If you are new to the world of WhatsApp API or WhatsApp Business Messaging, this is a short post to answer some of the basic questions:
What is Business Messaging?
What is WhatsApp API?
What is a WhatsApp BSP & ISV?
What is the WhatsApp API Ecosystem?
1. What is Business Messaging?
Business messaging refers to the use of messaging applications, such as SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or chatbots, to communicate with customers or clients in a business setting. It enables businesses to communicate with their customers quickly, efficiently, and conveniently.
Two-way messaging from WhatsApp or WeChat allows business to meet their customers where they are and get responses from customers while they are in line for coffee or sitting on the sofa. A customer can pick up a conversation right where they left off without starting all over again, this is an asynchronous advantage. While email is also asynchronous, email is not as short and quick as WhatsApp or weChat so consumers have adopted messaging and are using messaging much more than legacy channels.
Business messaging can be used for a variety of purposes, such as customer support, marketing, and sales. It allows businesses to provide personalized and timely responses to customers' inquiries, automate routine tasks, and build relationships with their customers. Additionally, it can help businesses reduce costs associated with traditional communication methods, such as phone calls or emails. Conversational Commerce is the term used when business messaging is used to create revenue using Business Messaging.
2. What is the WA API and what does it do?
The WA API, also known as the WhatsApp Business API, is a set of programming interfaces and tools that enables businesses to integrate WhatsApp into their customer communications and marketing strategies. With the WA API, businesses can send automated and personalized messages to customers, conduct two-way conversations, and manage customer data in a centralized location. It allows businesses to create chatbots that can handle customer inquiries, automate responses, and provide personalized recommendations based on customers' interests and behaviors.
The WA API also provides businesses with access to metrics and insights about customer engagement, such as message delivery rates and response times. This data can be used to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and optimize customer interactions.
However, it's important to note that access to the WA API is limited, and businesses must meet certain eligibility criteria and follow specific guidelines to use the API.
Additionally, there are costs associated with using the WA API, such as fees for delivery of user-initiated and business-initiated messages.
3a. What is a WhatsApp BSP?
WhatsApp BSP stands for "WhatsApp Business Solution Provider". A WhatsApp BSP is a third-party service provider that helps businesses to communicate with their customers using the WhatsApp Business API.
The WhatsApp Business API is a messaging platform designed for businesses to communicate with their customers at scale. The API allows businesses to send notifications, alerts, and other types of messages to their customers through WhatsApp. Generally, businesses work with a WhatsApp BSP to access the API. BSP’s also offer vertical solutions on top of the WA API that may be more meaningful for a business.
A WhatsApp BSP provides businesses with the technical expertise and support needed to integrate the WhatsApp Business API into their existing systems. This includes developing custom messaging solutions, managing message templates, and providing analytics and reporting on message performance.
3b. What is a WhatsApp ISV? WhatsApp borrowed a term from the Software As A Service (SAAS) industry but changed its meaning a little, which is reasonable considering Salesforce, Amazon, and Google all have slightly different interpretations of what an ISV is in their own ecosystems. Generally, in the SAAS industry Independent Software Vendor usually augments the primary software platform in some way, it can be reselling, implementing, integrating, or building custom solutions. In the WA ecosystem, it is only a designation that primary BSPs are also getting business from secondary vendors, and WhatsApp needs some way of tracking this. To the BSP, it is a sales channel, but to the ISV it is a clunky process considering there is no other way to get access. Since 2018, WhatsApp has restricted access to its API simply because it was in beta. While the WA API is opening up more, there remain more tech vendors who seek access to the raw WA API than there are resources in WA to allow more BSP’s, hence this compromise. If WhatsApp opens its API to more BSP candidates, it will happen on its Cloud API version AKA CAPI.
4. What is the WhatsApp Business Ecosystem:
The WhatsApp Business Messaging ecosystem consists of several components, including:
WhatsApp Business API: The messaging platform for businesses to communicate with their customers.
WhatsApp BSP: A third-party service provider that helps businesses to access the WhatsApp Business API.
WhatsApp Business App: A separate app for small businesses to manage their WhatsApp Business account and communicate with customers.
WhatsApp Business API Client: A software application used by businesses to send and receive messages via the WhatsApp Business API.
Technology Providers or System Integrators help businesses understand their roles and responsibilities, including coding and integrating other systems to produce a stable messaging tech stack
WhatsApp Business API Webhooks: A mechanism that allows businesses to receive real-time notifications from the WhatsApp Business API.
Overall, the WhatsApp Business Messaging ecosystem provides businesses with powerful tools to communicate with their customers using one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. By working with a WhatsApp BSP, businesses can take advantage of the WhatsApp Business API and unlock the full potential of this platform for their marketing, customer support, and other messaging needs.