Across Asia, where mobile-first communication is the norm, WhatsApp Business Accounts offer a strategic advantage for marketers. WhatsApp Business is a free messaging app available for download from the Google Play Store or the App Store, specifically created for businesses to interact directly with their customers. It mirrors the functionality and design of the WhatsApp Messenger app but includes professional tools to cater to business needs. With around 750 million users from Asia interacting with WhatsApp business accounts particularly from countries like India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, leveraging WhatsApp Business can help companies engage more effectively with their audience, streamline customer service, and drive sales.
WhatsApp Messenger Account vs WhatsApp Business Account
Most people will be familiar with the standard WhatsApp messenger account, which over two billion people globally have on their phones. WhatsApp Messenger is a free messaging app available on smartphones, allowing users to send text messages, voice messages, make voice and video calls, share images, documents, user locations, and other media. It is designed for personal use and is ideal for communicating with friends and family.
You can use a Messenger Account to communicate with individuals on a one-to-one basis or for creating groups, but it’s not built to support broad WhatsApp marketing campaigns directly. Alternatively, the WhatsApp Business App has the same interface as the Messenger account, with some additional features, making it tailored for small to medium-sized businesses.
If you’re just starting out on WhatsApp and deciding which account to use, the table below highlights the key differences between the two. We’ll also explore the key features of WhatsApp Business Account that you should try.
|
Feature |
WhatsApp Messenger |
WhatsApp Business |
|
Target Audience |
General public and individual users |
Small to medium-sized businesses |
|
Purpose |
Personal communication |
Business communication and customer service |
|
Messaging |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Voice calls |
Yes |
Yes |
|
End-to-end encryption |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Basic automations |
No |
Yes |
|
Broadcasts |
No |
Limited |
|
Catalogues |
No |
Yes |
|
QR codes |
No |
Yes |
|
Quick replies |
No |
Yes |
|
Labels |
No |
Yes |
|
Messaging statistics |
No |
Yes |
|
Cost |
Free |
Free |
WhatsApp Business Account features to try:
1. WhatsApp Business Profile
The WhatsApp Business Profile allows you to create a virtual business card that instils trust and professionalism. By filling out essential information such as your business name, logo, description, address, email, website, and hours of operation, you provide customers with a comprehensive view of your business.
2. Channels
The channels feature enables one-way communication, allowing you to broadcast one-way updates via text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls, similar to Instagram broadcast channels. Available in select countries, channels offer a way for customers to engage by adding emoji reactions or voting on polls. Channel history is stored on servers for up to 30 days, with measures in place to block screenshots and forwards, ensuring content remains secure and private. This feature is located under the updates section, providing a streamlined way to share important information with your audience.
3. Broadcasts
WhatsApp Business App's broadcast feature allows you to send messages to up to 256 contacts simultaneously, making it ideal for announcing promotions, special offers, and new inventory. This feature is limited to contacts already in your address book, ensuring your messages reach an engaged audience. With broadcasts, you can efficiently share important updates with multiple customers at once, streamlining your communication and enhancing your marketing efforts.
If you are looking to send WhatsApp broadcasts to over 256 contacts at a time, you’ll need to use a WhatsApp Business Platform like Sinorbis. Request a demo to see how you can engage larger audiences on WhatsApp.
4. Catalogue
WhatsApp's catalogue feature allows small businesses to showcase their products and services in a mobile storefront, enhancing the shopping experience for customers. Business users can create a catalogue displayed on their profile, featuring up to 500 items. Each product or service includes a unique title and optional fields such as price (available in certain countries), description, website link, and product code. You can also send your entire catalogue to existing customers and share catalogue links through social media and other platforms to reach a wider audience.
5. Quick replies
Quick replies allow you to create shortcuts for messages your contacts frequently send, enabling you to respond to common questions with just a few taps. This is particularly useful if you receive many inquiries about the same frequently asked questions. You can set up to 50 quick replies, including default responses based on the information in your business profile, such as opening hours or contact details. This feature streamlines communication, ensuring timely and consistent responses to your customers.
6. Basic automations
WhatsApp Business Accounts have basic automations that allows organisations to set up automated greetings, enabling them to send a custom welcome message to new customers or contacts as soon as they initiate a conversation. This ensures customers feel acknowledged and valued from the start. Additionally, you can configure away messages to automatically respond to inquiries received outside of business hours, setting expectations for when you will be available again and be able to respond. These automations can help you maintain a professional and responsive communication experience, to enhance customer satisfaction and efficiency.
If you’re looking to automate more than just welcome and away messages, such as converting your quick replies into chatbots to enable your team to do more with less and keep your contacts engaged around the clock, our team can show you how to leverage advanced WhatsApp automations for efficient growth.
7. Labels
This feature allows you to organise and filter important customer conversations efficiently, by setting up to 20 labels on your messages. This helps you quickly find and respond to messages that need your attention, saving you hours of sifting through conversations. Additionally, labels enable you to segment your customer base, making it easy to share marketing messages, promotions, reminders, and more with specific groups of customers at once. This streamlined approach ensures effective communication and enhances customer management.
8. Statistics
The statistics on WhatsApp Business Accounts offers useful insights into your messaging performance by tracking the number of messages sent, delivered, read, and received (excluding broadcasts). This helps you understand how customers are interacting with your messages, including whether they have read and replied. By analysing this data, you can refine and improve your future messages, ensuring more effective communication and higher customer engagement.
9. Marketing tools
The WhatsApp Business Account comes with marketing tools that help you build your customer base with ease. You can create and share short links, QR codes, and action buttons on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, allowing potential customers to message you directly. These entry points make it simple for people to connect with your business, enhancing your reach and facilitating seamless digital engagement.
Download our WhatsApp Marketing 101 guide to unlock effective marketing and engagement strategies to maximise your reach and enhance customer interactions.
10. API access
If you have a larger organisation or have already outgrown the features above, the good news is, if you already have a WhatsApp Business Account you can upgrade your account to access the advanced features of the WhatsApp API, also known as the WhatsApp Business Platform.
WhatsApp Business API vs WhatsApp Business Account
The WhatsApp Business API, also known as WhatsApp Business Platform, is designed for organisations that need to scale their customer interactions as you can broadcasts messages to more than 256 contacts, has unlimited segments for when you’ve already used all 20 of your labels, and unlimited automations for when you’ve used all 50 of your quick replies. Unlike the regular WhatsApp Business app, the API does not have a user interface, instead needs to be connected via a partner like Sinorbis.
Moreover, the WhatsApp Business API allows you to set advanced automations like chatbots and automated segmentation via the WhatsApp automation tool. This eliminates the need to respond to every message and manually sort your contacts.
Below is a quick comparison between the WhatsApp Business Account and WhatsApp Business API. For more information on the advanced features of the platform check our WhatsApp marketing software blog.
|
Features |
WhatsApp Business |
WhatsApp Business API |
|
Messaging |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Voice call |
Yes |
No |
|
Multiple users |
No |
Yes |
|
Automations |
Basic automations (Greetings and away replies) |
Advanced automations (Chatbots and automated segmenting) |
|
Broadcast |
Limited to 256 contacts per broadcast |
Starts at 256 contacts per broadcast with ability to scale number of contacts |
|
External integrations (CRMs, etc.) |
No |
Yes |
|
App interface provided by WhatsApp |
No |
Yes |
|
Analytics |
Message statistics |
Conversation, message, template analytics |
|
Cost |
Free |
Cost per conversation |
WhatsApp Business Accounts offer a robust array of features tailored to enhance business communication, customer service, and marketing efforts, particularly in Asia's mobile-first landscape. However, if you're looking to scale your communications on WhatsApp, the Business account may not be enough. Upgrading to the WhatsApp Business Platform unlocks advanced capabilities allowing for scalability and efficient management of your WhatsApp account. Request a demo today to see how the WhatsApp Business Platform can elevate your marketing strategy across Asia.
