On WhatsApp rolls the most important social mia platform of our country, you want to be visible as a brand. In the coming weeks, WhatsApp will launch ‘channels’ in 150 countries. Both individuals and organizations will soon be able to share content with users who have subscrib to their channel. Channels are separate from the chat function of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp channels available in the Netherlands
Manchester Unit , The New York Times, but also Mark Zuckerberg are some popular channels that can already be follow. Most Dutch brands do not have their own channel on the platform at the moment. But you can count on them claiming their spot quickly now that WhatsApp is opening up this function outside the 10 pilot countries, such as Singapore and Colombia.
Update: Want to get start with WhatsApp channels? Good news, the feature is now also available in the Netherlands for all users. Later in this article I will explain how to create a channel.
User privacy comes first
Channels can be found under Updates in the popular WhatsApp . On this tab you can:
Share updates with your contacts yourself.
View contact updates.
Find channels, follow their messages and respond to them.
Comments in channels are limit to emojis or poll responses. The owner of a channel can specify per message which emojis can be us. Who has react or who has post a message is hidden. The phone number of users is also not visible. That’s very private, they think at WhatsApp.
Channel content is shown for 30 days, list of san marino consumer email after which messages disappear again. Channel messages can easily be forward via WhatsApp by clicking on a message for a long time. Linking to a website from posts is possible. Is your marketing heart beating faster yet?
Also read: Filtering Reels Long Form Videos & 6 Other Instagram Updates
Example of what WhatsApp channels look like
Source: Meta
Create a channel and share content
Creating a channel is possible via both the the chinese rainbows, marketing according to confucius desktop version of WhatsApp and via the app. Via the desktop version: click on the speech bubble icon ‘ channels ‘ at the top and click on the plus sign to create a channel. Via the app: click on the speech bubble icon ‘ updates ‘ and click on the plus sign to create a channel. Give your channel a name, set it to public, aob directory add a profile picture and start sharing updates. Please note: you can only set the channel name once. Think carefully about this in advance.
Messages in channels are not end-to-end encrypt , like WhatsApp chats. Furthermore, anyone can search and follow channels. This means that you should watch your words (see WhatsApp’s guidelines ) before posting a message. Once post, messages cannot be it afterwards, but it is possible to delete messages. Creating a channel is free.
Question marks over WhatsApp channels
At this moment WhatsApp channels are not yet roll out in the Netherlands. Only when that is the case, we can answer these questions:
Can you manage a channel for your organization with multiple colleagues, or is it link to a telephone (number)?