First, on behalf of entrepreneurs, business owners, and of course, the entire world, I want to thank God for the many minds behind the creation of Social Media (SM). Despite the ills that have accompanied the creation of this beauty, SM, the many benefits that have followed can never, I repeat, NEVER, be overemphasized. One of the benefits that has intrigued me is the transformation of SM from a rather simple social tool to a multinational business tool for users. It is quite mental for me seeing this progression in the last decade.
Facebook is not just Facebook again, Twitter is not just Twitter again, Instagram is not just Instagram again. Millions of products are being sold daily, Billions are being made daily on the aforementioned platforms. Even WhatsApp, with features/tools like WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp stories, has become a business tool for different forms of enterprise. And it is on this development I want to briefly camp, with this write-up.
A couple of days ago, I made a tweet querying business owners and content managers’ knowledge of the character limit allotted when typing and updating a WhatsApp status. The tweet was borne out of a bit of irritation from regularly seeing long, muddled up, and sometimes, incomplete texts written on WhatsApp statuses.
I have come to realize that maybe, just maybe, people do not understand that their WhatsApp statuses can be optimized to great effect. As a regular (and elite…Hehe!) WhatsApp user, I have a few tips that can help people effectively optimize their WhatsApp Status and get their contacts view, enjoy, and potentially react (in kind or cash) to their contents.
We go now…
- AVOID THE BEAD
Whatever you do, no matter what you are trying to sell, no matter the “useful” and “edifying” message you are trying to pass across, as much as it lieth within you, please, avoid making your status updates a bead. See your status updates as mails. People see reading of mails as a chore. There are three(3) scenarios that can occur when a mail is delivered to an inbox:
i. The recipient opens, and reads the content of the mail.
ii. The recipient opens, but does not read the content of the mail. This is often done to declutter the inbox.
iii. The recipient does not open the mail at all.
The above scenarios are very much attainable with your WhatsApp status. In a situation where you simultaneously post 15–20 images of your product, the most likely scenario you will get from your viewers is: “The recipient opens, but does not read the content of the mail…” Also, consider the internet data of your contacts please. Your WhatsApp status is not the only one we have to read, dear; we have at least 30 persons on our contact list.
2. CREATE COMPELLING CONTENT
Changing your viewers’ reaction from “The recipient opens, but does not read the content of the mail…” to “The recipient opens, and reads the content of the mail” can mostly be achieved by creating compelling, valuable, and enjoyable content. A compelling content can help make up for a “beadful” WhatsApp status updates. Because their contents appeal to you, there are people on your contact list that will always get your attention with their WhatsApp updates, irrespective of the number of posts.
When typing on your WhatsApp status, do not muddle statements up. Give enough spacing. Make your status clean for your viewers
3. BE SHORT, BE CONCISE
I want you to understand that your contacts do not like the constant epistles you post. They might not tell you because they do not want to hurt your feelings, but deep down, they do not like it.
You see that epistle you are tempted to type (or copy and paste) on one page? You can adequately split it to different pages and effectively pass on your message. Now, this is where your storytelling skills will come in handy. In case you have not noticed, WhatsApp has a 700 character limit for you to type a status. Be concise with it, do not muddle statements up, give enough spacing, and make your status clean for your viewers.
4. KNOW YOUR FONTS AND COLORS
As inconsequential as they may seem, the fonts and colors you use when typing a status matters. Please, as much as it lieth within you, always use readable fonts and clear background colors. There are five(5) fonts(e.g: Palatino, Impact, Helvetica Neue, etc), and several shades of background colors available to you on WhatsApp status. Utilize them with aplomb.
These are the very few tips I have. I believe they should serve you very well, if you are a business owner, a content manager, or just a WhatsApp user who loves to post what is going on in your life.
WILD PREDICTION: WhatsApp to add a feature that will allow users place premium on their status views. Users just might get the opportunity to fix a price on the contents they post on their WhatsApp status; just like snapchat. Should that time come, only those who have built reputation for delivering compelling contents will profit.
I did a brief data analysis on my WhatsApp Status Updates. Check it out HERE!
If you have comments or suggestions on this write-up, kindly share in the comments below or my timeline — @Mr_Eto.
