MAEKO Academy · Meta campaign plan · Kuala Lumpur + Selangor

Finding companies that can book: a WhatsApp campaign plan for the HRD Corp claimable food-waste course

How we will reach hotels and food businesses in KL and Selangor, start WhatsApp chats with the right people, and keep the leads to companies that can book a full-day session.

9 October 2026 · Prepared by Zennith · Account figures checked live on 9 October 2026

1. The plan on one page

2. Where MAEKO's Meta account stands

Checked directly in Meta's systems on 9 October 2026.

What Meta can and cannot target in KL + Selangor

Meta's own audience estimates for this account (people aged 25–60 living in or recently in KL or Selangor):

What this tells us: Meta cannot find HR managers or chefs in KL and Selangor by job title; too few people fill that in. Interest groups are large, but most people in them don't hold the job. So the words in the ad and the first WhatsApp questions have to do the filtering. That decides most of the plan below.

3. What the market looks like

We reviewed every active Malaysian ad in Meta's Ad Library that mentions HRD Corp, HRDC or HRDF, on 9 October 2026, plus LinkedIn and competitors' websites.

• About 310 advertisers run 1,343 active ads that mention the levy. 80% of those ads started after 1 September, so the market is busy and changes quickly.
• None of the 1,343 touched any waste topic. Only 32 ads from 17 advertisers mention sustainability at all, and just one (a 2-day ESG course) has run for more than 60 days.
• The one Malaysian waste-training specialist, Zero Waste Malaysia, runs no paid ads. It sells waste-assessment and workplace-culture courses. Composting appears only as a one-hour demonstration, and it does not publish a price.
• We classified one ad from each of 64 randomly chosen advertisers: 42, about two thirds, were addressed to the individual attendee ("upskill your career", "zero cost to you") rather than the company buyer. Across all 310 advertisers, only 3 used an explicit employer filter, such as "registered with HRD Corp" or a minimum headcount. That is why levy ads draw so many chats from people who cannot book.
• The ads that have run longest share a shape: one concrete thing, addressed to the company, closing in WhatsApp. Many also use claims we must not copy: 54 advertisers say "100% claimable" or "fully claimable", wording HRD Corp bans, and several still warn that "15% of your levy will be taken", a deduction not in force for 2025 balances.

MAEKO would be the only paid voice for HRD Corp claimable food-waste training. That is open ground, but it also means no one has proven yet that this course sells through paid ads. We are funding a test, not buying a known result.

4. Who we target

Not targeted now:

• Manufacturers: the manufacturing sector used about 100% of its levy in 2024.
• Mall operators: the food waste belongs to their tenants.
• Hospitals: no evidence yet; we will revisit.
• Schools and universities: education-industry employers are exempt from the levy for January to December 2026.
• Government bodies: they don't pay the levy.
• Individuals, households and students.

Who decides inside a company

Usually three people:

• The problem owner: an executive chef, F&B, operations or facilities manager. This is the person most likely to start the chat.
• The applicant: the HR or admin person who handles the levy application.
• The signer: the manager or director who signs off the training.

The ads speak to the problem owner, and the chat gives them a message they can forward to HR.

What counts as a qualified lead

1. The company is registered with HRD Corp, or the person will check.
2. The site is in KL or Selangor.
3. At least 5 staff would attend at that site (MAEKO's minimum, to be confirmed by MAEKO).
4. The premises produce food waste daily: a hotel, an F&B kitchen, a canteen or similar.
5. Training is wanted within about 4 months.
6. The person in the chat can decide, or names who does.

5. How the campaign is set up

Why two ad sets and not more

Practitioner guidance is that each ad set needs roughly 25 to 50 optimised events a week to learn. At about RM100 a day per ad set, and RM15 to RM40 per lead counted by Meta, each ad set gets 17 to 47 a week. That is enough for two ad sets, not for one per industry. Splitting by industry would also not narrow anything, because Meta treats industry interests as suggestions and job titles reach only about 1,000 people here. Language is the one split that changes who sees the ad, since the Chinese filter narrows KL and Selangor from 7.7–9.0 million to 1.8–2.1 million people.

Why WhatsApp lead optimisation, and what it cannot do

Meta can find people likely to become a lead in WhatsApp, but it documents no way to optimise click-to-WhatsApp ads toward a qualified-lead event. For events sent back from the chat, it documents purchase optimisation only. Its documented lead-quality optimisation works only with its own Instant Forms, and Meta's guidance for it asks for at least 200 leads a month. A newer website version, still in testing, appears to need about 30 optimised events a week (a practitioner's observation). Both are far above what a B2B course produces. So qualification happens in the chat, and we report the results back to Meta (section 8).

6. What the ads say

Each opening line was scored for whether it would attract the company decision-makers we want and put off individuals, against a good example and a bad example. These three lead:

Test angle: "Your group or your big customers now ask for your food-waste figures. It starts with staff who know how to sort and compost it."

Supporting, never the opening line:

• The hands-on format ("not another day of slides"). It scored well but pulled the right buyers less strongly as an opener.
• News that Selangor is moving under the national waste law. This is a fact for the chat only, never "the law requires it".

The second line on every ad: the filter

A HRD Corp claimable course for companies: one full day at your premises, for 5 to 30 staff.

Every ad also carries:

• The official HRD Corp claimable logo.
• "MAEKO Sales & Services (M) Sdn Bhd" with its company registration number (MyCo ID).
• Contact details.

HRD Corp's marketing guideline requires all three.

Formats

Each ad set gets 5 or 6 genuinely different ads, not small variations of one, because Meta groups similar ads together and learns from them as one. The mix:

• A real photo of a past session.
• A short real clip of staff composting.
• A plain text card.
• A real before-and-after of a back-of-house bin area.
• A short clip of the trainer or founder speaking, if MAEKO can film one.

No computer-made people are shown as participants.

What we keep from the approved ads

Several approved ideas fit these angles: "Hotels, restaurants, staff canteens: where does your food waste end up every day?", "Management wants to recycle food waste. Staff have never been shown how", "Training levy paid every month. Used or not?" and the "Your problems" checklist. Each needs four changes:

• The RM1 MunchBOT sticker removed.
• The new second line added.
• The claimable logo added.
• The company details line added.

We will add two or three ads made specifically for hotel and kitchen teams.

7. What happens in WhatsApp

1. The ad opens WhatsApp with a message ready to send: "Hi MAEKO, I would like to know about the HRD Corp claimable food-waste course for our team."
2. An instant reply asks two quick-tap questions. "Is this for a company registered with HRD Corp?" (Yes / No / Not sure). "What kind of premises?" (Hotel or resort / F&B, kitchen or catering / Office / Other).
3. Qualified chats get the short proof: what the day looks like, past sessions, the registration certificate, and what the company keeps afterwards. These are the messages MAEKO has already reviewed, shortened.
4. Then one question: how many staff would attend, at which site, and in which month.
5. A person takes over within minutes in office hours. A quotation goes out within one working day, and MAEKO helps with the levy application, for a date at least 3 weeks away.

Polite ways out:

• An individual is told the course is booked by companies, and gets a short message they can forward to their HR.
• A company not registered for the levy is offered a paid session or a CSR programme.
• Anyone outside KL and Selangor is noted for later.

Timing rules we never break: in-house training can start no earlier than 14 days after HRD Corp approves the application, and must start within 90 days after those 14 days. So we never promise a date less than 3 weeks away. To train by Friday 18 December, approval is needed by Friday 4 December.

Who answers: a named MAEKO person, in set office hours, replying within 5 minutes. Outside those hours, the instant reply promises an answer the next morning.

The number: a dedicated number on the official WhatsApp Business Platform, or the WhatsApp Business app connected through Meta's "coexistence" option so staff keep using the app. It must not be an unofficial WhatsApp Web tool: they cannot send lead results back to Meta, and the link to the ad that started the chat is lost. On another account in September 2026, Meta refused WhatsApp ads linked to a personal number.

WhatsApp costs since 1 October 2026:

• A chat that starts from an ad opens a free window when MAEKO first replies, lasting up to 7 days.
• Outside that window, a Malaysian marketing message costs MYR 0.3467.
• Service replies beyond 1,000 a month per number cost MYR 0.0564 each.
• A card must be on file in WhatsApp billing, or messages beyond the free 1,000 stop delivering.

8. How we keep the leads good

What we report back to Meta

Each signal is matched to the ad that started the chat:

Moving money away from poor leads

After 2 to 4 weeks:

• We upload the chats that did not qualify as a list, so Meta bids less for people like them.
• We upload the qualified ones so it bids more for people like them.
• If an age group chats often but never qualifies, we lower bids for that group.

The weekly scorecard

Every ad is scored each week on:

• Cost per chat.
• Share of chats that answer the first questions.
• Cost per qualified lead.
• Quotations and bookings.
• Reply time.

Meta's own "lead" count sits next to our qualified count. Meta's number will always look better, and the qualified count is the one we act on.

Rules, set before launch

• Pause an ad once it has spent RM250 with no lead submitted. Also pause it if, after RM300, its cost per qualified lead is more than twice the ad set's average.
• A winner brings 3 or more qualified leads at RM150 or less each. We then make a new version of it.
• Budgets change by no more than 20% every 3 days, so Meta does not restart its learning.
• Week-3 checkpoint (Sunday 15 November, about RM4,200 spent):
  • Cost per qualified lead of RM200 or less: continue.
  • RM200–400: change the ads and the chat.
  • Above RM400: stop and rethink the offer.
• Bookings are judged at week 12 (mid-January), because bookings land 3 to 8 weeks after the first chat.

9. Budget and what to expect

Recommended: RM6,000 a month, about RM200 a day, for 8 weeks: RM11,200. This is enough for two ad sets to learn.
Minimum: RM3,000 a month, about RM100 a day: RM5,600. It runs as one ad set with English and Chinese ads together, and learns more slowly.

The figures below are planning assumptions, not benchmarks. No credible published figure exists for qualified B2B leads in Malaysia. One Malaysian agency puts a WhatsApp chat from Meta ads at RM6–32 across industries. Our filtering line raises the cost per chat but lowers the waste. Real figures replace these at week 3.

A session sells for RM8,900–10,900. If MAEKO can accept up to about RM2,000 of ads per booked session (about 20% of the price), the middle case works and the low case does not. We need two answers from MAEKO: the most you are willing to spend in ads per booked session, and how many sessions a month you can deliver, so we never buy more leads than you can serve.

10. Timeline

11. HRD Corp rules that shape the ads

• Only two phrases are allowed: "HRD Corp registered training provider", and "HRD Corp claimable course". The second may be used only with the official claimable logo and only for a course registered on HRD Corp's system.
• Every ad shows MAEKO Sales & Services (M) Sdn Bhd, its company registration number (MyCo ID) and contact details.
• Never "100% claimable", "fully claimable", "free", "funded by", "zero cost", "use it or lose it", or "15% will be taken".
• Avoid the name "HRD Corp" in any other phrase (for example "your HRD Corp levy"). A strict reading of the guideline forbids it, so we say "your training levy".
• The RM1 MunchBOT offer comes off every ad.
  • No HRD Corp rule allows a machine to be bundled with a claimable course.
  • The HRD Corp Act (section 41) makes it an offence to obtain, or try to obtain, financial assistance under the Act by a false or misleading statement or document: a fine of up to RM20,000, up to 2 years in prison, or both. Under section 44, directors and managers are deemed to have committed the company's offence unless they prove due diligence.
  • HRD Corp's cost rules allow RM100 per group for training materials, and training equipment must be used only for training.

  If MAEKO wants the MunchBOT in the package, there are two clean routes:

  • Ask HRD Corp for written approval first (programmeregistration@hrdcorp.gov.my, or their Thursday Open Day at Wisma HRD Corp, 10am–4pm).
  • Sell the MunchBOT at its price and make training on it claimable under HRD Corp's reimbursement scheme (SBL), which allows product vendors to train.
• Price: RM10,900, the top of the range, is RM400 above HRD Corp's limit of RM10,500 per day per group for a general in-house course. MAEKO should confirm how that is billed, or register the course under HRD Corp's Green Technology focus area, which has no fee cap but needs committee approval.
• Group size: HRD Corp's rule is a minimum of 2 trainees, with the fee reduced pro rata below 5. If 5 is MAEKO's own minimum, the chat says so as MAEKO's minimum, not as an HRD Corp rule.

12. What MAEKO needs to do before launch

1. Add a payment method to the ad account (Chelsea, Bryan or Siti; they hold full access).
2. Complete Meta business verification.
3. Choose the Academy's WhatsApp number, then:
   • finish its registration on the WhatsApp Business Platform;
   • link it to the MAEKO Facebook Page;
   • add a card in WhatsApp billing.
4. Name who answers the chats, and the office hours.
5. Send the official HRD Corp claimable logo. Without it, the ads can say only "HRD Corp registered training provider".
6. Confirm the course details:
   • which programme number these ads sell;
   • the MyCo ID line;
   • how the RM10,900 top price is billed;
   • MAEKO's minimum group size;
   • how many sessions a month MAEKO can run.
7. Decide the MunchBOT: remove it from the ads (recommended). Keep it in the package only with HRD Corp's written approval.
8. Confirm the budget, and the most you will spend in ads per booked session.
9. Approve the reworked ads and the WhatsApp messages.
10. Tell us who created the "Maeko WAHA CAPI" dataset on 6 October.

13. Risks and open questions

• No one has proven this category in paid ads. It is open ground, and we treat the first 8 weeks as a test.
• Most chats will not be buyers. The levy-ad market has trained Meta on individuals. Our filters reduce this but will not remove it. This is why the chat qualifies first and a person steps in only for qualified companies.
• Meta's lead count will flatter the results. We act on the qualified count.
• Timing: HRD Corp's approval rules and the year-end holidays mean the first sessions land from late November through the first quarter of 2027.
• Not yet confirmed:
  • the full text of HRD Corp's June 2026 circular (the PDF link is broken; we used the rule as stated on HRD Corp's course page);
  • Bursa's waste-reporting requirement (seen only in a secondary source);
  • whether Meta's AI business assistant is offered in Malaysia;
  • the exact wording Meta's ad tools show for WhatsApp lead optimisation, which we will check in Ads Manager.

14. Later, not now

• MAEKO's own customers and past hosts: a direct WhatsApp or email to the hotels, malls and companies that already know MAEKO costs nothing and is likely the fastest first booking. We recommend doing it alongside the ads.
• LinkedIn: it can target hotel HR and learning titles precisely, but uses forms, not WhatsApp. One vendor reports leads at around US$80 each in Asia-Pacific. A small test after week 8.
• Malay ads, WhatsApp Status placements, and a retargeting ad set once video viewers and chat contacts build up.

15. Sources

Meta account figures, audience estimates and Ad Library counts were measured on 9 October 2026. Each key choice in this plan (who to target, what Meta optimises for, the structure, the WhatsApp path, the opening lines) was also scored independently against a planted good example and a planted bad example. Two scoring attempts failed those checks and were discarded rather than used: one on how reachable each segment is, and one on budget.

1. MAEKO Meta Business, ad account, Page, Instagram, WhatsApp accounts, datasets and audience estimates: Meta Graph API, read 9 Oct 2026.
2. Meta Ad Library, Malaysia, active ads mentioning HRD Corp / HRDC / HRDF: 1,343 ads, 310 advertisers, captured 9 Oct 2026.
3. Click to WhatsApp ads, Marketing API: developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/marketing-api/ad-creative/messaging-ads/click-to-whatsapp (read 9 Oct 2026).
4. Down-funnel optimisations for WhatsApp ads (24% lower cost per lead): whatsappbusiness.com/resources/resource-library/down-funnel-optimizations-whatsapp.
5. Conversions API for Business Messaging: developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-api/conversions-api/business-messaging.
6. Conversion leads for CRM integration (Instant Forms only, about 200 leads a month): developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/conversions-api/conversion-leads-integration (updated 17 Dec 2025).
7. Meta Sequenced Events for qualified website leads: jonloomer.com/meta-sequenced-events (6 Oct 2026).
8. WhatsApp Business Platform pricing (updated 30 Sep 2026): developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing.
9. WhatsApp coexistence (Business app with the Cloud API): developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/embedded-signup/onboarding-business-app-users (updated 26 Jun 2026).
10. Learnwise and Engelife success stories (WhatsApp Flows in ads): whatsappbusiness.com/resources/success-stories (Mar and Feb 2026).
11. HRD Corp Claimable Courses page (14-day and 90-day rules, effective 15 Jun 2026): hrdcorp.gov.my, read 9 Oct 2026.
12. HRD Corp Allowable Cost Matrix guidebook, January 2026 (RM10,500 per day cap, RM100 materials, minimum 2 trainees).
13. Training Providers Circular No. 1/2022 and Guideline on Usage of HRD Corp Logos (7 Mar 2022); Circular No. 1/2020 (12 Mar 2020); hrdcorp.gov.my/usage-of-hrd-corp-logo.
14. Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad Act 2001, sections 41, 42 and 44 (reprint as at 1 Nov 2017).
15. HRD Corp National Training Index 2024 (registered employers by state; levy use by firm size and sector), 18 Apr 2025.
16. Malaysia Hotel 2023 Supply Statistics, Tourism Malaysia (updated 28 May 2024).
17. DOSM Economic Census 2023: Food & Beverage Services (5 Aug 2024) and Manufacturing (29 Jul 2024).
18. Bernama BFokus, food-waste management in hospitality, malls and caterers (4 Jun 2026; KLCC remark made at the 30 Apr 2026 guidebook launch); Shah Alam food premises (4 Aug 2026).
19. Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management (Scheme for CII Solid Waste) Regulations 2018, P.U.(A) 181; Cabinet approval to extend Act 672 to Selangor (The Edge, 29 Jul 2026); SWCorp on voluntary food-waste separation (NST, 15 Jun 2026).
20. Simplified ESG Disclosure Guide v2, Capital Markets Malaysia (Jul 2025).
21. Zero Waste Malaysia HRDC courses page and corporate engagement page (read 9 Oct 2026).
22. WhatsApp ads cost in Malaysia, ZenWeb (15 Jun 2026): agency figure, low confidence.