WhatsApp Status: a marketing opportunity for freelancers & schools
WhatsApp Status: a marketing opportunity for freelancers & schools
Gina Rodriguez Part 1
There’s a WhatsApp number for your language school. You use it for messages and groups but you’re not using WhatsApp Status, if so you’re missing a marketing opportunity. (Gulp!) WhatsApp Status is equivalent to Facebook and Instagram stories. The Status of WhatsApp is a marketing opportunity for your language school or language services that you don’t want to miss out on!!.
You might be a bit sceptical now but let me tell you what you can achieve with it and I’m sure you’ll change your mind by the end of this article. Bear with me!
Why should I do WhatsApp Status?
If you stop and think for a minute that WhatsApp is the only app that 99.99% of your students and potential students have on their phones. It’s also the app with the highest open rate then you can imagine how a powerful marketing tool it can be.
If you think that according to a marketing survey by Facebook and Nielsen “consumers say they are more likely to shop with a business they can message with” then you can imagine that WhatsApp is THE messaging app you need to master for your school’s marketing. If you are not exploiting it fully then read this article and get started ASAP.
WhatsApp messaging is soooo popular and WhatsApp status is an extra marketing tool that you should start using too for your language services promotion. Consider it as an additional window for extra visibility.
Just one thing though, to turn WhatsApp into another marketing tool you need to use WhatsApp Business. It has some specific tools for small and medium businesses and … drum roll…it is FREE!!
Benefits of WhatsApp Status for teachers and schools:
- Keep relationships alive to increase student retention
- Influence past students to decide to come back and increase enrollments.
- Reach students that are not on social media and add extra visibility
- Continue to engage with students outside school to strengthen your bond with them
- Improve your reputation and stay top of students’ minds
Who will see the school’s WhatsApp Business Status?
WhatsApp Status allows you to share text, photo, video, and GIF updates that disappear after 24 hours, and that is also end-to-end encrypted.
“End-to-end encryption ensures only you and the person you’re communicating with can read or listen to what is sent, and nobody in between, not even WhatsApp”.
www.whatsapp.com
This for you means that ONLY CONTACTS that have SAVED YOUR NUMBER will see your STATUS. So in your case, all current or past students that have saved your number will be able to see your status. For this reason, it’s good practice to ALWAYS remind students to save your number. You may also ask potential students who have made an enquiry through WhatsApp and have given you consent to use their data, to save your number. Give them a little thank-you in return like a voucher or a useful freebie for them.
What can I share on WhatsApp Status for marketing?
First of all, the idea is to make your WhatsApp Status special for your students so that they see value in checking it out regularly.
Here you should use the foundations of marketing, i.e. Understanding what your students need and want, what is important and useful for THEM and sharing content accordingly. If you have an identikit of your student for your school’s social media marketing then you already have a starting point for your WhatsApp Status content.
Good news… WhatsApp belongs to the same family as Facebook so you can share a status on WhatsApp and Facebook stories simultaneously as the two apps sync. This functionality is available for the WhatsApp Business version which is the MUST HAVE version you need. If you aren’t using it yet check how to get started here. Besides, it’s absolutely FREE!!
Also, if you do Instagram stories you download them on your phone and share them on WhatsApp Status. This means that you DON’T NEED to create extra content for WhatsApp Status but you can repurpose what you are already sharing on social media apps and vice-versa.
Get inspired!
Here are SOME ideas of what you can share on WhatsApp Status to trigger your creativity and inspire you:
Graphics with text
- Jokes (Language Nerds)
- Quotes
- Reminders
- Testimonials
- Curious facts about language and Culture
- Greetings
- Links: survey, feedback form, placement test, website
Photos and Screenshots
- Meet our teacher
- School library
- News headlines
- Cartoons
- English speaking Cities and Traditions
- Throwback Thursday
- Work done by your own students
- Zoomfie
30-second videos
- Showing your website
- Showing how to access your platform
- Showing school facilities
- Pronouncing a tricky set of words
- Sneak peek of a lesson
- Sneak peek of a fun activity
- Unboxing new materials
3 must-have apps for your WhatsApp Business Status
- Boomerang to do your own mini-videos / gifs
- Google Keep to keep note of ideas, quotes, the feedback you receive so that you can easily track them and share.
- Canva a free graphic design platform with ready-made templates for WhatsApp Status that you can easily customize. Here’s a referral link to Canva so that you can start using it for free and earn credits.
Are you still with me?
I hope you are feeling more inspired and keen on trying WhatsApp Status for your school’s marketing. Also, remember that for WhatsApp marketing you need to use WhatsApp Business App which is free. This checklist will help you get started. Download it now from HERE.
Go through the checklist and make sure you set up all the tools in WhatsApp Business and thank me later!
Would you like to integrate WhatsApp Business in marketing your language services?
I can help you with consultancy and tailored training so you save hours in trying to figure it out. Contact me here or WhatsApp me directly by clicking this link. It will take you straight into WhatsApp!
