WhatsApp Business API

Yes and no. When you sign up for WhatsApp Business Platform with your personal WhatsApp number, you are agreeing to disconnect your account from WhatsApp’s software and preparing to connect it to a non-WhatsApp application.

Though your customers can still contact you through your number as usual, you will no longer be able to receive messages through official WhatsApp applications (including their downloadable apps and WhatsApp Web)

All messages will be accessible via the WhatsApp Business Platform integration of your choice.

Yes. With the right integration, you can go beyond what the regular WhatsApp Business App provides for auto-replies and create a more customised experience for your customers. Connecting it to a CRM like HubSpot, you can personalise messages with information stored on your records and allow you to send timely messages based on contact activity (e.g. signed a proposal, submitted a form, booked an appointment, etc.).

Yes, but you will need to get permission from the contacts to do so first. Through the WhatsApp Business Platform, you can broadcast to an unlimited number of contacts. However, if a large number of contacts block or report your account after a broadcast, your account’s quality rating may drop—which could result in a warning or, in rare cases, a full block from using WhatsApp.

The key to preventing this is to (1) ask contacts to opt-in to your WhatsApp promotions before sending a broadcast, and (2) always make sure that your promotional messages are relevant and valuable to your broadcast list.

WhatsApp itself doesn’t track opt-ins from your contacts. Businesses will need to manage this on their own. To do this efficiently, you will need a CRM.

Before starting to collect opt-ins, we recommend creating custom fields or subscription types within your CRM to track contacts’ WhatsApp message preferences. Once that’s done, you can collect opt-ins however you’d like as long as it reflects accurately on your CRM afterwards. You can ask for permission through website forms with opt-in checkboxes, through chatbots, by asking in-person and then updating the subscription preferences manually, etc.

Yes, you are allowed to have multiple WhatsApp Business Platform numbers on your Facebook Business Manager Account. Most WhatsApp Business Platform integrations also allow you to connect multiple numbers to their software, but you may need to pay additional subscription fees.

Though most popular CRMs are able to integrate with WhatsApp, we’ve found that HubSpot has the most comprehensive marketing and sales automation features, and the most user-friendly interface amongst its competitors—allowing team members with very little technical knowledge to create their own automated workflows without the help of a developer.

Want to see HubSpot and WhatsApp in action? Get in touch with our automation experts.

In addition to the subscription for your CRM, you will need to pay two WhatsApp-related fees: (1) any subscription fee associated with WhatsApp Business Platform integration you’re using, as well as (2) conversation-based fees.

A “conversation” includes all messages sent within a fixed 24-hour period starting from the first message sent/received. Once you’ve used your first 1,000 free conversations per month, WhatsApp will charge you per conversation. The price of this will depend on your region and who initiated the conversation. Integration providers may also charge a small markup on official rates quoted by WhatsApp.

Official rates and examples of conversation-based pricing can be found on WhatsApp’s official documentation.