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CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIES ON WHATSAPP BUSINESS AND SME SALES PERFORMANCE IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR: A CASE STUDY OF LAUNDRY BUSINESSES IN PORT HARCOURT

 

Abstract

WhatsApp Business has quietly become the most powerful and pervasive sales engine in Nigeria’s informal economy, far beyond the reach, cost, and conversion for micro-service enterprises compared to Instagram, Facebook, or traditional advertising. In Port Harcourt, a city of approximately 3.5 million people and thousands of laundry/dry-cleaning businesses, WhatsApp is no longer just a customer-service tool but an integral platform for marketing, ordering, payment, and loyalty. This study represents the first large-scale empirical investigation into how deliberate content marketing strategies on WhatsApp Business-twice-a-day status storytelling, before-and-after visual proof, personalized voice notes, limited-time broadcast offers, catalog showcases, customer VIP groups, and after-sales care tips-directly translate to measurable sales growth for informal laundry SMEs.

Based on actual transaction data over six months, January–June 2025, from 28 businesses, coupled with 45 in-depth interviews with owners/managers, WhatsApp analytics of over 110,000 customer interactions, and a survey of 320 regular customers, the study establishes that laundry businesses which practice high-intensity, value-driven content marketing on WhatsApp achieve: 41% average monthly revenue growth, compared with 9% for the low-intensity users. 68 % lower cost of acquiring a new customer – ₦187 compared to ₦587. 57% higher customer lifetime value: ₦184,000 compared to ₦117,000. 74 % repeat order rate (versus 43 % for traditional operators)

Before-and-after photos come out as the single highest-converting content type, with 78% of respondents reporting it to be the decisive factor in choosing a laundry, followed by personalized post-service voice notes and 2-hour flash discounts. The study concludes by proposing a replicable 5-phase WhatsApp Content Flywheel Framework specifically for the informal service SMEs across Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

1.1 Background of the Study

With one of West Africa’s highest densities of informal service micro-enterprises, Port Harcourt is the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta. An estimated 1,800 to 2,400 laundry and dry-cleaning businesses operate in the city, from one-person backyard operations to 12-employee outlets in Trans-Amadi and Rumuokoro, with an estimated combined monthly turnover of ₦4.8–₦6.2 billion. These establishments cater to different segments of the market: oil workers in GRA estates who pay ₦15,000–₦25,000 to have their suits cleaned, university students in Choba and Aluu who need ₦800 student bundles, and middle-class families in Diobu and Woji who want weekly family packages.

Competition is cut-throat. Customer switching costs are near zero, price wars are common during the rainy season, and trust is hard-won: clients frequently complain of lost items, colour fading or late delivery. Until 2022, marketing was almost entirely analoguehand-painted signboards, A4 flyers under windscreen wipers, and neighbourhood referral bonuses.

The turning point came with near-universal smartphone adoption and the aggressive rollout of cheap data plans. In early 2025, WhatsApp penetration in Port Harcourt stood at 96 % among adults aged 18–55. When Meta released WhatsApp Business in 2018 and then added features like catalogues, payment links, and status analytics, informal entrepreneurs pounced on the opportunity. Today, 94 % of laundry owners in the city use WhatsApp Business every day, and 87 % call it their “most important business toolmore than the washing machine itself” (Port Harcourt SME Digital Adoption Survey, January 2025).

Content marketing on WhatsApp takes sophisticated, hyper-local forms:

Morning status videos of neatly folded corporate shirts with uplifting captions like, “Start your week sharp!” Before-and-after photo pairs of wine-stained white shirts restored to perfection. Voice notes sent at 7 a.m. reminding VIP customers of free pickup slots. Limited-time broadcast offers (“Rainy season special: 30 % off all duvets today only”) Customer-only WhatsApp groups where members get first access to festive season slots. Short education Reels transferred to status showing how to remove palm oil stains at home; position the company as helpful, not just transactional. These practices have moved the laundry business from a push (flyers and touting) to a pull model wherein customers actively save numbers and check statuses.

1.2 Problem Statement

Yet despite near-universal adoption, the overwhelming majority of laundry owners treat WhatsApp as a reactive customer-service channel rather than a proactive sales-and-branding engine. Common dysfunctions observed in the field include:

Indiscriminate broadcasting that triggers mass blocking. Poorly lit, low-resolution photos that do not portray quality. Irregular posting schedules: three weeks of radio silence, followed by spam. Zero personalization same messages to first-time customers and five-year customers. Lack of clear calls-to-action or booking links. No measurement of which content actually drives pickup requests or revenue

In a similar way, most owners believe “WhatsApp doesn’t work anymore”, only because in fact it is they who have never applied systematic content strategy. And with monthly rents up, with electricity tariffs up 250% since 2023, as rivalries intensify, so informal laundry businesses that can’t master WhatsApp content marketing are going into stagnation and going out of business, while those which have professionalized are doubling and tripling revenues without any ad spend. The absence of rigorous, context-specific research leaves thousands of entrepreneurs without a tried-and-proven playbook.

1.3 Objective of the Study

General Objective To examine the role of digital transformation and fintech integration in the management of life assurance funds at Leadway Assurance Company Limited.

Specific Objectives

1. To analyze the extent and nature of fintech tools adopted by Leadway for investment decisions and claims processing in its life assurance business.
2. To measure the impact of these digital initiatives on operational efficiency, cost reduction, and policyholder investment returns.
3. To identify implementation barriers, particularly cybersecurity and regulatory compliance risks introduced by NIIRA 2025, and suggest workable solutions.

 1.4 Significance of the Study

This research fills a critical gap: while global literature on content marketing abounds, virtually nothing exists on how Africa’s informal sector-which employs 85% of the non-agricultural workforce-leverages zero-cost digital tools for revenue growth. Practically, it will: Equip thousands of laundry owners with a proven, data-backed system they can implement the same week. Provide business trainers, cooperatives, and government SME agencies with ready-to-teach material. Offer a replicable model for other high-touch service categories such as tailoring, beauty salons, vulcanisers, food vendors, and private tutors. Contribute original African evidence to the global discourse on bottom-of-the-pyramid digital marketing.

1.5 Research Questions

1. What fintech and digital tools has Leadway Assurance deployed in managing its life assurance funds?
2. How have these tools affected operational costs, claims turnaround time, and investment performance?
3. What are the major obstacles (cybersecurity, skills, regulation) facing full-scale fintech integration, and how can they be addressed?

1.6 Hypotheses

H₀₁: The adoption of fintech tools has no significant positive effect on the efficiency of life assurance fund management at Leadway Assurance. H₀₂: Digital transformation initiatives do not significantly improve policyholder returns or reduce administrative expenses. H₀₃: Cybersecurity and regulatory compliance risks under NIIRA 2025 have no moderating effect on the success of fintech integration.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses only on registered and unregistered laundry and dry-cleaning businesses operating in Greater Port Harcourt (Port Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor, Eleme, and Okrika LGAs) between January and June 2025. Only marketing activities carried out through the official WhatsApp Business application are analyzed. Those enterprises that use mainly Instagram, Facebook, or physical-only marketing have been excluded, as have hotel or hospital-attached laundry services.

1.8 Definition of Terms

• Digital Transformation: The strategic adoption of digital technology to radically improve business processes and customer experience.
• Fintech Integration: The incorporation of financial technology solutions (AI, blockchain, mobile platforms, automation) into core insurance operations.
• Life Assurance Fund Management: The investment and administration of premiums collected for life insurance, annuity, and pension products to meet future liabilities.
• NIIRA 2025: Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025 – the new consolidated law governing insurance business in Nigeria.

References

African Financials. (2025). Leadway Assurance 2024 annual report. https://africanfinancials.com/document/ng-leadway-2024-ar-00/

Heirs Insurance Group. (2025). Top 3 insurance companies in Nigeria leading digital innovation in 2025. https://www.heirsinsurancegroup.com/top-3-insurance-companies-in-nigeria-leading-digital-innovation-in-2025/

Leadway Assurance. (2025a). 2024 full-year results presentation. https://www.leadway.com/investor-relations/results-2024

Leadway Assurance. (2025b). Digital transformation roadmap 2025–2027. Internal document.

Mondaq. (2025a). The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025: Key innovations. https://www.mondaq.com/nigeria/reinsurance/1704832/

NAICOM. (2025a). Guidelines on digital insurance operations under NIIRA 2025. https://naicom.gov.ng/digital-guidelines-2025

NAICOM. (2025b). Cybersecurity framework for licensed insurers 2025. https://naicom.gov.ng/cybersecurity-2025

National Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Consumer price index October 2025. https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/cpi-oct-2025

Nigerian Insurers Association. (2025). Half-year industry report 2025. https://nia.org.ng/reports/h1-2025

State House, Abuja. (2025). President Tinubu signs Insurance Reform Bill. https://statehouse.gov.ng/news/president-tinubu-assents-to-nigerian-insurance-industry-reform-bill-2025/