Meta has announced the launch of its Meta Verified program for WhatsApp Business users in Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Colombia, with plans to expand to more countries soon. The subscription service starts at $14 per month.
Along with this rollout, Meta is enhancing its messaging service for businesses, allowing them to use APIs for customer service calls directly within the app.
The Meta Verified program was initially introduced for creators in March 2023 and expanded to businesses by September 2023, initially limited to Facebook and Instagram. Now, WhatsApp Business is included in this program.
Businesses that subscribe to Meta Verified on WhatsApp will receive a verification badge and protection against impersonation after submitting their business details. They will also gain access to a verified WhatsApp channel for marketing purposes.
Subscribers can use their WhatsApp Business account across multiple devices and create a custom web page with business details to share with customers or vendors.
Some features offered by Meta Verified overlap with WhatsApp Premium, which was tested in select regions in 2022 but not widely rolled out.
Additionally, Meta is enabling users to call large businesses like banks or airlines through WhatsApp APIs, similar to calling customer support numbers but within the app. Previously, WhatsApp Business users had to use personal phone numbers for such calls. Pricing details for this service have not been disclosed yet.
Focus on Business Solutions
Meta is also introducing personalized messaging services for businesses, allowing merchants to send messages such as coupon codes, new product information, or birthday wishes to customers.
With over 200 million monthly users on WhatsApp Business, Meta aims to provide a comprehensive suite of communication tools for businesses. The company is also launching new AI-powered tools for automated customer support and ad creation.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads have been highly successful for Meta. In 2023, Mark Zuckerberg reported that these ads achieved a $10 billion annual run rate. India-based logistics company Shiprocket has also seen positive results for merchants using these ads.
“The introduction of click-to-WhatsApp ads is providing sellers with a more effective marketing channel, yielding a strong return on ad spend (ROAS) of 3-4x, further driving transactions and engagement on the platform,” said Praful Poddar, Chief Product Officer at Shiprocket, in an interview with TechCrunch.
Last year, Meta focused on building shopping experiences within WhatsApp but is now emphasizing messaging and customer support features, recognizing their importance as revenue drivers.
During its Q1 2024 earnings call, Meta’s CFO, Susan Li, highlighted that Meta’s family of apps generated $380 million in revenue, largely driven by business messaging on WhatsApp.
A recent study by Meta and Bain & Co. pointed to significant opportunities in conversational commerce in India. Of the 650 million users active on social media and messaging platforms, only 200 million shop online. Meta sees a substantial opportunity to onboard more merchants and facilitate shopping for the remaining user base through WhatsApp, which has over 400 million users in India.
