Boasting about 2 billion active monthly users, Facebook-owned WhatsApp is one of the most popular mobile messenger apps in the world.
Since launching in 2018, the WhatsApp for Business app has become a very valuable customer communication tool for businesses everywhere. With this app, small businesses can:
- Connect with customers 1x1 to provide personalised service and support
- Send quick replies to common questions
- Display and highlight their products and services
- Deliver important, timely notifications
- Send automated messages out of office hours
And what about WhatsApp API? Is it the same as or similar to the WhatsApp Business app?
In this brief guide, we answer this and many other questions you may have about WhatsApp API. We hope it helps you make an informed decision about whether you need it for your company!
WhatsApp Business App vs WhatsApp API
The WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp API are two different WhatsApp offerings.
The app is perfect for small businesses that need a convenient and reliable way to interact with customers on-the-go. To create an app account, users must use a separate SIM card or number. They cannot use the same SIM as their personal WhatsApp account. The WhatsApp API is designed for medium and large businesses looking to leverage the broad reach of the WhatsApp platform to improve their sales and customer support. It is not an app, and there is no front-end
interface.
With a WhatsApp API, businesses can:
- Talk to customers anywhere in the world
- Share important information, e.g. business address, description, website, email address
- Send timely notifications and alerts
- Bring customers closer to the brand to boost its equity and recall value
Key Features of WhatsApp API
Here’s a quick rundown:
- The WhatsApp API solution requires a “clean” number. A number that’s already being used to provide customer service cannot be reused.
- It maintains end-to-end encryption if there’s no third-party access to content between endpoints.
- If endpoint management is delegated to a third-party Business Solution Provider, messages are not end-to-end encrypted.
- A single phone number can have only one WhatsApp Business API Client running on it.
- The Client is a hosted solution that requires a database to store the encryption keys
- WhatsApp cannot read these keys.
To know more about the technical specifications of the WhatsApp API, review the FAQ page here.
How Can I Get WhatsApp API for My Business?
If your small business needs a simple yet reliable way to connect with customers, try the WhatsApp Business app. It’s available for both Android and iOS, and you can download it yourself for free.
To use WhatsApp Business API, you need to partner with a business solution provider (WhatsApp Partner) like Gupshup. Setting up the WhatsApp API can be complicated, but Gupshup makes it super easy. With our low-code platform, you can get started with the API in just a few steps. Gupshup works on a cost-effective, pay-as-you-go model so you don’t have to make a large monthly fee commitment.
You also get these additional advantages:
- Easy setup, regardless of the company’s size or scale
- Free sandbox environment to “try before you buy”
- Pre-approved templates to send quick alerts or time-sensitive information to customers
- Data-rich analytics to gauge the effectiveness of your customer support
- Highly responsive support team to guide with implementation and post-implementation
With an average open rate of over 98%, WhatsApp has proved itself to be a very effective tool for sales and customer support. And the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to add WhatsApp to your medium/large enterprise’s customer support ecosystem is via Gupshup’s WhatsApp API platform. Click here to learn more or to get started right-away.