What is a WhatsApp Business Account?

By Prerna Pundir | Last Updated on September 2nd, 2024 7:51 am

WhatsApp has become a global phenomenon, with over two billion users! This massive user base includes a significant number of people who prefer to connect with businesses directly through WhatsApp. As a business owner, this presents a huge opportunity to reach and engage with your target audience. But with a standard WhatsApp account, functionality is limited. Instead, you can use WhatsApp Business to bridge the gap between businesses and their customers.

WhatsApp Business offers a powerful solution specifically designed for businesses to connect with customers. It offers a suite of features specifically designed for businesses, but what truly elevates your communication is the ability to integrate a WhatsApp Business bot. Let's explore how WhatsApp Business, along with a chatbot, can transform your customer communication strategy!

Create WhatApp Business Bot

What is a WhatsApp Business account?

WhatsApp Business is a messaging app, available for download on the Google Play Store or the App Store. It supports both Android and iPhone devices. It helps businesses connect with their customers. It works much like the regular WhatsApp Messenger, allowing you to message, send photos, and more. Specifically designed for businesses, it can be accessed via a browser using WhatsApp Web. It also includes helpful tools to automate messages, organize chats, and even advertise products and services.

One of the powerful features available to businesses using WhatsApp Business is the ability to integrate a WhatsApp bot. A WhatsApp bot, using the WhatsApp Business API, enables businesses to automate many aspects of customer interaction. These bots can handle a wide range of tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions, providing product recommendations, processing orders, and offering customer support 24/7.

With a WhatsApp bot, businesses can ensure they are always available to their customers, even outside of regular business hours. This automation can significantly improve response times and customer satisfaction. Additionally, WhatsApp bots can be programmed to handle multiple conversations simultaneously, making them an efficient solution for managing high volumes of customer inquiries.

By using WhatsApp Business and integrating a chatbot, companies can create a smooth and efficient WhatsApp bot, improving their ability to engage with customers, provide timely support, and promote their products and services effectively. The good news is, you don't need to be a tech whiz to create your own WhatsApp Business bot. Appy Pie Chatbot Builder offers a user-friendly platform that allows you to curate your chatbot and smoothly integrate it with your WhatsApp Business account.

Chatbot for WhatsApp Business Use Cases

WhatsApp chatbots offer a versatile solution for businesses looking to optimize their operations across various platforms. Here are some specific use cases that highlight the efficiency and effectiveness of chatbots in enhancing business processes:

Lead Qualification

For some services, businesses need to gather detailed information from potential customers to determine if they fit their ideal customer profile. If they do, the business can offer their service. This process of qualifying leads is repetitive and necessary for all potential customers. A WhatsApp chatbot can handle this task. Using reply buttons, leads can easily select their responses, helping the chatbot quickly create their profile. If the profile matches the business's criteria, the chatbot assigns an agent to assist them further. If not, it promptly informs them.

Personalized Assistance

Chatbots can address customers by name, helping to create a more personal connection. This personal touch can improve the customer's view of the business and increase their likelihood of making a purchase. Chatbots can also provide customized assistance based on customer inquiries. For example, if a customer has trouble placing an order, the chatbot can give step-by-step instructions to help them complete the process.

Lead Generation via Instagram & Facebook Ads

Many businesses, such as eCommerce, travel, and education companies, promote their products and services on Instagram and Facebook. They can add a button to their ads that, when clicked, opens the customer’s WhatsApp chatbot for direct communication with the business. Customers can then ask questions about product details, pricing, how to purchase or book a product or service, and more. Businesses often have standard procedures for handling these common questions or repetitive tasks. As a result, chatbots can manage many of these inquiries.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Sometimes, people start to buy things online, but they never finish the purchase. This is called an "abandoned cart." It happens when someone puts items in their shopping cart, but then they don't buy them. There could be many reasons why someone leaves. Maybe they see that the shipping costs are too high. However, a chatbot can help by sending a message to the customer and offering them a discount. This can encourage them to finish their purchase.

Automated Sales

Lead or potential buyers can message you on WhatsApp to ask about certain products. Your WhatsApp chatbot can show them these products using either single-product or multi-product messages. To generate leads efficiently, you can use a lead generation chatbot and integrate it with your WhatsApp Business account, turning it into a powerful WhatsApp bot. This setup allows you to capture and nurture leads directly through the platform, ensuring a smooth and automated flow from inquiry to conversion.

Build Inquiry Bot

What is the WhatsApp Business account price?

Good news! There is no WhatsApp Business account charge. The app itself is completely free to download and use. You can start using it right away without any subscription fees. The core features of WhatsApp Business, such as messaging customers and organizing chats, are all free of charge. However, keep in mind that if you plan to use WhatsApp Business for marketing messages, you will need to pay for any ads you run.

How to create WhatsApp Business account?

To set up the WhatsApp Business app:

Download the app: WhatsApp Business is available at no cost on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Locate the app icon on your home screen after installation.
Accept the Terms of Service: Open the app, review the provided Terms of Service, and tap on 'Agree and Continue' to proceed.
Register your number: Choose your country from the provided list to automatically fill in the country code, then enter your phone number in the international format. After tapping 'Done' or 'Next', confirm to receive a 6-digit code via SMS or call. Enter this code to finalize your registration.
Grant Permissions: Allow the app to access your contacts to easily connect with them, and permit access to your photos, videos, and files for business-related sharing.
Set Up Your Account: Input your business name, select an appropriate category for your business, and upload a profile picture that represents your business.
Complete Your Business Profile: Navigate to EXPLORE > Business Profile, where you can add detailed information such as your business address, a brief description, operating hours, and other relevant details.
Initiate Conversations: With your business profile ready, start messaging by tapping the message icon, selecting a contact, entering your message, and then sending it.

Benefits of WhatsApp Business Account

WhatsApp business account benefits are as follows:

Establish trust with your audience

WhatsApp Business prioritizes security with end-to-end encryption. This instills confidence in customers about sharing personal information, protecting data, and building customer trust. Additionally, verified WhatsApp Business profiles validate businesses, increasing credibility and trustworthiness.

Improves customer engagement

WhatsApp Business promotes direct customer communication, offering instant assistance, order updates, and promotions, all within a familiar platform. This personalized experience improves customer satisfaction and engagement.

Automated customer interaction

Automation guarantees timely customer responses, from initial welcomes to common query replies. It improves the customer journey by acknowledging inquiries immediately, creating a sense of value. Simultaneously, it improves operations, allowing support teams to focus on complex issues. Personalized, brand-aligned messages ensure that automated interactions remain engaging and human-like.

High cost-effectiveness

WhatsApp Business offers a budget-friendly way to engage with customers, reducing communication expenses significantly. Unlike SMS or international calls, it operates over the internet, eliminating per-message charges. This enables businesses, especially those with limited funds, to send updates, promotions, and support messages without incurring additional costs.

Global accessibility

Statista reports over 200 million users on WhatsApp Business as of July 2023, turning it into a global marketplace. The app transcends international communication barriers, allowing businesses to connect with customers worldwide instantly and personally, regardless of location. This democratizes access for small and medium businesses, enabling them to compete on a global scale economically.

Top Features Of WhatsApp Business Account

WhatsApp Business account features include the following:

Business Profiles

A WhatsApp Business profile serves as a digital business card, providing customers with your company's contact details, operating hours, and location. This builds trust and credibility. To create your profile, download the WhatsApp Business app and input your business details during the initial setup process. You can modify this information later in the Business Tools section.

Product Catalogs

WhatsApp's catalog feature allows businesses to showcase products and services using photos, videos, or text. Catalogs can be public or private, and customers can browse and add items to their carts. The feature is available for WhatsApp verified Business accounts and helps track customer engagement and sales.

Quick Replies

WhatsApp Business offers quick replies to respond to messages without writing a full reply each time. You can create up to 50 quick replies, assigning shortcuts and keywords for easy access during conversations. Simply type "/" to view your quick replies. It's a good idea to prepare responses for common questions and situations, such as thanking customers for their orders.

Multiple Devices Accessibility

You can use WhatsApp Business on multiple devices, but you'll need to configure your WhatsApp Business API account to enable this feature. Keep in mind that the API doesn't have any conversation panel or chatbot interface of its own. Therefore, it's a good idea to choose a vendor that offers WhatsApp Business API solutions, including shared inboxes and multi-agent features.

Automated Response

Apart from quick replies, you can also set up automated responses for various situations. For instance, WhatsApp Business lets you send away messages when you're unavailable. Simply set your business hours in the business profile and select the "Outside of business hours" option to trigger these messages. This way, customers who reach out to you during non-business hours will receive an automatic response.

What is WhatsApp automation?

WhatsApp automation involves using software to automatically send messages and communicate with clients. This helps businesses manage repetitive tasks, handle customer inquiries, and provide quick and personalized responses without manual intervention. WhatsApp automation saves time and resources, improves response time, and enhances customer satisfaction.

But how does WhatsApp automation work?

WhatsApp automation works when third-party platforms connect with WhatsApp API. This allows users to automate tasks more simply. Here's how:

Chatbots: AI Chatbots are like digital assistants that can talk back to customers. They're programmed to answer common questions and provide help quickly.
Notifications: These are automatic reminders and updates sent at specific times or when certain things happen.
Workflow automation: This is a way to organize work and tasks. It includes auto-replying to certain words and automatically scheduling messages.

How to automate WhatsApp Business using Appy Pie?

Appy Pie Automate allows you to automate your business workflows using customized triggers and actions. WhatsApp Business and Appy Pie Chatbot integration allows businesses to send messages to customers' WhatsApp accounts after a chatbot conversation concludes. When a customer finishes interacting with the chatbot, the integration automatically triggers a message to be sent to the customer's WhatsApp account. This integration provides businesses with an additional channel to communicate with customers and deliver important information. The WhatsApp message can contain details related to the chatbot conversation, such as a summary of the discussion, next steps, or relevant links. This integration allows businesses to maintain contact with customers and offer support through a widely-used messaging platform.

WhatsApp vs WhatsApp Business

Feature	WhatsApp	WhatsApp Business
Target Audience	Personal use, individuals	Businesses, small to medium-sized enterprises
Profile Information	Simple profile	Comprehensive business profile (name, description, address, email, website)
Messaging Features	Basic messaging	Standard features + quick replies, automated messages, chat labels
Catalog Feature	Not available	Create catalogs to showcase products/services
Automated Messaging	Not available	Greeting messages, away messages, quick replies
Message Statistics	Not available	Basic messaging statistics (sent, delivered, read, received)
Labels for Chats	Not available	Label chats (e.g., "New Customer," "Pending Payment")
Broadcast Lists	Limited to personal use	Effective for updates, promotions, announcements
API Access	Not available	WhatsApp Business API for integration with CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, other business tools
User Verification	Phone number verification only	Option for verified badge (green checkmark) to indicate legitimate business

While both platforms share the familiar WhatsApp interface, there are key differences between WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business that cater to different needs. Let's take a look:

Target Audience

WhatsApp: Designed for personal use, primarily aimed at individuals looking to communicate with friends and family.

WhatsApp Business: Specifically designed for businesses to facilitate communication with customers and clients, making it ideal for small to medium-sized enterprises.

Profile Information

WhatsApp: Users have a simple profile with their name, a status message, and a profile picture.

WhatsApp Business: Businesses can create a comprehensive profile that includes business name, description, address, email, and website. This helps customers find more detailed information about the business.

Messaging Features

WhatsApp: Supports basic messaging features such as text, voice, video calls, and the sharing of photos, videos, documents, and locations.

WhatsApp Business: Includes all standard WhatsApp features plus business-specific tools like quick replies, automated greeting and away messages, and the ability to label and categorize chats for better organization.

Catalog Feature

WhatsApp: Does not have a catalog feature.

WhatsApp Business: Allows businesses to create a catalog to showcase products and services directly within the app, making it easy for customers to browse and inquire about items.

Automated Messaging

WhatsApp: No support for automated messaging features.

WhatsApp Business: Provides automated messaging options such as greeting messages for new customers, away messages during off-hours, and quick replies to frequently asked questions, enhancing customer service efficiency.

Message Statistics

WhatsApp: Does not offer message statistics or analytics.

WhatsApp Business: Offers basic messaging statistics, allowing businesses to track metrics like the number of messages sent, delivered, read, and received. This helps in understanding customer engagement and improving communication strategies.

Labels for Chats

WhatsApp: Lacks features for organizing or categorizing chats.

WhatsApp Business: Allows businesses to label chats with tags such as "New Customer," "Pending Payment," or "Order Completed," facilitating better management of customer interactions and workflows.

Broadcast Lists

WhatsApp: Users can create broadcast lists to send messages to multiple contacts at once, but the feature is limited to personal use.

WhatsApp Business: Businesses can use broadcast lists more effectively for sending updates, promotions, and important announcements to a large number of customers simultaneously.

API Access

WhatsApp: No API access for integrating with other applications or systems.

WhatsApp Business: Provides API access through the WhatsApp Business API, allowing businesses to integrate their WhatsApp account with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, e-commerce platforms, and other business tools for enhanced functionality and automation.

User Verification

WhatsApp: Personal accounts do not require verification beyond a phone number.

WhatsApp Business: Businesses can apply for a verified badge, which adds a layer of trust and authenticity to their profile. Verified accounts are marked with a green checkmark, indicating to customers that they are interacting with a legitimate business.

Conclusion

WhatsApp Business offers a powerful suite of tools to transform your customer communication strategy. From establishing trust with a verified profile to automating responses with chatbots, it streamlines operations and boosts customer satisfaction. This guide explored the key features and benefits of WhatsApp Business, along with how to set up your account and use automation using Appy Pie. Consider if WhatsApp Business can be a game-changer for your business!

Prerna Pundir