WhatsApp Business is updating its pricing structure for businesses, specifically for per-conversation rates. A conversation refers to a 24-hour thread between sellers and users. The company is adjusting rates for utility messages and marketing messages.
Meta categorizes messages for businesses into four main types: marketing messages for offers and new products, utility messages for order updates and account balance, authentication messages for one-time passwords, and service messages for customer inquiries.
The updated utility rates will take effect starting on August 4, while the revised marketing conversation rates will come into effect on October 4 of this year. This update provides information on the recent changes to conversation rates on WhatsApp. Instead of a flat rate for all conversations, WhatsApp now charges different rates based on categories. 
The company applies different pricing structures for merchants in different countries. As an expert in SEO content writing, I can provide you with an example of how marketing rates in India are experiencing a positive shift, increasing by 8% from $0.0099 to $0.0107. On the other hand, utility conversation rates are declining significantly, dropping by 67% from $0.0042 to $0.0014.
This will surely persuade businesses to embrace WhatsApp as their main communication channel with customers.
In the past year, there has been a rise in user complaints regarding the growing number of WhatsApp messages, leading to an increase in spam on the platform. The company has implemented measures to safeguard users from spam.
In recent months, the company implemented new guidelines for marketing messages sent to users in India. These guidelines aim to limit the number of messages a user receives, ensuring a more targeted and effective approach to marketing. There is no specific limit set by Meta for the number of messages that brands can send. However, Meta does filter out messages that are deemed to have a lower likelihood of being read.
Meta recently announced the global expansion of these guidelines after a successful test period.
People rely on WhatsApp for a wide range of tasks, such as inquiring about a product, accessing a boarding pass, or receiving enticing offers for holiday sales. We are striving to strike the perfect balance of tools to ensure that people have a seamless experience when messaging businesses on WhatsApp,” stated a spokesperson from Meta to Eltrys.
WhatsApp Business has become a significant driver of Meta’s revenue. Last year, the company announced that the number of WhatsApp Business users exceeded 200 million.
