The WhatsApp API for business helps you talk to your customers easily. As your business grows, you’ll have more customers, and it’s important to listen to them and help them. If you can offer support all day, every day, you won’t have to worry.
But first, you need to understand why and how to use it. In this article, we’ll explain everything simply.
Does Your Business Need the WhatsApp Business API?
It depends on a few things:
– The size of your business matters. If you have a medium or large business, the WhatsApp Business API can help a lot. If your business is small, it’s better to stick with the regular WhatsApp Business App.
– If you have a lot of customers and need to talk to them often, it can be hard to hire enough people to do that. The API’s automation features can make things easier.
– The WhatsApp Business API comes with its own tools to manage customer interactions, so you won’t need to use other services. It’s easy to connect to your business and keeps things simple.
– If your business is growing, using the API can help you keep up and expand smoothly.
Quality Rating
WhatsApp monitors your message quality. And how well the customers respond to your phone number.
- WhatsApp monitors your session quality. It checks your customer’s response time. If it is quick then you pass the test.
- It checks the number of users who report you as spam.
- You must follow WhatsApp business policies. You must follow its messaging policy.
- It keeps tabs on your phone number history. It checks if you have had any negative feedback.
It is important to maintain a good quality messaging. This ensures your WhatsApp API access. It is important for your brand image too.
Messaging Tools
The API provides a range of interactive tools. It is used to make your business communication easy.
- Chatbots handle 24/7 talks with customers. You can train it with related faqs to maintain conversation with clients.
- You can send messages based on templates. You do not have to write the message from the start. There are many blueprints available for each industry.
- You can prepare FAQs and feed them. It saves a lot of time.
WhatsApp Business API Pricing
There are two main cost considerations
Conversation-Based Pricing:
It applies on each message that is exchanged between the company and the user. It also depends on the type of conversation. If it falls in these 4 categories then prices vary.
- Utility
- Authentication
- Marketing
- Service
WhatsApp charges are based on these categories. It also has a price range for some locations. For eg – normal message cost less than marketing messages.
You can get detailed info regarding this on meta official website.
BSP Fees (Optional)
If you decide to use BSP services then you need to pay for it. However, it is optional. They charge based on their services and features. BSP costs can be divided into two factors.
- Cloud API vs On Premise API – Some BSPs offer both Cloud and On Premise API. Cloud API is hosted by Meta and On premise API is hosted on their servers or yours. Cloud API avoids markup on conversation based pricing. And On Premise might charge some extra for their services.
- Service Fees – BSP charges fees based on the services they provide. For eg they might charge you for analytics. Some can charge for their ChatBot services.
WhatsApp Business API Usage for different Teams
There are many uses of WhatsApp API for business communication. You can use it for different teams.
- Sales Team – WhatsApp business API is boon for marketing. It is used to increase sales through ads. WhatsApp API fastens the process. You do not have to send emails one by one. You do not have to invest time in minor changes. WhatsApp will do it for you.
- Support Team – WhatsApp API can remove the burden from the Support team. It can very well manage some of the commonly asked questions. The Support Team now has to look after strategic inquiries.
- In house Communication – Some companies still prefer remote setup. It gets difficult to maintain a flow of communication among teams. WhatsApp API is the best solution for the problem.
5 amazing uses of WhatsApp API for Business Communication
Customer Support: WhatsApp API is amazing for customer support. You can integrate the API with your business. It helps in solving client queries quickly. It is used to maintain the flow of responses.
Notifications: These are important updates for clients. It is sent to clients via WhatsApp as it is preferred more. WhatsApp’s popularity has done this. It is assumed that the user might skip SMSs or emails but he might never skip WhatsApp updates.
Marketing: WhatsApp API for business can be used for promoting ads. Businesses send out ads to their target clients. Ads that are very much relatable to clients. They do this to generate profitable leads. And using media content to make the ad visually attractive to increase the conversion rates.
Feedback and Surveys: WhatsApp is a great platform to conduct surveys. You have a chance of a huge response from people. You can make use of WhatsApp API templates for the above. And you can also make use of its analytics feature to understand the customer response data.
Appointment Scheduling: You can book and schedule sessions. Customers can request services directly. WhatsApp’s automatic response makes the follow up process easier.
Conclusion
WhatsApp API for business communication is an amazing opportunity for increasing customer interaction. Its integration with businesses makes it really simple to use. WhatsApp has become a powerful platform to generate leads.
WhatsApp Business API has many benefits. The most important one is Customer Support. It is available for clients 24/7. Its quick response makes it an asset for Customer Support.
It can manage clients in real time by sending personalized responses. This is very important in building strong relationships with your client.
WhatsApp Business API sends notifications to their clients. These are updates about their shipping, delivery dates and many more. These updates can also be seen as reminders. These are all automated and can be sent in bulk. This highly improves customer satisfaction.
In addition, businesses can make use of WhatsApp Business API to target clients. These can help in generating target leads for your business. They can be texts appealing to your customers. Making your ads appealing can increase user engagement with your product.
WhatsApp API for business communication has a feature of surveys too. You can now conduct polls on WhatsApp. It has a higher chance of getting valid responses. And its analytics feature can help you generate analysis.
You do need BSP for analysis. WhatsApp has got your covered here too.
WhatsApp can arrange sessions for you. It can book processes for clients. Its regular reminders can be very useful. It is useful to remind clients so that they don’t miss the session. For this, WhatsApp sends automated texts.
FAQ
Q.1 Who can use WhatsApp Business API?
Ans: WhatsApp Business API is for medium to large business owners. As your business needs a better communication medium. WhatsApp API can easily integrate with your CRM and make client engagement easier.
Q.2 How does WhatsApp Business API compare to others?
Ans: WhatsApp makes WhatsApp API popular. Its large and loyal customer base makes it a popular messaging medium. It is secure and encrypted which makes businesses its clients. WhatsApp Business API compliance policy is user centric. It is easy to integrate with other CRMs.
Q.3 What types of businesses are suited for WhatsApp Business API for communication?
Ans: The business that wants to engage with customers must use WhatsApp API. They require customer engagement by sending personalized messages. Companies involved in banking, e-commerce, and travel must use WhatsApp API features.
Q.4 What is the WhatsApp Business API pricing?
Ans: WhatsApp Business API pricing varies based on location. You can use it for free for a month. Then you need to pay for its use.
