All you need to know about WhatsApp Business API new pricing
WhatsApp Business API announced that it has officially switched from a notification-based pricing model to a conversation-based pricing model.
- Key Point 1- WhatsApp Business API conversations are priced differently towards “user-initiated” and “business-initiated”
- Key Point 2- Businesses will not be charged if it does not reply to the user-initiated message.
- Key Point 3- Free entry points free conversations customers
- Key Point 4- Encourage customers to Opt-in
Key Point 1- WhatsApp Business API conversations are priced differently towards “user-initiated” and “business-initiated”
The pricing standard of the conversation depends on whether it is initiated by customer or business. Generally speaking, the user-initiated charge is lower so the enterprise can encourage potential customers to initiate the chat with businesses through marketing campaigns or advertising links in order to reduce cost.
Rates for business-initiated and user-initiated conversations vary by country or region. Take the Asia-Pacific region – Hong Kong as an example, the user-initiated rate is USD$ 0.0224 (about HK$0.18), and the business-initiated rate is USD$ 0.0745 (about HK$0.58).
See Rates for specific pricing information.
Key Point 2- Businesses will not be charged if it does not reply to the user-initiated message.
It is worth noting that after the customer initiates a message, whenever a business replies to a user within the 24-hour customer service window, that message will be associated with a user-initiated conversation. Businesses can send free-form messages within this 24-hour customer service window at user-initiated conversation price. If the company does not respond to the user-initiated message, it will not start the 24-hour conversation session and the company will not be charged.
Key Point 3- Free entry points free conversations customers
When a user starts a WhatsApp conversation through the “Click-to-WhatsApp” button on a Facebook advertisement or on a Facebook page, the messages are free for the first 72 hours of conversation.
Key Point 4- Encourage customers to Opt-in
After collecting the customer’s WhatsApp contact through different channels, you can encourage the customer to Opt-in (agree to receive messages), and then you can update the company’s news or send a quality-based message to the opt-in customers anytime through WhatsApp.
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