WhatsApp Business pricing: What you need to know
As the world’s #1 messaging app, WhatsApp has become an important part of business-to-customer (B2C) communication.
The modern customer wants to connect with businesses throughout their journey. Businesses need to invest in building relationships with customers through interactions and conversations in order to create seamless experiences that build loyalty.
With 70% of 2 billion WhatsApp users checking the app daily, WhatsApp can offer businesses the reach and scalability they need to offer excellent customer experiences across the entire journey.
Since its launch in 2018, WhatsApp Business has been primarily used as a customer service channel. It gave brands the opportunity to be available 24/7 with the help of chatbots and live agents. They have since expanded their capabilities to include applicable use cases throughout the entire customer journey. This makes WhatsApp an ideal channel for marketing, sales and support solutions.
Read on to find out what pricing options this all-encompassing communication solution offers for businesses.
WhatsApp Business pricing changes
There are two ways to create conversations between businesses and customers over WhatsApp:
- Templated notifications: when businesses initiate a conversation
- Free form messages: when a customer reaches out to a business
Until recently, WhatsApp’s pricing model had been based on charging businesses for the templated notifications they send, while customer-initiated conversations are free of charge for the first 24 hours.
WhatsApp switched from a notification-based pricing model to a conversation-based model for organizations using its business solution.
Conversation-based pricing explained
Businesses are now charged per conversation rather than per message sent, regardless of who starts the conversation. However, business-initiated conversation rates will vary from customer-initiated ones.
What’s considered a conversation?
WhatsApp defines a conversation as a fixed 24-hour session that includes all messages delivered to a customer – the keyword here being delivered, not sent. If a message is not delivered, the conversation has not started and it won’t be charged.
The 24-hour conversation session begins when:
- A business sends a message and the message is delivered to the customer, regardless of if the customer replies
- A customer sends a message that is delivered and the business replies with a message that is also delivered
It’s important to highlight that within this 24-hour session, costs are incurred only once (per each 24-hour conversation). But the cost of the session varies depending on the country code of the customer’s phone number.
By allowing unlimited messages to be sent during the 24-hour window, businesses are encouraged to promptly respond to inquiries and resolve issues immediately.
When one 24-hour session (in other words, one conversation) ends, any new message sent from a business will start a new session that will be charged.
Get 1,000 free conversations and free entry points
In addition to changing its per message sent model, WhatsApp’s conversation-based pricing will give businesses the opportunity to expand existing use cases and combine them with other Meta products:
- The first 1,000 conversations, per registered WhatsApp Business Account, are free of charge each month.
- If a conversation is initiated by a customer through Facebook and Instagram ads that click to WhatsApp or a Facebook Page call-to-actions buttons, that conversation is free of charge.
How the new WhatsApp Business pricing benefits your business
If you use WhatsApp to send multiple notifications to your customers, you’re sure to benefit from this new pricing model. You can send an unlimited number of messages within a 24-hour session, rather than being charged for every message template sent.
Combining that with free conversations on a monthly basis and free entry points means you can use WhatsApp to its full potential – as a way to stay connected across your customers’ entire journey. And, with the chance to use WhatsApp for promotional notifications, now you can drive sales, send engaging offers, and support your customers from start to finish.
Customer Spotlight
ComparTfon, a telecom company from Mexico, uses WhatsApp as a new online sales channel through Infobip’s Moments, Conversations, and Answers. Now, the company experiences higher conversion rates and lower cart abandonment rates.
Key takeaways
- Pricing based on message templates will be deprecated from February 1, 2022.
- The new pricing model is based on 24-hour sessions (conversations). The session begins with a message being delivered. The baseline for pricing is one conversation.
- Costs vary depending on if a conversation is business- or customer-initiated – and depending on the country code of the customer’s phone number.
- The first 1,000 conversations are free for businesses per month and per WhatsApp Business Solution account.
- Conversations that are started by customers through Facebook and Instagram ads that click to WhatsApp or a Facebook Page call-to-action buttons are free.
- The change is imposed by WhatsApp – for full details, check out WhatsApp’s Conversation-Based Pricing page.
Infobip as your WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
Need help building WhatsApp use cases across your customer journey? We can help.
Migrate your existing WhatsApp sender to Infobip to take advantage of our omnichannel cloud solutions – or integrate the WhatsApp Business API into your existing system.
Our professional services will help you maximize return on your CX investment and fuel your growth with consultancy, onboarding packages, and 24/7 support.
