Difference between WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business, and WhatsApp API
With over 65 billion messages sent every day, WhatsApp is the most
popular messaging platform. More than 2 billion people use WhatsApp to
stay in touch with their family, friends, and slowly businesses.
Companies are now leveraging the fantastic features of WhatsApp
Business. More than 5 million businesses are using it. WhatsApp has
launched two distinct solutions for the ease of managing companies,
WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Business API.
Why did WhatsApp launch WhatsApp Business and Business API?
WhatsApp Business is quite different from the regular WhatsApp account
you have been using. WhatsApp Business has been tailored to cater to the
needs of small to large size businesses. The standard WhatsApp account
is used for personal use, while
WhatsApp businesses are used for official company purposes.
You can have two types of WhatsApp Business account-
1. WhatsApp Business App: WhatsApp Business was released
in 2018. It is an application similar to WhatsApp, best suited for small
to medium-sized businesses. Companies can create an account using their
phone number and
modify their business profile. Several information such as contact
details, website, and catalogs can be added to the profile page.
WhatsApp Business comes with the feature of “Quick Replies,” which can
be used to answer Frequently Asked Questions.
2. WhatsApp Business API: The WhatsApp Business API does not come with an interface. It is designed for larger companies that receive a large volume of messages, which the Business App cannot handle. WhatsApp Business App was severely limiting in terms of accessibility. Only one user could control the app at a time. To overcome this problem, WhatsApp Business API was launched. It is a boon for larger businesses to establish their presence on the largest chatting platform.
The regular account already had the feature of broadcasting and group chats, so why did WhatsApp release two new versions? Let’s have a look at the reasons why WhatsApp Business was needed-
1. Customer Demand: According to a survey, nearly 60% of customers feel that long holds and wait times are the most frustrating parts of a service experience. Nobody wanted to stay on hold to speak to the customer service. The conventional messaging feature was no longer practical since it lacked ease of use and multimedia features. WhatsApp Business brought a professional platform for customer service to companies.
2. Modernize Customer Communications via Automation: Apart from chatting, customers wanted a superior customer experience. Regular WhatsApp account was not efficient for the automation of sending messages. At the same time, both WhatsApp Business App and API come with a feature to automate the process of sending messages. So companies won’t have to spend much time sending messages to their customers.
3. Secure and Scalable: Another major issue that had to be taken care of was security and scalability. Customers wanted their information in safe hands. WhatsApp currently has a userbase of 2 billion and is one of the most trusted chatting platforms with an end-to-end encryption feature. Many people are using different versions of WhatsApp for various purposes. The type of account that your business should be using depends on your company’s size and messaging needs. Here are the key differences between all the three types of WhatsApp accounts which can help you decide which will be the best fit.