WhatsApp Business is reducing utility message rates and increasing marketing message rates. A change that aims to encourage business communication and reduce spam.

The new utility rates will take effect on August 4, while the marketing conversation rates will take a couple of months longer, as they will take effect on October 4. This is the first change to conversion rates since WhatsApp moved from a flat rate to charging by category.

The platform has sought to address user complaints about the increase in spam messages on WhatsApp over the past year. With this rate change, the company has implemented the first measures to protect users.

Another measure they tried to implement earlier this year was restricting marketing messages sent to users in India through “Marketing Template Message Limits per User” guidelines. In this way, Meta blocks messages it deems “less likely to be read” to avoid saturating users.

From Meta, they explained to TechCrunch that they are working to find the right combination of tools to maintain an excellent experience when sending messages to businesses via WhatsApp. The brand's goal is for WhatsApp to become the main communication channel between brands and customers.

How do WhatsApp Business rates work?

Meta offers four different rates for its messaging services: marketing (offers, new products), utility (order updates, account balance), authentication (one-time passwords), and service (customer inquiries).

The rates are different in each country. For example, in Spain, the marketing fee is €0.0509, while in India, marketing fees range from $0.0099 to $0.0107 (+8%), and conversion fees are down by 67%.

The post WhatsApp Business is changing its rates appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Meta has announced new Artificial Intelligence (AI) features in WhatsApp Business, designed to help businesses connect more effectively with their customers, improve customer service, and increase sales. The announcement was made during Conversations 2024, held by Meta in São Paulo, Meta's annual business messaging event, highlighting the latest product updates to facilitate interactions between people and businesses on WhatsApp.

The company led by Mark Zuckerberg wants this application, which is massively used in places like India, Brazil, or Spain, to also be the default communication tool for users and businesses. “We believe that, with AI tools, businesses can provide people with the assistance they need, as well as help them find new products and services,” they said.

One of the new features announced would allow businesses to answer frequently asked questions from their users via WhatsApp with AI, so you get the right answer, but not impersonal. There will also be features that will allow businesses to create Instagram or Facebook ads and ensure that businesses follow up with customers who want to hear from them, for example, to remind them that they left an item in the cart or offer them a discount on a purchase they were hoping to make.

Similarly, Meta has also announced that they will begin rolling out Meta Verified in the WhatsApp Business app in Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Colombia: “When you see a Meta Verified badge, it means that a business registered their information with Meta and receives protection against phishing.” 

Meta Verified accounts will be able to share WhatsApp Business

In addition, companies that use Meta Verified will also receive enhanced support for Meta accounts and can use WhatsApp on multiple devices for their employees. That same Meta Verified badge that appears on these companies' personalized WhatsApp channels and pages can also be easily shared on social media and the web. “We look forward to expanding this important service to more companies and countries soon,” they have assured.

In WhatsApp, they are aware that despite the fact that shopping through apps and webs is becoming more common and convenient, sometimes it is necessary to talk to a person. To do this, they allow voice calls with companies. The novelty is that now it will also be possible to do so with much larger companies, which did not enable this possibility.

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