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Hello and welcome. Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at whether you should send broadcast messaging to promote your business. So whether you should do it, how to do it if you're already doing it, how can we do this better? Now, the reason why we're going to do that is because I'm sure 98% of us listening to this podcast are trying to figure out how to use WhatsApp to promote our businesses. So not just WhatsApp, you know,
Instagram, LinkedIn, any place where you can send multiple messages to, you know, hundreds of people, thousands of people. Should we be engaging in this kind of activity or OK, you can't send messages to thousands of people on WhatsApp, but I think you can send messages to thousands of people on Telegram. I think I think that's one of the reasons why people who do business in, you know, that require high volume. I think that's one of the reasons why they prefer Telegram, at least in Nigeria anyway.
So that's what we're going to be looking at on the podcast today. Now, of course, I'm making today's podcast recording at home. So, you know, it's a weekend, everybody's home. So there will be some noise in the background. Wifey's listening to her own podcast. You know, I said what I said and the kids are watching SpongeBob, so expect to hear noise in the background. And if you'd love to connect then you can call, you can send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
Now let's get straight down to business. So this is an actual scenario that happened to me and I want to use this as a case study to try and illustrate some of the ideas that we talk about over here on the podcast in general and that we're going to talk about on this podcast in particular. So on the 6th of May 2025, which was not long ago because we're in where we now we're in August. So this was like 4 months ago, someone sent me a message,
someone I didn't know. I was just chilling and then a message into my phone. And then of course, was a photo. I didn't click on the photo and you know, I've been sending over on the podcast, but lots of you are not getting it. This whole thing of your total stranger, the first message you send, somebody's a photo or a link. You guys be careful now because I'm in the business of sales consulting. I like to know what is out there.
So when I see these messages, you know, I will view if I think it's safe, you know, I will click. But the average person, the average Nigerian is very wary about these sorts of things. Now. Think about it. School is about to resume in a couple of weeks. I was just chilling, doing my thing in my small corner, you know, my small makeshift office at home. Then my wife came and she said, have any of these numbers called you?
I said no. I said why? She said because these spammers, they've started again. These are people who managed to hack into the school group because most Nigerian schools now, well, it's private schools anyway. We have WhatsApp groups where you can update parents, you know, things like that. So there's some people that have hacked into the school group and who, you know, do these things every once in a while, make some calls, try to get you to click on the link, try and send something for you to download,
you know, all these sorts of things. So yesterday, four times that happened to my wife, I repeat four times. So this is what the average Nigerian is going through. So when you're sending messages random to people that you're not connected with, the first thing you do is you send picture or you send links. Honestly ask yourself now how, how do you want them to behave? You really think that in this current climate in Niger and the world over?
Because even in the West, I mentioned it in podcast episode, I think we're like two or three days ago, even in the West, people are being very, very skeptical you because you don't promote your business. You just be sending picture like that, no background or you'll be sending link like that, no prior contact. And you really think you'd be successful in that kind of business outreach. If you want to be using WhatsApp to promote your business and you're serious that you want results from WhatsApp, stop engaging in this kind of behavior.
It's not earning you any kind of points. So me, because I'm in the business, I will open and I'll see, I'll say this one is a scammer. And then I will ignore or block other people, normal people, regular people that you're trying to sell to. What are they doing? They're ignoring or they're blocking. So anyway, the guys send the photo. What's the photo about? The photo was basically the flyer grand opening. The person is opening a store in Wusetu in Abuja.
Now I understand why the person will do this because when you have a store, a regular store, you know, you sell corn beef, you sell soap, you sell tissue, you sell children's clothes, what else? You selling domi, you sell soap, you sell slippers, you sell football, you know, all these kind of things. Your rationale is that everybody needs to know about this kind of business, right? Yeah, in a way, yeah. So I understand why somebody would send this kind of message because as far as the person is concerned, anybody on the WhatsApp contact most likely needs this kind of service.
And in a way, to be honest, yeah, you are correct, You are true. You're right. If a neighborhood store is opening up, it's nice to know that is another place close to me where I can go and buy soap, maybe buy it cheaper, where I can go and buy groundhut oil, where I can buy palm oil, I can buy a charger for my phone. You know, makes sense. So in that sense, the guy is correct. When you're opening a retail store, tell as many people as possible the guy is absolutely correct, but how he executed on it, is that correct?
The answer is no. He executed on it in the wrong way. Because this kind of outreach is intrusive. Somebody's a stranger. Even if somebody's not a stranger, you just send a picture just like that, without any prior context to why you're sending somebody a picture. You send a picture, no context. And by the way, Please remember these kind of behaviours are considered security risks nowadays. Downloading photos or videos that you know nothing about and then clicking on links that you know nothing about.
So the guy's intuition is correct. If you're opening your shop, please tell as many people as possible because it's retail, it's high volume, so you need thousands and thousands of people to know. But how he executed on it, he went on it the wrong way. So what is the alternative? If you're going to do this kind of thing, you want to promote your shop. The shop that you're going to open in three or four weeks, you want to promote it on WhatsApp is what you do.
Well, I know I've told you before, don't be sending broadcast, but let me break this rule one time. This is the case where you will send a broadcast and you will send it to everybody on your phone, but you will do this only once. I repeat, let us assume you're not in the business of sending broadcast messages and you're about to open your shop. Should you send a broadcast message to everybody on your phone? Yes, but you will do this only once.
This will be the first and the last time that you will do it. Because if you do it more than once, people will now say you are becoming a pest and they will start blocking you or they will move you to archive or they will report you as spam. So I repeat, if you will do this, especially since you've not been doing it before, this will be the first and the last time that you would do a broadcast message. But this broadcast message is going to have, excuse me, it's going to have a context to it.
The context to the WhatsApp message is going to explain why you are sending this broadcast message in the first place. And it also has to explain from the viewpoints of the person who is receiving the message. It has to talk about benefits that they will receive. OK, so we're going to send one broadcast message and only one, and we will never do it again. Then we'll put a context to show why this message is important and why we're reaching out.
So I took the liberty of crafting 1 already. Now listen, this is the scope. These are your broadcast messages. We say your best broadcast message. We say hi or hello or good morning or, you know, whatever. But don't write good AM or good PM. That's just lazy. Just go ahead and write good morning. So your message will be hi, apologies for intruding. This is a general broadcast message that I'm sending to all my contacts, including you,
because I personally want to let you know that I'm opening a store a few weeks from now where you can buy everyday goods, everyday food, beverages, household items, ETC. Join us for this grand opening where you will get a 3% discount on every single thing you buy all day. And if you'd like to stay updated on promos or deals from my store, please reply to this message so I can add you to a dedicated WhatsApp group. Thank you for your support.
I look forward to seeing you soon. You now send and that will be the only broadcast message that you will send. Lots of people will ignore, that's normal. No problem. But for the people that they respond, who respond, you will now because, you know, people respond for different things. Some people who respond and say congratulations from there start having a private conversation, a very private personal conversation now as if you're responding, you know, like a bot or something.
Some people respond and say congratulations, follow them. I'm be yawning. Some people say congratulations, I can't come. What else? Some people say yes, I want to be added to the WhatsApp group. You get different kinds of responses. We'll continue to yarn in the box, but this will be the only broadcast messaging that you're going to send. Before I go on to the next steps, let me just go and do a breakdown for the message again.
So remember how this message is going to start. Hello, hi, good morning. Whatever. Apologies for intruding. We have to call that out because let's face it, nowadays broadcast messages are a big intrusion and nobody likes them. Even you that you're sending broadcast messages, even you you don't like it. So why do you assume they are not an intrusion? You are an intrusion. So on up. Be honest. Hi, apologies for intruding.
Then explain The problem with those of you who send broadcasts is that you would like to pretend as if it's a broadcaster where you're trying to look for ways to mask it. So it's not a broadcast, a broadcast or needs be honest and own that it is a broadcast. We can tell you're trying to play on our intelligence when you're sending a broadcast, but you're trying to pretend, trying to personally like Jaws, say with your full chest, this is a broadcast.
Honesty, it helps. So apologies for intruding. This is a general podcast that I'm sending to all my contacts because I want to personally let you know that I'm opening my store in a few weeks. That's the context. We now talk about things from their own point of view, the benefits in the store. We're going to be selling everyday goods, food, beverages, and household items. Join us for a grand opening where you will get a 3% discount on every single purchase that you make on that grand launching day, October 1st.
See, we're going into what's in it for them. Then you also now ask, because the next step we're going to do is we're going to create a dedicated WhatsApp group so that people who are in those WhatsApp groups, we can be broadcasting to them all the time. See, broadcasting is good, but only when people have given you permission the way they broadcast me. When people have given you permission, then you can be broadcasting.
So that is why we have to put it there in the message, the call to action. Now, Luko, I'm creating a WhatsApp group. If you're interested in the WhatsApp group, you want to know what's going on promo discount, this dot dot dot dot, let me know and I will add you to the group. So that's what the call to action in the message is about. If you would like to stay updated on promos and deals, reply to this message so I can add you to the dedicated WhatsApp group.
And then thank you for your support. Look forward to seeing you soon. You can see that the message should be back, back, back as in sharp and straight to the point. All those broadcast messages that are paragraphed, that scroll, scroll, scroll. No, don't do that. I've said it time and time again, a very simple rule. Before you send this message, send it to yourself. Open it on your phone. If on your phone you have to scroll 3 or 4 flicks, your message is too long.
The ideal thing is the message should be able to be consumed in one viewing. You click it, the thing, everything just fits into one screen. That's the ideal thing. If you have to scroll twice is OK. If you're scrolling 3 times, problem 4 * 5 * 6 times, forget it. People are ignoring your message because they will open and then they will see long paragraph as if it's the Holy Bible or the Holy Quran. No Bible. I mean people are busy, they'll just ignore you.
So send it to yourself first. Most of us have two phones. Send it to the second phone first. Open it on your phone. That will give you a good sense of OK, this message is too long or this may well in fact, there's nothing else too short. The shorter the better when it comes to text messaging. So now the next step is you will now create your WhatsApp group. And this is how you populate the WhatsApp group. People who attend the ground opening on Oktoberfest, when you're opening your shop, it is part of the things that you will get from them when they're leaving.
Thank you very much. Well, thank you very much, Sir. I hope you've been able to serve you today. Hope you're happy with the purchase, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I hope you don't mind. We have a dedicated what's our group where we're letting people know about promos and newest deals and things like that. Would you like to be added to the group? OK, ma'am, can you take this card please, and just fill in your details and you will get a message from us today adding you to the group.
Simple. That's what people who attend. Then of course, you'll now notice that some people are like regular customers. Those kind of people, you know, even if you add them to the group without permission, I guess, you know, there's not, there's not a problem. But anyway, take permission from everybody. So people who attended that October 1st launch had them, current and regular customers add them. Those are the people that you'll be adding to your group.
Some of you like to look too much at the numbers. You'd like to look at big, big, big. What you guys will be doing is you look at your phone, you see that you have 4000 contacts on your phone and you think it makes sense to be sending broadcast messages to 4000 people? No. If you're sending a message, broadcast message to 4000 people and you're doing it 12 * a year, but you're pissing off 3998 of them. I mean, what's, what's the value?
You're only reaching two people, in all honesty. But if you take this other approach, you take permission, you are people. I know you'll be looking at the fact that in the first week you probably have only 200 or 300 people. You'll be thinking 300 people is small now. But The thing is, if those 300 people are the people who actually wants to hear from you and have given you permission that they want to hear from you, doesn't not make sense to be sending that message to them,
you know, twice a month. And then all of them are reading the message rather than sending it to 4000 people and then 98.99999% of them are ignoring you. So we'll create the group and then that's how we're going to add people to it. Then what are the kind of broadcast messages they're going to send? These are the messages you sent. You send messages on new arrivals. Whenever you have new stock, you put it up there in the group program new.
So, so, so, and so sausages just arrived today. 15% of, if you're interested, you know, come and buy. And if I forgive me, I'm not in the retail space, so I don't know how to couch it, but basically that's what you'll be putting there. When you receive new batch of chicken, put it there. New batch of sausage, put it there. If it is holiday period and you're ordering a new batch of footballs, put it there. Football now in store.
Are you worried about what you do with your children? Come and buy football for them. Let them be playing When school is ready to resume, you know, broadcast that we now have cocoa pops in store. Breakfast of champions, you know, for your children before they go to school, put it there. So new arrivals, put it there. If you're doing flash sale, end of year discount, salad discount, Christmas discount, put it there. Exclusive deals, put it there.
We're having an exclusive deal. If you buy this plus this plus this plus that, you'll be entitled to so, so, so and so. Discount, put it there. Holiday and seasonal offers, put it there in the WhatsApp message. Valentine's Day discount put it there, then tips and tricks also put it there as well. Do you have eggs and sausages and bacon lying around in your fridge and you don't know what to do? Here are 5 tips and tricks 5
recipes that you can use to prepare breakfast for your family. Do you only have a goosey and palm oil and this in your on your kitchen counter? Here are 6 or 7, you know, recipes that you can use to prepare food for your family or something. Community news, put it there. Sorry, it's raining here, so that's the noise in the background. Then service and feedback put it there as well. Thank you very much for now to the middle of the year.
We appreciate all of you who've been doing business with us. We want to be sure that we can serve you better. Because of that, we have created this brief survey. Please feel it to let us know how we've been doing and how we can serve you better. Put it there now. If you notice, sending all these kinds of messages to people, even if you're sending it once a week or twice a month, you are not disturbing anybody because the people in your regular contacts will not be seeing all these messages.
It will only be people who have opted in, who have given you permission, who have sent, who have said send me these messages. You are not disturbing anybody. So that is the right way to send broadcast messages without pissing people off. So back to real knife now and the reason why I made this episode. I told you that this guy sent the first message from 6th of May. I just ignored the guy, now sent another for all. 30th, you know about the store as well and I'm like look, this guy just taking a piece.
So I sent him a message back. I said guy, why are you sending me all these messages? Please remove me for your broadcast list. He now started apologizing the other people who are upset, but the only thing is, you know, I'm the one who decided to speak up now because the guy is someone in my circle. The guy will take my advice. He will take dressing. You might be pissing people off on your phone right now and people are blocking and spamming you unnecessarily.
You don't know. And we forget that all these things, all these signals are picked up by other algorithms. There's one of the people who I'm coaching right now who is a salesperson for another business. They sell infrastructure solutions. And the guy told me that, oh, I tried calling my sister and my sister said my number was showing up as spam on Truecaller. And you wonder how this is the reason why you're broadcasting the hell out of people.
People are receiving messages that they don't want, so they're clicking on block and clicking on report as spam. The algorithms talk to each other. This is how Truecaller will now pick it up. And then one day you're a legit business personal. You're trying to do business with someone. You say, no problem, let me flash you. And then you flash the person in your presence. The person stands there and then the person sees.
Truecaller says that 672 people have reported this number as spam. The average Nigerian. You think he's going to tell you that? Oh, people have body of spam? That reason I will keep quiet. I'll be saying you want to catch me, Abby, God pass you. They'll say sure, sure, sure. No problem. I'll be in touch. I'll be in touch. I'll call you. I'll call you. Your name is Connie. Abby, No worries. No worries, Connie. I'll call you.
I'll give you a call. I'll give you a call and they will never call because 657 people on Truecaller reported your number and spam. And this is how lots of us innocently are getting in trouble. We're trying to grow our business. Innocent Leo. No bad malice, no 419, no bad intent. We're just trying to grow our business. Daily bread name. We define just simple daily bread, that's all. And this is how we enter into trouble because you're sending broadcast messages to people who don't care, who don't want to hear from you.
So if you follow simple tips like this, you should be able to be reaching out to people who have only elected to hear from you. And then you stop this embarrassing thing. That's for those of us who try to make a living using our phone, you know, by calling people, by whatsapping people, trying, you know, trying to hustle market, you avoid this embarrassing thing that your number is you're showing up everywhere as spam.
These are some of the reasons why your number is showing up as spam. So this is how you send a broadcast message. If you are interested in these sorts of things, keep listening to the show every single day, OK, Well, not every single day. I mean, ideally I would like it to be everyday, but you know how life can be. But sure, I know which way, Sir. Two or three times a week you'll be hearing from me where we'll discuss these kinds of things,
how we can grow our businesses, how we can look for customers, how we can get people to buy, how we can make sure people are happy, how we can make sure that they come back and buy again. How we make sure that they come back and buy again when they're coming, that they bring somebody that's referral. So those are the kind of things you talk about over here on the podcast. This your first time ever listening. Welcome. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple,
where else any podcast play of your choice also available on YouTube. Hope to have you guys come back here again, you know, tomorrow, next, tomorrow, next week, whenever and if you'd love to connect, call, send a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.