WhatsApp Business users exceed 200 million! New features are being tested!

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp Business now has more than 200 million users on its platform, four times the number of 50 million users three years ago, according to eleconomista.com.mx.

Meta said it will soon begin testing features that will help small businesses show ads on the messaging platform without the need for a Facebook account.

The growth in its user base comes as the company turns its attention to developing messaging for businesses as global economic uncertainty slows its core advertising business. Meta has been working to monetize its messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger as Zuckerberg sees WhatsApp Business as the company’s next growth pillar.

The app, which is available to download for free on Google Play and the Apple App Store, helps merchants run their businesses and manage conversations with customers on WhatsApp by using tools to automate, prioritize and quickly respond to messages.

The company said this will enable businesses to create, buy and publish Facebook or Instagram ads directly from the WhatsApp Business app, allowing them to run their entire operation on the messaging app.

The ads open a chat window directly on WhatsApp, allowing customers to ask questions to the merchant, browse products and make purchases.

The move could also help Meta grow revenue from click-to-message ads (across Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram), which has reached $10 billion, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the company's February 2023 earnings call.

Zuckerberg said in October last year that the amount of clicks on WhatsApp ads exceeded $1.5 billion.

Commercial messaging has become strategically important to Facebook's parent company over the past year or so as it looks to diversify revenue sources beyond traditional digital advertising, which took a big hit in 2022 from the economic downturn and the impact of Apple's iOS privacy policy changes.

New personalized messaging feature

WhatsApp said it will also test a new WhatsApp Business feature that will enable small businesses to more quickly send personalized messages to customers, such as appointment reminders, birthday wishes or sales updates.

The WhatsApp Business feature will allow businesses to send personal messages with the customer's name and a customizable list of call-to-action buttons, such as people who have recently messaged them, people who haven't messaged them in a long time, broadcast lists or custom labels such as "VIP customer" or "new customer".

The company said the messages can also be scheduled based on date and time. The cost of using the feature has not yet been disclosed, and more details are expected to be provided in the future.

Editor ✎Estella/

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