Meta is currently pushing ahead with a new business model for its subsidiary WhatsApp. The U.S. company wants to open up the messenger service to business customers and make WhatsApp attractive for companies.
More than two billion people use the WhatsApp messenger service worldwide. The rate is also high in Germany, where 83.6 percent of Internet users accessed the service in 2021.
But now Meta also wants to get into the business of corporate communications. To make WhatsApp more usable for customer communication via the service, the Group has given its subsidiary a cloud-based API (Application Programming Interface).
What should WhatsApp look like for businesses?
Many companies have already integrated WhatsApp into their customer communications. But what will change here in the future According to an official announcement, WhatsApp wants to be available for companies that want to “communicate quickly, conveniently and reliably with their customers”.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at one of the company’s messaging events that WhatsApp should be open “to any company of any size around the world” in the future. To that end, the company has developed a new cloud-based API that will give business customers access to WhatsApp.
Since the implementation of WhatsApp has been very time-consuming for companies up to now, the cloud solution should now provide a remedy. The new API shortens “the start-up phase to just a few minutes.
What is Meta aiming to achieve by opening up WhatsApp?
Up to now, WhatsApp has been free of charge for business customers. But Meta also wants to earn money with the new function. Thus, there will also be paid premium services for the interface for companies.
On the non-cloud-based version of WhatsApp, business customers have been paying a certain amount for each message sent, as Handelsblatt writes. According to the report, these prices vary depending on the region and the total number of messages sent.
WhatsApp for businesses: What are the innovations?
Companies should also be able to manage their chats on up to ten devices via the new cloud-based solution. In this way, WhatsApp wants to enable companies to manage an increased volume of chats more quickly.
WhatsApp also wants to provide companies with customizable click-to-chat links. Companies can distribute these on their websites.
This function is to be optionally available via the premium service. However, WhatsApp wants to announce further information on this “at a future date”.
