Cenk, a 30-year-old affiliate in Sakarya, Turkey, used only WhatsApp Business in his first six months to segment 312 restaurant owners and run 8 daily broadcasts, generating $4,200 in commissions. The free version is more than enough for the first six months — this guide walks you through registration, catalog, quick replies, and label strategy.
Account Registration and Catalog
Download WhatsApp Business from the Play Store or App Store. Use a separate number from your personal one — an eSIM makes this trivial. During registration choose "Marketing Services" as the category and put your thMenu affiliate ID in the description.
Add at least 5 items to the catalog: Starter plan, Pro plan, Platinum plan, QR sticker pack, and onboarding service. Each item needs a price, photo, and your thMenu landing URL. Cenk's catalog means restaurant owners stop asking "what's the price" — they see it instantly.
Quick Replies and Label System
Under Settings > Business Tools > Quick Replies, set up 10 ready-made templates: /price for the plan table, /demo for the demo link, /faq for the five most common answers, /commission for the 5% discount explanation. A conversation drops from 90 seconds to 12.
Labels are critical. Cenk's six labels:
- Hot Lead — contacted this week
- Demo Viewed — visited landing page
- Customer — Stripe confirmed
Broadcast Strategy and Automation
A single broadcast list holds up to 256 contacts. Cenk posts "3 restaurants switched to QR menus today" at 09:30 and a case study at 18:00. Avoid midday promo blasts — open rates drop to 12%.
Message template: hook (1 line) + social proof (1 number) + CTA (1 link). Keep it under 320 characters; if WhatsApp truncates the preview, your click-through halves. Broadcasts only reach people who saved your number, so always ask new contacts to add you in the onboarding message.
FAQ
Is the free version enough? Yes — for the first 6 months and up to 500 contacts, the Business app is more than enough. After that, the WhatsApp Business Platform (API) via Twilio or 360dialog at around $100/month makes sense.
Can I use my personal number? No — the same number cannot be registered in both regular WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business. Use an eSIM for a second line.
What about spam risk? If you broadcast to unsaved contacts, your account gets banned within 24 hours. Always get permission and tag them with the "Opted In" label.
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