In the world of business communication, the WhatsApp Business API has emerged as a powerful tool for connecting businesses with their customers. It offers a unique, conversation-based pricing model that charges per conversation rather than per individual message. This model is designed to facilitate efficient and cost-effective communication between businesses and their customers.

What is a Conversation?

In the context of the WhatsApp Business API, a conversation is defined as a 24-hour message thread between a business and its customers. The conversation begins when a message sent by the business is delivered to the customer. This model is different from traditional messaging platforms that charge per individual message, making it a more economical choice for businesses.

Types of Conversations

WhatsApp categorizes conversations into four types: Marketing, Utility, Authentication, and Service.

• Marketing Conversations: These include promotional or informational updates. They are a great way to engage customers with your brand and inform them about your products or services.
• Utility Conversations: These facilitate specific transactions or updates. For instance, they can be used to confirm transactions or update customers about their ongoing transactions.
• Authentication Conversations: These are used for user authentication with one-time passcodes. They are crucial for ensuring the security of your customers’ accounts.
• Service Conversations: These help resolve customer inquiries. They are essential for providing excellent customer service and maintaining customer satisfaction.

How are Conversations Opened?

The way a conversation is opened depends on its category. Marketing, Utility, and Authentication conversations are initiated when a business sends an approved template message to a customer and no open conversation of that category exists between them.

On the other hand, Service conversations are opened when a business sends a free-form message to a customer within a customer service window, and no open conversation of any category exists between them. A customer service window is a 24-hour timer that starts when a customer messages the business.

Free Service Conversations

Each WhatsApp Business Account gets 1,000 free service conversations each month across all of its business phone numbers. This number is refreshed at the beginning of each month. It’s worth noting that Marketing, Utility, and Authentication conversations are not part of the free tier.

Free Entry Point Conversations

A special type of conversation, called a free entry point conversation, is opened if a customer messages the business via a Click to WhatsApp Ad or Facebook Page Call-to-Action button and the business responds within 24 hours. This conversation lasts 72 hours and during this period, the business can send any type of message to the customer without incurring additional charges.

Rates for Conversations

The rates for conversations vary based on the conversation category and the country/region rate. The charges for conversations are based on the country of the user’s phone number. For more information about the rates, you can visit the WhatsApp Business Platform website.

How Can Businesses Benefit?

The conversation-based pricing model of the WhatsApp Business Platform offers several benefits for businesses. It allows businesses to manage their communication costs more effectively, as they are charged per conversation rather than per individual message. This can result in significant cost savings, especially for businesses that have a high volume of communication with their customers.

Furthermore, the categorization of conversations allows businesses to tailor their communication strategies based on the type of conversation. For example, they can use Marketing conversations to promote their products or services, Utility conversations to facilitate transactions, Authentication conversations to ensure account security, and Service conversations to resolve customer inquiries.

At Sanoflow, we understand the importance of efficient and cost-effective communication for businesses. That’s why we offer a range of solutions, including an omnichannel inbox, broadcasts and promotional messaging, conversational workflow automation, and social CRM, to help businesses communicate effectively with their customers.

Whether you’re in the healthcare, hospitality, automotive, ecommerce and retail, or travel industry, we have solutions tailored to your needs.

To learn more about our services and pricing, please visit our pricing page. For more insights and updates, check out our blog.

In conclusion, the WhatsApp Business Platform’s conversation-based pricing model offers a unique and cost-effective way for businesses to communicate with their customers. By understanding how this pricing model works, businesses can leverage it to enhance their communication strategies and improve their customer service.