This is Digital Marketing News Zimbabwe, my weekly brief for marketers and business owners here. This week: what WhatsApp starts charging businesses on 1 October, Liquid’s 30-day AI Challenge for Zimbabwean organisations, and why your Google Business Profile deserves half an hour.
Nikolina’s Note: A Point From a Reader
Some of the most useful points I hear come from you. After last week’s carousel about choosing the right social media channel, a reader wrote in the comments that he would add Google Business Profile to the list, because people searching on Google are usually closer to buying than people scrolling a feed.
He is right, and it deserved more than a reply. So this week’s educational piece is about the listing that appears when someone searches for your type of business on Google or Google Maps.
There is also a date to note. On Thursday, 1 October, WhatsApp starts charging businesses that send messages through its API. The detail published this week is kinder than the picture we had in August.
WhatsApp Business Pricing From 1 October: Your First 1,000 Replies Stay FREE
From 1 October 2026, Meta charges businesses for replies sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform, the API that connects WhatsApp to chatbots, CRMs and contact centres. The first 1,000 service replies per business phone number each month remain FREE. Charges start from the 1,001st reply.
One change is easy to miss. Order updates, payment confirmations and appointment reminders sent as templates will now be charged even while a conversation with the customer is already open. Your provider may also add its own fee on top of Meta’s.
The ordinary WhatsApp Business app on your phone is not affected. If you reply to customers yourself from the app, nothing changes on Thursday.
Most small businesses here send far fewer than 1,000 replies a month through a chatbot, so the bill may be small or nothing. The cost to watch is automated confirmations, because every one of them now counts. For the wider case for using WhatsApp Business at all, see my guide on why businesses should use WhatsApp Business.
Source: Techweez, 28 September 2026.
Liquid’s 30-Day AI Challenge: Microsoft Copilot for 25 Zimbabwean Organisations
Liquid Intelligent Technologies Zimbabwe launched a 30-Day AI Challenge on 24 September. 25 organisations will be selected to use Microsoft Copilot for everyday work: summarising meetings, drafting proposals, managing email and analysing data.
Applications are by email, and the address is in the TechnoMag article. The article does not give a closing date or say who is eligible, so it is worth applying early and asking.
Thirty days goes quickly. Before you start, choose two or three tasks you do every week and note how long each takes now. At the end you will know, in hours, whether the tool is worth paying for.
Source: TechnoMag, 24 September 2026.
Google Business Profile: The Listing People See When They Are Ready to Buy
When someone searches “printing Harare” or “car hire Bulawayo”, the first thing they often see is a map with three businesses under it. Those listings come from Google Business Profile, and setting one up is FREE.
Google says local results depend on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how close you are to the person searching) and prominence (how well known you are, including your reviews). It also says plainly that there is no way to pay for a better position.
That leaves the parts you control. In Google’s own words, “businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results”. Verify the profile, choose the right category, keep your hours and phone number current, add real photos, and reply to every review.
Social media helps people discover you. A Google profile catches people who are already looking for what you sell. For many local businesses it will bring more enquiries than another week of posting.
Source: Google Business Profile Help.
Digital Marketing News Zimbabwe: Five Things to Do This Week
- Before Thursday, ask whoever set up your WhatsApp chatbot or CRM whether it runs on the WhatsApp Business Platform, and how many replies it sends in a month.
- If that tool sends order or payment confirmations, count them. From Thursday each one is charged.
- If you apply for Liquid’s AI Challenge, write down three weekly tasks and how long each one takes you today.
- Search Google Maps for your business name. If a profile exists, claim it. If not, create one and check your hours and phone number.
- Ask three satisfied customers to leave a Google review this week, and reply to each one by name.
Claude for Business: Hands-On AI Workshop in Harare, 15 October
A live, in-person morning at SABRE Business World on Thursday 15 October, 8.30 to 12.30. You work on your own tasks, so you leave with something you can use the next day. Places are limited because the session is built around the work attendees actually do.
US$ 140 covers the certificate, refreshments and a FREE 30-minute follow-up session to work through a real task in your own business. Teams of three or more take 5% off the total (cash payments only), and previous AI workshop attendees take 15% off. Reserve your place.
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The Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing from the international Digital Marketing Institute (DMI), supported here in Zimbabwe, covers the skills in this brief, from search and local visibility to social media strategy and AI in marketing. Not sure where to start? Take the FREE digital marketing skills test first.
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