How to get Official WhatsApp APIs?

How to get Official WhatsApp APIs?

Since its launch, the messaging app ‘WhatsApp’ has been increasing in popularity. At the time of its launch, everyone was left surprised at the fact that WhatsApp use was free. So how does an organization like WhatsApp earn money? The revenue of WhatsApp comes from WhatsApp business. The WhatsApp business platform was launched in2018, and serves as an extension of the messaging platform for use by business platforms.

Under the broad banner of WhatsApp business, the WhatsApp Business Application is available for small businesses. The cost of the application varies based on the region. In some places, WhatsApp business applications are even free of charge. Through the business app, automated greetings and away messages can easily be sent from an organization to the broadcast of users.

However, WhatsApp Business platform offers WhatsApp business APIs for medium-to-large businesses. The massive engagement of large companies with their users is facilitated through the application’s extended features. It is an advantageous way of marketing. It is reported that users receiving WhatsApp messages from the organization view the messages within five minutes.

Now one requires a WhatsApp API account to connect the company's software to WhatsApp. The WhatsApp APIs are not available freely through WhatsApp. There is a clear, structured process for officially setting up the WhatsApp API for businesses.

The process of procuring official WhatsApp APIs

The WhatsApp APIs are used by large companies. To set up the WhatsApp Business APIs, there is a defined process that the business needs to go through.

• Firstly, there are third-party companies that facilitate the interaction between businesses and WhatsApp. They are known as WhatsApp partners, or Business Solution Providers. One needs to choose their WhatsApp partners wisely. Approval of the business organization is required by these WhatsApp partners.
• Secondly, all the crucial information about the business needs to be submitted for due review and approval. The information includes the location, Facebook profile, the owner’s details, and some other basic details.
• Once the information is approved, you can activate a business number. This must be done carefully, since the number cannot be changed.

WhatsApp Business Solution Providers

WhatsApp Partners, or BSPs, are third-party providers that offer applications and tools that help integrate WhatsApp into one’s business. To choose a BSP that supports one’s organization's business needs, the first step is to look into the Meta Partner Directory. It is a compilation of the official list of business service providers.

There are several things that one needs to keep in mind before choosing WhatsApp Business API partners. Some of the things are as follows:

• Pricing Model: Different business solution providers offer pricing packages based on diverse features. The most common pricing packages are monthly packages and messaging bundles.
  Either the pricing is calculated on a per month basis, or sometimes it is defined for different sessions and template messages.
• Flexibility: The business solution providers need to be selected carefully according to their flexibility. The best choice of BSPs is the ones that are available in diverse countries and languages.
• Embedded Sign-up: The WhatsApp partners that are already available with the embedded sign-up are easy to use and access. All of the features are available to businesses directly through the application.

An Overview of the Use of the WhatsApp Business Model

The WhatsApp business model aims to provide a high-quality experience for both businesses and users. To provide this quality experience, there are policies and regulations that need to be followed.

Firstly, there are sets of business and commerce policies that protect the user’s data and restrict the marketing of illegal products and services in the guise of organizations.

The business policy also includes the active consent of users before a business organization reaches them. There are ways in which contact can be established between the users and business organizations. Either a user initiates the contact, or other convenient messaging model includes the users opting for the contact in checkbox opt in.

The WhatsApp business platform works exactly the same as a normal profile. However, it has some additional details, such as a website, business address, and business hours.

There are some messaging limitations on the business profile as well. The kind of messages that can be sent to the user also depends on the duration since the user’s last message. There are two kinds of messages that can be sent on WhatsApp business profiles—session messages and template messages.

Session messages are the replies to the user’s messages within a time window of one day. However, template messages are the messages that are built on a pre-existing template. The content of the template messages needs to be approved first by the WhatsApp business solution providers. Pre-existing templates also need to be approved by the BSPs. Rejected messages are usually those that include insufficient details, promotional messages, spam, and ambiguous messages.

Is the WhatsApp Business API right for your business?

Sometimes, this question can linger in the minds of first-time users. Especially with WhatsApp business API accounts available for free, sometimes doubt creeps up if you have made the right decision to invest in WhatsApp business APIs. To determine if you chose right, go through the following statements:

• Yours is a large business, and you frequently have to participate in massive engagements. (Usually, massive includes more than 400users.)
• You need a way to deliver automated messages to all the users, such as product updates, transaction updates, and other related stuff.
• If you feel the need to improve your customer experience and offer personalized customer support.
• The customer support staff is minimal, and you need assistance in managing the user's queries.
• You feel that the customer conversations require more people than it should require.

WhatsApp’s extended program of WhatsApp business platform serves as a crucial means to facilitate smooth business activities between the users and the business organization.