whole lot of good.
Selling On Whatsapp With A Sales Page
The ways to sell on Whatsapp are using one-on-one messaging, broadcasting, WhatsApp group, and Status views; either yours or others.
You bring people to your WhatsApp through various ways such as social media, email, or through other people’s WhatsApp.
You can send people to your WhatsApp from your Facebook page, Instagram page, Facebook groups, Telegram groups, etc. The fastest way is using paid sponsored ads.
From the onset, I mention using a sales page. This is what the following paragraphs will explain.
You need to create a sales page. Using a sales page to sell saves you time replying to customer inquiries and also saves you data.
Imagine that you will have to send the product’s pictures, descriptions, and other details each time someone sends you a message. How many times will you be doing this in a day?
With a sales page, you could put all the information anyone needs to know about your product. You could include videos and a lot of images.
All you need to do is send them the link to the sales page. If they visit the link and like what they see, they will return back for payment. If they don’t like what they see, they move on.
How to sell with the sales page
Don’t tell me you haven’t seen a sales page before, except you have been saving your data and you don’t click ads on Facebook or Instagram.
Do you want to learn how to create a sales page? You can Google it or use YouTube to learn.
If your Sales Page is Set; What Next?
If you have created your sales pages, you can return to the WhatsApp marketing methods explained earlier.
It is assumed that you have already gathered your contact. You have built a relationship or rapport with your WhatsApp list.
If you have done so, you can start to fire them with your WhatsApp sales message
Tips: You can decide to fire total strangers with your sales message if you have a good sales page with persuasive ad copy and creative.
Some people can buy a product the first time they see it. It is because the seller’s advert has the right words and media to satisfy the curiosity of the buyer.
The method of building familiarity is still the best way and requires tact with patience. The other benefit is that you can continue to sell to them, and they can be bringing referrals to you.
The direct method of selling can still work and be done in this way; send people to the sales via social media or any other means, and the sales page directs them to WhatsApp as the final destination for payment.
If you are using the status view to sell, craft a good copy and post, and add the link in a new slide to direct them to the sales page to read about the product.
Let the sales page lead them to WhatsApp to place the order.
If that is their first time, save their number and request them to save yours. If they didn’t buy, no worries.
The process of building a relationship can start from there. If they buy, continue to strengthen that seller-customer relationship that is just beginning.
Wrapping It Up
Building rapport on WhatsApp with your contacts doesn’t guarantee they will buy from you.
You need to craft your offer in a compelling manner that will move people to see the benefits of your product.
WhatsApp marketing is more than just posting products or services on WhatsApp for people to patronize you. That same thing you are selling, others are selling it.
So whatever you are selling on WhatsApp, present it in a way that shows solving a problem for your contacts.
You should learn how to write advertising copy that will move someone to give you their money.
This involves how to use the right words that will persuade people to take action either to buy what you are selling, sign up for your paid training, and any other business you are introducing eg network marketing.
I am not a blogger who publishes posts daily. I prefer using emails to communicate.
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I don’t know if you have come across any WhatsApp marketing course (free or paid) that has much information like this.
Some people will package this as an ebook and sell it to make some good money.
If you have been searching for how to do WhatsApp marketing for free, you can use this guide and modify it to suit you.
In summary, WhatsApp marketing can be a success if you follow the techniques you have read here and in other WhatsApp marketing strategies pdf that people sell as courses.
To make a lot of sales on WhatsApp, you need to write a good WhatsApp sales message. You can use the direct or indirect method of selling. The choice is yours!
Building a relationship, familiarity or rapport should be the first thing to do. Once that is achieved, you can proceed to start sending your WhatsApp sales messages.
If anyone is telling you WhatsApp marketing is easy, I would rather not say anything about that.
Have you been using WhatsApp to sell? If yes, what strategy are you using? If not, which approach do you intend to try first?
If you have a WhatsApp list, how did you build yours?
If you have any other questions relating to WhatsApp marketing, you can drop them in the comment section of this blog.
Do you find this free WhatsApp marketing course helpful? Share with others who may want to know what marketing on WhatsApp is all about.
