Meta recently announced new pricing for the WhatsApp Business API. Learn what's changing!
In the business world, WhatsApp Business has become an essential tool for companies looking to effectively connect with their customers. With the official WhatsApp API, WhatsApp Business, they have access to advanced features for automated, personalized and scalable communication.
The latest news is the new pricing announced by Meta, the company that owns the messaging app, for the WhatsApp Business API. And, note: these prices have been in effect since June 1st!
What is the official WhatsApp Business API?
Before discussing the recent changes, it's important to understand the official WhatsApp Business API. It's an acronym for Application Programming Interface. In practice, it's an application programming interface that allows businesses to integrate WhatsApp into their existing systems and applications.
The official WhatsApp Business API is provided by WhatsApp itself in partnership with authorized business solution providers. It allows businesses to automate messaging, send notifications, offer large-scale support, and provide a more interactive customer experience.
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What are the requirements for using the WhatsApp Business API?
To use the official API of WhatsApp Business, you must meet certain requirements. First, the company must be registered and verified on WhatsApp Business. Additionally, you must use a WhatsApp-authorized business solutions provider to access the API. The company must also comply with WhatsApp policies and guidelines, ensuring responsible and ethical use of the platform.
How does the WhatsApp Business API integration work?
WhatsApp Business API integration involves communication between a company's system or application and the authorized business solutions provider's server. The company can send and receive messages through this connection, using the API to automate actions such as messaging, auto-replies, order updates, and more. Integration can be achieved through a variety of methods, including integrations with CRM and customer service platforms.
What resources are available?
Sending bulk messages: Businesses can send bulk messages announcing promotions, product updates, and other relevant information.
Active messages: Active messaging allows businesses to send proactive notifications to their customers, such as appointment reminders, order confirmations, shipping updates, and more.
Response automation: You can create automatic responses for frequently asked questions, support requests, and other common interactions. This helps streamline support with quick, consistent responses.
Labels and contact organization: Tags allow you to organize contacts efficiently, segmenting audiences to send targeted messages.
Analytics and metrics: The WhatsApp Business API offers analytics capabilities that help businesses measure campaign performance, monitor customer engagement, and gain valuable insights to optimize their strategies.
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And what about WhatsApp Business API pricing?
As the first half of 2023 draws to a close, Meta announced new pricing for its WhatsApp Business API. Professional users of the messaging app should be aware that the changes took effect on June 1st. The changes specifically concern conversations initiated by the business within a 24-hour window. To better understand the billing model for conversations between businesses and customers, see below.
Message pricing now depends on the HSM category sent. In other words, WhatsApp Business users will pay a fee based on the content sent. To this end, Meta developed four conversation categories that businesses can initiate to simplify message pricing.
They are:
Authentication
Messages aimed at authenticating users in login steps, registration codes, password recovery, etc.
Marketing
Messages focused on marketing products or services, such as promotions, discounts and special offers, welcome messages, etc.
Utility
Conversations originating from a user request, transactions, or operational updates, such as post-purchase notifications, order status, and more.
Service
Conversations initiated by users, typically seeking to resolve questions. These conversations can be answered within a 24-hour window.
What changes?
However, the price of messages can now vary depending on the content category used by the company. WhatsApp Business API pricing is based on previous models, but chat windows remain fixed at 24 hours. Even within the window, if the company needs to send a message of a different category, it will be added to the charge.
Each registered WhatsApp Business account is entitled to 1 free conversations per month. However, since June 1st, this free service only applies to customer-initiated service conversations. For businesses with more than one number registered to the account, the free conversations are split between all numbers.
What is a 24-hour window?
The 24-hour window corresponds to a conversation time limit between the company's agent and the customer during a single interaction. It is fixed, counting from the first message sent. This is independent of who initiated the conversation. When the 24-hour window time limit expires, the company must open a new window (HSM or user service conversation) to continue the service.
What are service conversations?
From now on, all customer-initiated conversations will be called service conversations. And, as previously, they will continue to be billed to the company. It's worth remembering that a service conversation is only initiated if there are no other open conversations initiated by the company in the same service.
Within the 24-hour window of a service conversation, the company can respond to the customer with free-form messages. However, if it's necessary to send an HSM template from the categories mentioned above, the system will open a new conversation, and then the charge will be made based on the template used.
New prices from June 1, 2023
- Authentication Messages: from $0,05 to $0,03
- Marketing Messages: From $0,05 to $0,06
- Utility Messages: from $0,05 to $0,03
- Service Messages: $0,03
Benefits of the official WhatsApp Business API
Using the official WhatsApp Business API brings benefits such as faster and more efficient communication, enabling automatic replies and scheduled messages. This saves time and resources, allowing teams to focus on more complex and personalized interactions.
Additionally, the official WhatsApp Business API offers greater scalability, allowing businesses to communicate with a large number of customers simultaneously. This is especially important for businesses with high message volumes and customer support needs. The API also provides advanced analytics and metrics, allowing for a thorough evaluation of your campaign performance. This allows you to continuously improve your marketing and customer service strategies.
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Why use WhatsApp Business API
As we know, companies' communication channels must be increasingly fast and agile to ensure good customer service. Therefore, the WhatsApp Business API is a powerful tool for organizations across a variety of niches that want to maximize the potential of the world's most widely used messaging app for their business success.
With advanced features like bulk messaging, automated responses, and proactive notifications, businesses can improve communication, offer efficient and personalized support, and ultimately drive business growth. By understanding how the WhatsApp Business API works and exploring its capabilities, you can master digital marketing in all its aspects, establishing a relevant presence on the WhatsApp Business platform.
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Count on Kaizen to access the WhatsApp API
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