New WhatsApp Conversation-Based Pricing For 2023

Our favourite messaging platform- WhatsApp, which has become an important part of communications between businesses and their customers, has announced that starting February 1st, 2022 they will be switching to a conversation-based pricing model. What exactly does that mean for WhatsApp Business owners? Let’s find out all you need to know about this new pricing model and how it will benefit your business.

What is conversation-based pricing?

In the current notification-based pricing model, WhatsApp charges for every business-initiated template messages sent to users and messages sent after the 24-hour user-initiated session window. To put it in simple terms the charges that are per template message sent, will change to per conversation regardless of initiator. Effective from February the conversation-based pricing model will be priced differently according to:

1. Business-initiated conversations
2. User-initiated conversations

A conversation is defined as the messages sent within the 24-hour session window. A conversation or session starts when the first message from a business is delivered. The key takeaway from this is that the message should be in the “delivered” status and not in the “sent” status.  The first message can be initiated by:

• the business (business-initiated) or
• the business replying within 24 hours of a user message (user-initiated).

Note: Cost to the business will be incurred only once per 24-hour conversation, but the cost of the session will vary depending on the country code of the user’s phone number.

Once the 24-hour window ends, if the business sends a message a new session will begin and they will be charged.

For full details on the pricing, visit Gallabox’s, Pricing List.

WhatsApp Business Accounts- Get 1000 conversations for free each month with free entry points as well

• Get your first 1000 conversations each month for free! WhatsApp is providing businesses with the opportunity to engage with their customers and build that end-to-end experience without businesses having to pay for it. WhatsApp Business accounts get 1000 free conversations every month regardless of them being business-initiated or user-initiated.

• If a conversation is initiated by a user through Facebook CTA’s or Ads that click to WhatsApp they are termed as entry point conversations. Only the first conversation will be free of cost to businesses. This will allow businesses to use Meta’s various products to attract and capture leads free of cost.

Read More: Top 10 Advantages of a WhatsApp Business Account

Types of conversations and the fee structure that will be incurred: 4 scenarios

1. User-initiated: A single 24-hour session

Customer care or general support enquiries in a single 24-hour conversation session.

2. User-initiated: Multiple 24-hour sessions

Customer care or general support enquiries that require multiple 24-hour conversation sessions with template message.

3. Business initiated: A new/single 24-hour session

The delivery of a message template sent from a WhatsApp business account.

4. Business-initiated: A single 24-hour session

A template message leading to the user reply, this is a single business-initiated conversation.

The new pricing change will benefit your business. Let’s look at the benefits:

• 1000 free conversations per month to market your products to users.
• Businesses will not be charged for the first user-initiated conversation if it’s through a click-to-WhatsApp ad.
• Businesses can send unlimited messages within the 24-hour session window, this includes template messages. Previously WhatsApp charged for every template message sent.
• Businesses now have the chance to better promote their brand with engaging offers, personalized notifications that can scale their sales.
• Businesses can support their customers giving them an end-to-end experience without having to worry about the charges they will incur.
• The pricing of conversations also depends on whether they are business-initiated or user-initiated. This allows for the opportunity to get more creative with ad copy and design to drive more user-initiated conversations.

You can watch this video for a more detailed walkthrough on the new WhatsApp conversation-based pricing.

Gallabox - Your one-stop WhatsApp Business solution provider

If you’ve been using WhatsApp to send multiple notifications then this new conversation-based pricing is sure to boost your business marketing efforts. With this new change, WhatsApp is sure to monopolize the messaging platform’s market, and business world-over should take advantage of this multi-faceted application.

Are you looking to get your business automated with WhatsApp Business APIs? Look no further, Gallabox is a collaborative conversational tool that helps power businesses to increase their sales operations & reduce support costs with WhatsApp Business APIs. Talk to us today and get a 7-day free trial!

Further Reading

Did you find this article helpful? If so, here are some additional links that may interest you,

• WhatsApp Template Messages
• Greeting Messages for WhatsApp Business
• Session Messages Vs Template Messages: Differences Explained