The Differences between WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp is currently the most popular messaging app in the world, and it has a large user base, which makes it the most used app for business communications.

The app has over 2 billion active users daily, and more than 1 billion messages are exchanged daily between users.

Recently, the app has developed solutions for businesses to provide customer service through the WhatsApp platform on a large scale, using advanced tools and more professional platforms.

If you want to take advantage of WhatsApp’s business services, two main solutions are available. The first is to use the WhatsApp Business app, and the second is to use one of the WhatsApp Business API platforms, also known as WhatsApp Business API.

What is the WhatsApp Business app?

It is a free app available on Android and iOS platforms and can be accessed via the web. It aims to help small businesses take advantage of WhatsApp’s capabilities to serve their businesses on a limited scale.

Although it lacks some of the advanced features available in WhatsApp Business API platforms, it provides a suitable way to provide customer service as a small business and conduct limited marketing campaigns.

When using the WhatsApp Business app, you will find that it has a similar interface to the regular WhatsApp app.

Still, it has some additional features suitable for businesses instead of individuals.

You can use this app to send up to 256 messages simultaneously to registered numbers, a limited number for large companies.

We clarify for you the advantages of this app for your business briefly as follows:

A Profile Business Page

When you download the WhatsApp Business app, you can quickly convert your personal WhatsApp page to a business page.

This feature gives the impression to customers who communicate with you that they are communicating with a professional institution. Additionally, they see business-specific details such as address, website, hours of operation, and type of company.

Quick replies

This feature provides the ability to save the replies you use regularly, which helps you avoid rewriting the same messages repeatedly or copying them from an external source and saving time.

Automatic welcome messages

The app allows you to set up specific messages sent to customers when they contact you for the first time or outside business hours. This feature is similar to that available on Facebook pages.

Labels

This feature allows you to effectively organize communications by adding unique tags to specific customers, enabling you to easily classify them and track all the related processes, such as product orders.

Product Catalog

One of the benefits of the comprehensive app is the ability to create a product catalog with its description, images, and prices, which allows you to quickly and easily display your products or services to customers.

Broadcasts

This system allows you to send a unified message to a group of customers at once, with a number not exceeding 256 people, with the primary condition that they have registered their phone numbers.

When to use the WhatsApp Business app

WhatsApp Business app is designed specifically for small businesses that don’t need many daily messages and don’t need several people working in customer service simultaneously.

Although it supports connecting up to 4 devices to the same account, only one phone is allowed to be linked to the account, which means that the app is not suitable for managing several people’s customer conversations simultaneously.

As for the advanced features such as detailed reports, chatbot, working from multiple devices at the same time, shared inbox, etc., you should wonder if it is possible to do without them and whether you need them in your work.

By answering the following questions, you can determine whether the app is suitable for you or not:

• What can you do without advanced features such as detailed reports, chatbot, working from multiple devices simultaneously, shared inbox, etc.?
• Are 256 messages enough for your marketing campaigns, and don’t you need to send more than that?
• Can one person reply to all customers?
• Do you only need a free app?
• Do you need an app that works independently and does not integrate with other apps?

If your answer is “yes” to all of these questions, you can make do with the free WhatsApp Business app. If the answer is “no” or you are unsure, you may need to consider using WhatsApp Business API platforms offering more features and integrations.

Using WhatsApp Business API with Bevatel

To take advantage of the professional features that WhatsApp API offers to your business, you can rely on the Bevatel Business Chat system, one of the most prominent official WhatsApp Business API platforms that provide advanced features that help you develop marketing, sales, and technical support processes.

Using the Bevatel Business Chat platform is the only officially approved solution from Meta to take advantage of the WhatsApp API features for businesses, as Meta does not offer an official app to take advantage of the WhatsApp API features.

Now you can take advantage of the WhatsApp API features through the Bevatel Business Chat platform with fees that vary according to your needs but with capabilities and features that help you successfully use WhatsApp for marketing, customer service, sales, and technical support on a large scale.

WhatsApp Business API features

This system offers you many more professional features that help you communicate with your customers in a better way and conduct marketing, sales, and technical support processes effectively.

Let’s take a look at the most prominent WhatsApp API features:

A Profile Business Page and catalog

When using this feature, you can create a business page for your company or business activity, which includes the details and data of your business, such as working hours, address, website, and type of company.

The WhatsApp catalog, on the other hand, allows you to display the products or services you offer to your customers, and as soon as they are in your account, they can order what they want from services or products.

This feature helps you develop sales and increase profits.

Quick replies, automatic welcome messages, and labels

The app offers quick responses, automated welcome messages, and label features, allowing you to communicate with customers faster and develop sales and customer support processes.

Bevatel Business Chat features

Bevatel Business Chat offers endless features to organizations and businesses, so you can easily double your sales and provide your customers with a better experience.

Let’s explore the most prominent features of Bevatel Business Chat as follows:

One inbox for all communication channels

The unified Bevatel Business Chat platform for all of your business’s communication channels is the perfect solution for you if you want to develop customer service through WhatsApp professionally.

Bevatel system provides features that ensure real-time communication with any customer and improve the efficiency of responding to customers’ inquiries and problems.

The advanced features that the Bevatel platform offers include tags, notes, and unique attributes that can be added to each customer, improving how you communicate with customers and helping you provide better customer service.

Chatbot

In addition, you can take advantage of the AI-powered chatbot technologies available through the Bevatel Business Chat platform.

You can create a chatbot to answer frequently asked questions and meet customer needs quickly and effectively.

You can customize WhatsApp messages to inform customers of order updates, registration, or other events, making communicating with customers convenient and quick.

Interactive messages

Bevatel Business Chat platform offers the interactive message feature, where you can create messages that contain images and multiple features, which increases communication organization and enhances customer response rate.

Using the Bevatel Chat system, customers can easily read the messages and interact with you through the available buttons, making it easier for them to provide responses and interact with customer service.

Integration with different systems

Using WhatsApp Business API, you can also integrate your WhatsApp account with the other applications you use in your company.

The integration lets you send data and receive orders directly through customer conversations.

WhatsApp Business API is compatible with over 2,000 applications, including customer relationship management applications and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify.

Detailed reports and statistics

Bevatel Business Chat platform also allows you to get detailed alerts and reports.

Get detailed reports and statistics of your business conversations that help you understand the needs and interests of each customer, including response rates, response time, and other information that enables you to improve customer service.

Unlimited marketing campaigns and targeted customers

Bevatel Business Chat system allows you to implement more effective and successful marketing campaigns. This system will enable you to send unlimited messages to your customers via WhatsApp Business API.

Account verification opportunity

One of the critical features that the WhatsApp Business API account offers you is the ability to verify your account and get the verification mark that increases customer trust.

Now you can get the verification mark for the official accounts of your business and enhance the credibility of these accounts in front of customers.

A Comparison between WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API

After reviewing the features above and tools, we can summarize the advantages of WhatsApp Business API compared to WhatsApp Business in the following table:

Overall, you want to communicate with your customers better and more professionally. In that case, Bevatel Business Chat is one of the best business solutions that provide WhatsApp Business API for enterprises and businesses with advanced chatbot capabilities and more advanced features and tools to help you improve customer service and technical support and boost profits and sales.