Broadcasting
How click-to-chat ads can elevate customer engagement to new heights
By George Muhia, Industry Lead – Africa Digital Natives at Infobip
Click-to-chat ads are a form of interactive advertising that allows businesses to connect with their audience in real-time on WhatsApp from their social media ads. This dynamic tool is rapidly emerging as a powerhouse, presenting a myriad of advantages for organisations seeking to elevate their outreach and engagement.
George Muhia
Unlike traditional ads that direct users to an advertiser’s website or prompt them to fill out a form, click-to-chat ads facilitate direct communication through messaging apps by instantly redirecting customers to a chat window where they can initiate a conversation with the brand or organisation.
The main benefits of click-to-chat ads include increased engagement, improved customer lifetime value and zero-cost re-engagement. In addition, businesses are able to measure the success of their click-to-chat ads using analytics that provide a comprehensive view of the end-to-end customer journey.
When a user clicks on a social media ad – such as on Facebook or Instagram – the seamless transition to a WhatsApp chat window provides not only a smooth user experience but also facilitates a more personalised interaction, as the WhatsApp platform provides businesses with the ability to craft a personalised and direct engagement with their customers.
Additionally, click-to-chat ads can further enhance customer engagement by providing an aspect of immediate communication, allowing customer queries to be addressed faster. This efficiency and convenience can be extended further by integrating chatbots onto the WhatsApp platform that enable automated responses on a 24/7/365 basis.
Insight into customer journey
Another key advantage comes from the analytics associated with click-to-chat ads that provide insights into the entire customer journey. There are numerous key metrics and data that these analytics offer, starting with the tracking of the initial interaction between the customer and the ad. This can provide valuable insights into what type of content catches the attention of customers and what prompts them to engage with the brand. This data can be used to improve the ad design in future to attract more customers.
Click-to-chat ads also allow businesses to analyse conversation progression and understand the most common queries, concerns, and interests of customers, revealing the critical points in their decision-making process. Analytics can also assist with conversation tracking, which gives businesses insight into the effectiveness of a chat in terms of driving the desired business action which could be the sale of a product, a booking, a registration, or a sign-up to a service.
Another key metric around the customer journey is the insight into the post-interaction behaviour of the customer, which includes repeat purchases, website visits and engagements with any subsequent marketing campaigns that the brand might be running.
Other important data insights that businesses can glean from click-to-chat ads include clickthrough rates, response times to customer queries, the number of messages exchanged and the length of the conversation, as well as customer satisfaction levels.
Define the Target Audience
Businesses that are looking to integrate their Facebook Business pages with WhatsApp Business accounts to leverage click-to-chat ads effectively must ensure that they can define their target audience by leveraging tools such as Facebook Insights to understand their customer demographics, behaviours, and preferences. This is critical to tailoring more effective ad content.
Equally important is the Call To Action (CTA), such as “send message” or “swipe up to chat”, contained within a click-to-chat ad. The CTA should clearly indicate what exactly the customer is able to do by clicking on it, whether it is chatting to get more information, initiating a support inquiry, or sending a message to start an engagement with the business. The CTA must be simple, clear, concise, and easy to understand.
On the other hand, businesses must be ready to receive incoming messages that are going to come as a result of customers engaging with their click-to-chat ads. They can do this by setting up automated responses or integrating chatbots in their WhatsApp channel to ensure that when customers reach out, they get immediate feedback.
Considering the benefits of click-to-chat ads, businesses should be encouraged to leverage the power of this type of advertising. Not only do click-to-chat ads bring value to the entire customer journey, but organisations can leverage a host of analytics to make better decisions and improve their marketing campaigns.
Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) has established six committees to help strengthen and modernize the country’s broadcasting industry.
The committees will focus on content creation, skills development, digital transformation, sustainability, policy and commercial opportunities
The initiative aims to support industry growth and improve collaboration between broadcasters, regulators and media experts
The official launch recently, was led by Tony Akiotu, president, BON and attended by media professionals, program directors, former journalists and heads of specialized media organizations.
The event brought together several prominent figures in Nigeria’s media industry, including veteran broadcaster and trainer Bimbo Oloyede, Tony Uyah of M4S TV, Kingsley Uranta of Channels Television, Ismael Sani of Platinum TV and Ibrahim Shehu of Trust TV.
Together, they are expected to help drive innovation and support the growth of Nigeria’s broadcasting sector.
According to Akiotu, the committees are intended both to help shape industry policy and to provide a forum for dialogue between BON and broadcasting experts.
Akiotu said the ad hoc committees were intended to strengthen BON’s work and ensure that the umbrella body for Nigeria’s broadcasters played a more direct and meaningful role in developing the country’s broadcasting sector.
The six committees reflect the sector’s main priorities. The first focuses on collaboration and innovation to promote content creation.
The second is dedicated to training and talent development, while the third focuses on industry sustainability by improving the sector’s long-term financial viability.
A fourth committee will focus on digital transformation and work with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on regulatory issues.
The remaining two committees will oversee public policy advocacy and the development of sports and commercial rights to help broadcasters increase revenue and attract more investment. Together, the committees are expected to guide BON’s efforts to modernize and strengthen Nigeria’s broadcasting industry.
The committees, chaired by members of BON’s General Assembly and supported by the organization’s Secretariat, have an initial 12-month mandate that may be renewed if necessary.
They are required to submit a progress report within three months and implement approved recommendations within the following six months.
The arrangement is intended to ensure close oversight and the timely implementation of their work.
Akiotu also reminded committee members that Nigeria pioneered television broadcasting in Africa and urged them to carry out their work with greater effectiveness and efficiency.
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it is investigating about 34 tertiary institutions over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview on Arise Television.
Sawyerr said the agency had deployed a five-member investigative team, including operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and internal auditors, to examine the allegations.
According to him, the investigation was prompted by numerous complaints received from affected students.
“As of right now, there are 34 institutions that we are looking at closely with respect to this issue,” he said.
Sawyerr explained that the double payment issue arose because President Bola Tinubu directed that the student loan scheme commence in the middle of an academic session instead of at the beginning.
He said the decision compelled many students to pay their tuition fees to meet registration deadlines while awaiting approval of their loan applications.
“What happened is that a lot of schools got double payment; some from the students and some from us,” he said.
“The refund process is entirely out of our hands. It is the recipient of the double payments that is obliged to make refunds to the students.”
The NELFUND boss noted that many students had borrowed money from family members, friends and other sources to pay their tuition with the expectation of receiving refunds once the loans were disbursed.
He said while some institutions had promptly refunded affected students, others had failed to do so.
“Some have been very good at this. Others haven’t been so good at it,” Sawyerr said.
“I reserve judgement on the intentionality around it because, for some of them, they just didn’t have the process to make refunds.”
Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND was exploring a tokenised payment system that would enable students to authorise tuition payments directly to their institutions, thereby reducing the likelihood of duplicate payments.
He said the agency deliberately chose not to disburse tuition loans directly to students to minimise the risk of fund diversion.
“Paying the funds to the students could really lead to the temptation for them to divert and do other things,” he said.
The managing director, however, acknowledged that NELFUND lacked the statutory powers to compel institutions to refund students or prosecute officials found culpable.
He added that many frustrated students had submitted complaints not only to NELFUND but also to anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Sawyerr also expressed concern over increases in tuition fees by some institutions following the introduction of the student loan scheme.
He said NELFUND had declined to pay institutions that increased their tuition fees beyond acceptable levels.
“Some schools, because they get paid easily, started to put up their fees. We refused, point blank, to pay institutions who had hiked their fees beyond a certain level,” he said.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to investigating every reported irregularity and strengthening the implementation of the student loan programme through continuous monitoring and internal reviews.
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