What's Hot in Small Business – Chris Crum
Chris Crum writes for Small Business Resources about what's new for small business. Chris was a featured writer with the iEntry Network of B2B Publications where hundreds of publications linked to his articles including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, LA Times and the New York Times.

Businesses Can Now Connect Their WhatsApp Accounts to Instagram

Businesses Can Now Connect Their WhatsApp Accounts to Instagram

Facebook recently announced that it has launched a new way for users of its Instagram social media app to easily connect with businesses. Businesses themselves can now directly connect their WhatsApp business accounts to Instagram.

To do so, businesses can add their WhatsApp business number to their contact information on Instagram.

As the company explains, "With a connected WhatsApp account, businesses unlock the ability to boost posts that drive customers to message them directly on WhatsApp. Boosting a post that drives to WhatsApp allows businesses to reach more people and excite them to be their next customer through personalization. Businesses can also choose to streamline their messages and take advantage of WhatsApp’s automatic responses and organizational tools."

Instagram

Image via Instagram

The company says it based the development of the new feature on actual user behavior. Businesses were creating ads on Instagram to drive users to WhatsApp via a third-party link, so Facebook (which owns both apps) decided to cut out the middleman and integrate the two apps itself.

The company paints the launch as a new way to "seamlessly" connect businesses to people on its WhatsApp platform while helping them reach related goals.

"We recognize that every business is unique, and this ad destination provides another way for businesses to reach their objectives," the company said in a post on the Instagram blog. "With boosted posts that drive to WhatsApp, we hope to empower businesses to reach their business goals by improving consideration among leads."

To use the integration, add your WhatsApp business number to "contact options" on your Instagram business account in profile settings. Then, choose an existing post on your Instagram business account, and click the "Boost Post" button. From there, choose Messages, and then WhatsApp. You can set a goal, audience, budget, and duration for the ad, and preview the ad before creating it. The ad will need to be approved, but once it is, it will go live within 24 hours.

Instagram2

Image via Instagram

In other Instagram news that should interest businesses, they’ve combined their IGTV and feed videos into a single format called Instagram Video while adding a new Video tab on profiles. As a result of the format update, IGTV Ads are now referred to as Instagram In-Stream video ads. Businesses who wish to boost videos must make them 60 seconds in length or shorter.

Businesses advertising with Facebook proper should also be aware of another recent update. This one is to pre-campaign estimates. The company provides these estimates to advertisers to help them understand the number of people who meet the targeting and ad placement criteria they select or how ads may perform based on that information. Such metrics include Potential Reach, Estimated Daily Results, and estimated number of people who may have a specific interest. Facebook will now provide ranges rather than specific numbers.

Also, Facebook announced that it is changing its corporate name to Meta.  Its stock will trade under the new name on December 1.


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