Why WhatsApp’s NFL ad campaign should be taken seriously

When a company chooses the AFC Championship Game to make a big expansion play, you know they mean business. Football fans would have seen WhatsApp's ad comparing sending an SMS with having their mail opened and read by their postman. For US businesses, WhatsApp’s big push to capture more of the domestic market should light a fire under decision makers to include the end-to-end encrypted messaging platform into their channel strategy - not only because it is likely to quickly become a dominant player, but because it offers a compelling, secure and low-risk revenue channel.

For many it may be surprising that the 2 billion-user company is now actively marketing in the US. But the fact is that WhatsApp is widely recognized for its stellar growth in India, South America, Europe, and Africa in particular. But not many realize just how quickly the platform is growing in the US market.

Based on Clickatell’s own dealings with the company, we have seen double-digit growth in the number of customers signing up to use WhatsApp to communicate with their customers since 2020 in the US, and a whopping nine times growth in the WhatsApp messaging volume in the same period. 

Let’s take a closer look at why we think US businesses should take this move seriously.

Security as the differentiator

As the advert suggests, Meta is relying on the growing security and privacy awareness in the US to drive the switch to WhatsApp. Meta’s head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, recently spoke to The Verge, sharing that they are looking to capitalize on what he describes as the “gap in how much people are using services with end-to-end encryption in the US compared to everywhere else in the world.”

We know that WhatsApp is not the only option for end-to-end encryption. There are other solutions for end-to-end encryptions, but none are as pervasive and available on all operating systems and devices. One should also consider the reach afforded to US brands outside of the US-market. Furthermore, the encryption algorithms for WhatsApp and policies are owned by a US company and is under the scrutiny and control of the US government, not like some of the alternative platforms.

Unsurprisingly, WhatsApp is counting on its own ease of use to win over consumers who are frustrated by the experience of texting across platforms. This will ensure customer growth irrespective of operating platform, cementing its commitment to interoperability - which will surely be a big plus in the eyes of its US business customers.    

Consumers want to engage brands on their own terms

The business case for using WhatsApp is more than just security though. The move to mobile generally as the preferred means of consumer engagement has been staggering. The younger generations in particular appear more comfortable interacting with the device in their hands than they are with one another.

This is no different in the US and is born out by the growth of social apps that are largely accessed via smartphones. A recent study showed that US iOS users between 18 and 25 spend a staggering 10.46 hours on TikTok per user per week. Holding their attention requires a brand to be accessible on the same phone as their TikTok and Instagram accounts. The shift in consumer behavior goes deeper than just a growing preference for mobile-first engagement. Chat is quickly becoming the preferred way for us to communicate with our favorite brands.

Last year Gartner predicted that by 2025, 80% of customer service organizations will abandon native mobile apps in favor of messaging platforms (chat apps). Backing this up, Clickatell’s recent Chat Commerce Trends Report showed that 79% of consumers use chat apps daily; 89% of millennials want to do business through a chat app and 93% of these customers think there are benefits to communicating with a business via a chat app.

Brands move from chat to transact

WhatsApp offers US brands the chance to not only communicate with their customers on the platform of their choice, but also allows them to safely transact in the same place. In addition, WhatsApp has a wealth of global commercial success to help convince US businesses that it can achieve this simply, safely, and cost effectively.  

With tens of thousands of global customers already choosing to use WhatsApp to engage with their customers, including brand juggernauts like Vodafone, BMW, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, iFood and some of Africa’s largest retailers and banks, the company has proved its mettle in almost every vertical.

The big WhatsApp splash in the US market suggests an aggressive sales strategy, and smart business leaders know that this is the time to get involved. More importantly, with businesses following their global counterparts' lead, US brands will need to seriously consider the world’s biggest messaging platform to create Chat Commerce solutions, or risk being left behind.