Differences between WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business

In today’s digital world, communication is fast becoming a critical component of business success. Many digital businesses have started to use a wide range of platforms to improve their communication process and create meaningful relationships with their clients. Among those platforms, WhatsApp has proven to be the best.

Why is WhatsApp so popular?

WhatsApp is one of the leading communication platforms in the current generation because of its host of features, user-friendly design, intuitive UX & security. The platform also helps users communicate seamlessly using videos, pictures and other multimedia messages. From a business perspective, WhatsApp’s ever-growing user base is enticing because it provides access to a host of global/local customers.

What is Whatsapp Business?

While WhatsApp is used for personal communications, WhatsApp Business was started to help small businesses communicate with their customers. The user interface and design of WhatsApp Business are very similar to the normal WhatsApp which makes it familiar for both the businesses and customers. Brands can create a comprehensive business profile with address, website link, contact number & email in WhatsApp Business to help customers learn more about them. Also, the business app provides messaging and automation tools that ensure seamless customer support.

Whatsapp vs Whatsapp Business: What are the differences?

While the interface of the WhatsApp Business application is highly similar to the regular WhatsApp, there are some fundamental differences between both. It’s critical that business owners understand the following key differences to make sure that they identify any opportunities that they have.

Account Creation

Both WhatsApp & WhatsApp Business allows their users to create a personal profile. While WhatsApp only allows its users to add a profile picture and a description, the business application enables businesses to add other details including business category, address, business hours, email address and website link. This allows the businesses to build a trustworthy & professional brand image for themselves.

Suggested Read: How to Open a WhatsApp Business Account: A Step-by-Step Guide

Security & Privacy

Both WhatsApp & WhatsApp Business offers end-to-end encryption for all chats. This allows businesses to communicate with their customers without worrying about any potential data leaks. In addition to encryption, businesses using WhatsApp Business can also verify their business details by providing the required information and increasing customer trust. Businesses should also comply with the GDPR, a regulation that was set up to ensure that customers are not spammed by businesses.

Furthermore, WhatsApp Business also ensures additional security from spam messages. In WhatsApp Business, Businesses cannot initiate free-form conversations and can only send pre-approved template messages.

Messaging Abilities

Much like WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business also allows businesses to send text and multimedia messages through one-to-one, broadcast and group messages. Both the platforms also support WhatsApp’s in-chat payment. In addition to general messages, WhatsApp Business also allows businesses to send Quick Replies & automate Greetings/Away messages. These automated messages are very useful for businesses because they can offer superior customer support 24/7 without requiring an additional support team.

Multimedia Support

This is a point that is common for both WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business. Both platforms enable their users to share videos, images and audio files. The multimedia support that WhatsApp offers is one of the main USPs that the platform provides. In fact, WhatsApp also allows its users to send multimedia messages as broadcast messages or notifications. This gives businesses the opportunity to share informative posts that are more interactive in nature.

Pricing

WhatsApp is free for all users. However, business that use WhatsApp Business is charged based on the number of conversations that they partake in a 24-hour session. Businesses will not be charged for replying to user-initated conversations, however they will be charged for all template messages and notifications. These charges vary based on the region that the users are based in. WhatsApp Business also helps businesses by providing 1000 free conversations per month.

Suggested Read: WhatsApp vs WhatsApp Business: Differences and FAQs

Is WhatsApp Business better than normal WhatsApp?

This is a question that runs on the minds of many business owners while they think about choosing WhatsApp Business. If you are one of those people, we can confidently say that the business app is better than normal WhatsApp. For small and medium businesses, WhatsApp Business provides many advantages that are hard to find in the normal WhatsApp. The host of features provided by the business app allows businesses to get more out of the platform. Moreover, the Business app is designed in a way that it can help businesses establish a strong brand image. The platform also ensures that businesses can build trust and reach a global audience.

WhatsApp Business features and benefits

Since WhatsApp Business was built for businesses, it offers a list of features. These additional features provide immense benefits to businesses from all walks of life. The following are some of the critical features:

Chat Labels

The customer support team can label their chats in WhatsApp Business. By marking important conversations with customers, businesses can ensure seamless customer experience. Moreover, these labels also allow other teams in the business to identify and fix any issue immediately.

In addition to the normal user-level, group-level and text-level search, WhatsApp Business also allows businesses to search chats based on labels. This could help create a highly efficient customer workflow.

Link Sharing

In addition to using the contact number and chatbot, WhatsApp Business also allows businesses to create and share short links to customers that they can use to start their conversations. Businesses can create a short link and add a default message that will be shown when the customer clicks the link.

Once the customer clicks the link, they will be sent to a web page that shows the business information and the message. They can then click ‘Continue to Chat’ to start a private chat with the business.

Automation & Analytics

Businesses can set automatic ‘Greeting messages’ that will be shown to the customers when they initiate the chat. They can also set ‘Away messages’ to be shown during holidays or non-business hours. Furthermore, WhatsApp Business also lets businesses track customers and conversations to generate insightful reports. It also allows them to use the chatbot to run surveys and gain valuable feedback.

In addition to these features, WhatsApp Business also provides more benefits to small and medium business owners. Click here to learn more.

Think Beyond WhatsApp Business App. What is WhatsApp Business API?

There’s no doubt that WhatsApp Business offers excellent benefits for small & medium businesses. However, businesses that are looking to grow exponentially might find the app lacking. That’s why WhatsApp launched the WhatsApp Business API.

The API (application program interface) enables businesses to seamlessly integrate WhatsApp Business with their business workflows. Since the Business API is just an interface, businesses need to partner with WhatsApp Business Partners to create their own business profile. This step also acts as a verification process that shows WhatsApp that your business is trustworthy.

Suggested Read: To know more about this process, check our WhatsApp Business API blog.

While this might seem like a hassle, the API offers numerous features and opportunities. In addition to automation support, the API also allows businesses to automate an entire conversational flow that can guide customers through a specific query/process. This allows businesses to offer the best customer support even with a limited staff. Furthermore, WhatsApp Business API also allows businesses to create customized chatbots that are specifically designed for their domains. For example,

• WhatsApp Education chatbots help schools, universities and other businesses in the education domain provide admission support to new students and online assistance to their existing students.
• WhatsApp Travel chatbots are designed to help travel agencies & guides offer seamless support to customers.
• Real Estate chatbots help realtors communicate with their customers & offer assistance from any location at any time.
• WhatsApp BFSI chatbots help banks & other financial institutions to improve customer service through live chat.
• WhatsApp E-Commerce chatbots help e-commerce sites offer 24/7 support to their customers and guide them throughout the purchase process.

Therefore, we can clearly see that WhatsApp Business API offers a huge advantage to businesses that are looking to scale across the globe.

Frequently Asked Questions on WhatsApp Business

Why do I need a business account?

WhatsApp Business is a platform that is specifically created to help businesses their customer base, build a stronger presence and promote themselves in an efficient way. For many small and medium-sized businesses, the WhatsApp Business app is a suitable solution for building a loyal customer base. This is because it offers a host of useful features like message automation, chat labelling and much more. So, your business should definitely choose the WhatsApp Business account and start using the app.

How do I identify a WhatsApp Business profile as a customer?

If you are a customer, then you can click on the contact number of the business and check its WhatsApp profile. If the profile has either the ‘Business Account’ or the ‘Official Business Account’ label, then it is a business account. Official Business Accounts will have a green tick mark next to the profile name as they have been verified by the WhatsApp team.

How many messages can I send on WhatsApp Business?

WhatsApp Business has a messaging limit and it is determined based on the number of conversations that a business sends in a rolling 24-hour session. The messaging limit can be divided into four tiers, namely:

Tier 1: Limits messages to 1000 customers in a 24-hour session.

Tier 2: Limits messages to 10,000 customers in a 24-hour session.

Tier 3: Limits messages to 1,00,000 customers in a 24-hour session.

Tier 4: Unlimited business-initiated conversations in a 24-hour session.

When businesses install WhatsApp Business, they start at Tier 1 and then move to the next tier once they exceed the limit. Please note that it takes nearly 7 days for WhatsApp to move a business to the next tier.

How much does WhatsApp Business cost?

WhatsApp charges businesses per conversation. These charges are calculated in a rolling 24-hour period. WhatsApp splits the conversations into two basic categories:

User-Initiated - These are chats where a business responds to a customer. Since the chat was initiated by the customer, WhatsApp doesn’t charge businesses for replying to these chats.

Business-Initiated - These are greeting messages, notifications and other template chats that are initiated by the business. WhatsApp charges businesses for these conversations and this price differs based on the user’s location.

In addition, WhatsApp offers 1000 free conversations per month to each business.

How can I send a message to 10000 contacts on WhatsApp?

The WhatsApp Business app allows businesses to send bulk chats to 1000+ contacts using the broadcast list. You can create a broadcast list on WhatsApp by following these simple steps:

• Open WhatsApp.
• Go to the main menu.
• Choose “New Broadcast”
• Select Plus (+) and add your desired contacts. (You can send broadcast messages to only saved mobile numbers)
• Tap on done.
• Your broadcast list is ready.

Please note that WhatsApp only allows businesses to send pre-approved template messages as broadcast messages.

How can I change my WhatsApp number to WhatsApp business?

You can change your WhatsApp account to a WhatsApp Business account if it is associated with the business you are running. Simply follow these steps to convert to a business account:

• Download the WhatsApp Business application to your device.
• Review the terms and register your mobile number.
• Transfer your existing account and allow access.
• Add business profile details and get started.

While the process is easy, we would advise you to backup your files.

Can I use WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business on same number?

No. Both your WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business numbers should be linked to their own unique numbers. If you wish to use both the apps on the same phone, you can install both the applications and create two unique accounts based on your personal number and business number.

What is the meaning of ‘This chat is with a business account WhatsApp’

This is a notification that is shown to customers who receive a message from a WhatsApp business account. If you are seeing this when you receive a chat communication, then you can determine that the sender is an Official WhatsApp Business Account.

What does this message mean: ‘This Business account has now registered as a standard account on WhatsApp’

WhatsApp gives businesses the freedom to stop using the Business app for conversations at any time. When a business stops using the Business app and switches to a regular WhatsApp (either temporarily or permanently) to communicate with its customers, this notification will appear on the customer end along with the message. This basically notifies the customers that they are now communicating with an account that was previously a business account.  

Supercharge your WhatsApp Business account with Gallabox

If you’re looking to increase your business revenue with WhatsApp Business, you can easily create an account with Gallabox. Gallabox is an Indian WhatsApp Business Service Provider that offers excellent WhatsApp integration support to businesses from all domains. In addition, Gallabox also provides WhatsApp Broadcast & no-code WhatsApp Chatbot solutions for seamless customer support. So don’t hesitate, sign up now for a free trial!

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