From humble beginnings, WhatsApp Business, an application tailor-made for small and medium-sized businesses, now boasts a staggering 200 million active monthly users. This massive jump from 50 million in 2020 signals the app’s rising popularity amongst business owners.
New features enhancing efficiency
As part of its “year of efficiency,” WhatsApp Business is rolling out features aimed at simplifying ad creation and enabling personalized messaging. With Meta’s ambitious metaverse development in progress, the company is looking to WhatsApp as a crucial revenue stream.
Starting today, the app users will enjoy the ability to develop ‘click-to-WhatsApp’ ads without requiring a Facebook account. This initiative makes it possible for sellers to create, purchase, and publish ads for Facebook and Instagram directly from the app.
Revenue rise from click-to-WhatsApp
In Meta’s Q3 earnings call last year, Mark Zuckerberg shared an exciting development – ‘click-to-WhatsApp’ ads surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $1.5 billion, growing at 80% YoY.
WhatsApp Business is set to introduce another paid feature that will allow merchants to automate the sending of personalized messages to their customers. As per company’s screenshots, businesses can tailor different messages for various customer groups. An example could be offering a discount code to new customers, accompanied by a purchase button.
WhatsApp’s revenue diversification
In the recent months, Meta has actively sought to increase its revenue through paid messaging. In February, the company unveiled changes to WhatsApp’s pricing structure and messaging categories. These categories now include utility, authentication, marketing, and user-initiated service conversations.
During the Q1 2023 earnings call, Zuckerberg stated that the number of businesses utilizing the paid messaging service on WhatsApp grew by 40% QoQ. The revenue from WhatsApp is clubbed with the “other” category, where a strong growth has been observed in messaging revenue.
Payments on WhatsApp
Moreover, WhatsApp is proactively promoting its payments feature. In April, Brazilian users received the ability to pay merchants, followed by Singapore in May. Recently, WhatsApp launched a new ‘channels‘ feature. This allows for broadcast conversations from various organizations. Additionally, the company is actively exploring options to integrate payments into this feature.
What are your thoughts on these developments in WhatsApp Business? Share your opinions in the comment section below!
