WhatsApp Catalogs are a superb marketing tool for those with a product-based business and an audience that uses WhatsApp. They are, essentially, a digital product catalog that your customers are able to browse from their phones whenever they’d like to.
“But I already have all that information on my website! What’s the point in doing it all again?” Well, that’s a great question and you’re right to ask it. Many people will choose to find out more about products via a website, but they have to get to it first. A WhatsApp Catalog is a great way to drive traffic to your website (you can add product links) but is also a very direct way of marketing. After all, your products land right there in their pocket, within one of the most well-used apps in the world. That’s a massive step up from marketing by email. Sounds like a marketer's dream!
Where in days gone by people would idly flick through physical catalogs, WhatsApp is looking to emulate the experience in the digital world. They are digital shop windows where prospective customers can see images, prices, features, descriptions, and more, all within WhatsApp.
Once your Catalog is created you can share the whole thing or certain products with individuals, groups, or via other channels. Within a Catalog, you’re able to add up to 500 products, and each product can have 10 images. If you’re a business that has more products than this you should look to create categories and subcategories until you’re able to fit within the 500 limit.
We’ve just touched on some of the core features of a WhatsApp Catalog, of which there are 5. When creating products within a WhatsApp Catalog you’ll have the opportunity to share these 5 pieces of product information.
Name: Add the name of your product, this is what the product will be displayed as.
Price: Price shown with the currency of your SIM card. This is important if you’re a digital nomad type that changes your SIM card on a weekly basis.
Description: 5000 words (that’s right 5000!) of description - remember that you likely already have a lot of this information on your website.
Link: The smart move is to put the link to your product page on your website, if you’re feeling very smart indeed you might be able to create a link where the product is already added to the cart - but this might be a bit presumptuous.
Product Code: If you’re the type of store that uses product codes, add them here.
There’s no doubt that a WhatsApp catalog is absolutely worth the effort. There are slightly different approaches depending on which device you’re using when you’re creating the catalogs. You’re able to build using one of three styles of device; desktop, Android, or iPhone.
Remember that WhatsApp needs to take some time to review your creations, so expect to see that little green clock for up to 48 hours. Often it is considerably quicker with some creations being approved within minutes.
Once you’ve completed your catalog and all of the items are added, congratulations, you’re ready to begin sending it out to your followers/audience. Excited? You should be! This is what you’ve been working towards!
There are a few different ways to share your WhatsApp catalogs, and the method that you choose is most likely down to the goal of your campaign. Remember to save yourself time by composing template messages you can reuse for each share.
Share with a single person
Share with multiple people
Share with your friends
Note: This option is not used by businesses, but used by customers or those who have already been sent a catalog.
Whether you’re a business that has a huge number of products or a small business with only a few (or even 1) products, the WhatsApp Catalog is a surefire way to increase sales. The first step is creating a great-looking catalog that merits sharing, from there all you need to do is send it out to your audience.
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