WhatsApp Business API: A beginner's guide to growth

Today, business isn't just about selling products; it's about building a brand. It involves creating meaningful connections with your customers. But to forge those connections, you must meet your audience where they already are.

And WhatsApp Business API is a no-brainer in this scenario. I will tell you why.

With over 3.14 billion active users worldwide, WhatsApp offers a great platform to connect with your customers. Users check it constantly throughout the day, whether it's to chat with friends, get updates, or stay informed. So, if you're looking to reach your customers in a direct, personal, and effective way, WhatsApp is the place to be.

That’s where WhatsApp Business comes into play. You can use it to respond to set up automated responses, create a product catalog, integrate with CRM to send order updates to the customers, and share offers and promotions.

While the WhatsApp Business App works well for small operations, the API is built for businesses that want to scale conversations, automate interactions, and deliver a seamless customer experience.

In this blog, we will explore everything you need to know about the WhatsApp Business API, from what it is and how it works, to how to create a WhatsApp Business API  and how you can use it.

WhatsApp Business API: Getting started

WhatsApp Business API helps businesses connect with multiple customers at scale. Approximately 76% of customers will prefer a brand they feel connected with over a competitor.

With tools like automated replies, chatbots, templates, and CRM integration, WhatsApp Business API helps you create a customized flow based on the preferences of your customers.

Besides, API enables you to personalize every stage of the customer journey, segment audiences effectively, and minimize the need for repetitive manual interactions.

With WhatsApp Business API, customers get quick and timely replies and updates, while you can focus your efforts on the tasks that need more attention and are a bit complex to handle. This is a win-win for both.

Here are the elements of WhatsApp Business API:

• Business profile: Showcase complete information about your products and services, and make your business stand out with a logo and cover image. Branding elements like logos and colors can increase brand recognition significantly.
• Messaging tools: Use quick replies, messaging tools, and automated messages to manage customer communications.
• Analytics: Track metrics such as delivery rates, open rates, and response rates to see how customers engage with your mind and optimize the marketing efforts accordingly.
• Integrations: Handle communication and boost efficiency by integrating WhatsApp Business API with business tools, such as CRM, Zoho, and more.

How does WhatsApp Business API work?

The WhatsApp Business API operates in the background, integrating with your business systems to ensure seamless communication. Here's how the process works:

• The first step is getting WhatsApp business API access, requiring approval from WhatsApp.
  
  
• Once approved, the API is connected to your business software, such as a CRM or helpdesk, through a technical integration.
  
  
• When a customer sends a message to your WhatsApp Business number, it first passes through API servers.
  
  
• The API then delivers the message to your integrated system.
  
  
• From there, you can respond, either manually through your agents or automatically using chatbots or predefined templates.
  

How to create a WhatsApp Business API account?

The WhatsApp business API application process requires just a few steps to follow. After the account is set up, you can use it to provide customer support, run campaigns, and send reminders and updates.

Here are the steps you can follow to get access to a WhatsApp Business API account:

1. Directly via Meta (WhatsApp Cloud API)

Meta offers the WhatsApp Cloud API to help you build and customize communication flows and respond to customers easily and quickly.

2. Through a Business Solution Provider (BSP)

BSPs like Gallabox offer ready-to-use platforms, integrations, and support.

Here are the steps to set up WhatsApp Business API:

Step 1: Create a Meta Business Manager Account

• Go to "business.facebook.com" and register.
  
  
• Verify your business by uploading the necessary documents.
  
  
• Note the Business Manager ID after verification.
  

Step 2: Choose a BSP

• Select a trusted partner like Gallabox.
  
  
• Sign up and begin the API onboarding through their dashboard.
  

Step 3: Register a phone number

• You had to choose a fresh number not tied to existing WhatsApp accounts earlier. But if you have context to transfer from your existing WhatsApp Business App.
  
  
• Verify it through SMS or call.
  

Step 4: Verify your WhatsApp Profile

• Submit display name, website, category, logo, etc.
  
  
• Meta will review and approve.
  

Step 5: Set up message templates

• Create templates for outbound messages like reminders or updates.
  
  
• Submit for Meta’s approval
  

Step 6: Integrate with your systems

• Connect to your backend, CRM, or chatbot platform.
  
  
• Automate chats, route conversations, and personalize interactions.
  

Step 7: Test and launch

• Test your setup internally before full-scale rollout.
  
  
• Monitor performance and optimize accordingly.
  

WhatsApp Business API features

WhatsApp Business API provides a range of features to ensure efficient communication with your customers. These tools help you address customer queries and send messages that provide value to your customers.

Here's a list of WhatsApp Business API features that make communication more impactful:

Verified business profile

When your customers see a green tick verification checkmark beside your business profile, it creates a sense of trust and credibility that they are interacting with a legitimate business. 

A verified badge makes your brand stand out and instill confidence among customers.

Chatbots

With WhatsApp Business API, you can automate responses to common queries and provide instant support to your customers through WhatsApp chatbots.

Additionally, as your team will not need to answer repetitive queries, they can focus their efforts on handling other complex inquiries, improving efficiency.

Shared team inbox

A shared team inbox in the WhatsApp Business API platform ensures multiple agents can access a single interface to respond to customer queries. This ensures efficiency as there will be no need to switch between platforms, so no missed messages and increased customer satisfaction.

Session and template messages

Session messages help you communicate with your customers in freeform, meaning you can communicate with them for 24 hours after they have sent the last message.

With templates, you can create pre-approved communication flows, allowing you to send messages beyond the 24-hour window. These templates are ideal for transactional updates or re-engagement campaigns.

Interactive messages

Using interactive messages, you can make the conversations more dynamic. With buttons, quick replies, and list menus, you can simplify interactions. Your customers can take quick action, be it placing an order or making a payment.

Broadcast and bulk messages

Reaching a wider audience is seamless with bulk and broadcast messaging. You can send updates, promotions, and announcements to multiple customers at once, while keeping a personal touch.

This ensures efficiency as you won't need to send messages to one customer at a time. Additionally, there will be fewer chances of missing a potential lead.

WhatsApp Business API tips

Leveraging WhatsApp Business API requires you to follow a strategic approach, ensuring a seamless customer experience and improved workflow. Here are the tips you should keep in note of to enhance customer experience:

Personalizing is the key

When you personalize messages for your customers, your customers feel as if they are having a one-on-one conversation with your brand.

So, find out what your customer wants based on any previous chats and orders, and personalize the messages.

Maintain relevance

Bombarding the inbox with messages can frustrate customers. Instead of sending too many messages, send messages that provide value. It could be personalized recommendations, offers, promotions, and product demos to persuade the customers to explore. The possibility of a purchase increases by 144% if the customers get to see a product video.

Use rich media

Just text messages won't help you grab a customer's attention. Campaigns with rich content have a 80% conversion rate. So, to attract your customers, use a mix of texts, images, videos, and files that provide information and make the customer want to try your products and services.

Implement chatbots

Your customers need a quick response, but it is not possible to ensure the availability of human agents at all times of the day. To solve repetitive queries, use WhatsApp chatbots, so your customers do not have to wait for common queries such as pricing, product features, and more.

Additionally, you can also integrate the chatbot with your internal tools, so the chatbot can solve specific queries like order tracking, placing an order, and more.

Set up automation

To ensure consistency in communication, use automation to send reminders, order updates, and personalized messages.

Use catalogs creatively

To persuade the customers to make a purchase, using just static images in the catalog won't do much.

Try to use a mix of customer testimonials, demonstrations, descriptions, and order booking links to ensure a seamless purchase journey.

Create WhatsApp Groups and Broadcasts

Around 78% of customers want a brand to connect with people using social media channels. You can leverage this by creating exclusive WhatsApp groups for your customers to discuss and share feedback. Additionally, you can share personalized offers and promotions to multiple customers at once using WhatsApp groups and broadcast lists.

Analyze the performance

To see if your campaigns are running successfully and generating the targeted results, you should analyze the response rates, open rates, delivery rates, and other metrics to find out what is working and where you need to optimize, along with what type of messages your customers prefer the most.

Benefits of WhatsApp Business API for businesses

Companies using WhatsApp Business API state that 33% of customers had an improved experience due to the convenience and reduced wait time.

Here are the benefits of WhatsApp Business API for businesses:

Global reach

WhatsApp has active users in 180 countries, and therefore, you can get a global reach using WhatsApp Business API. You can connect with customers across countries, ensuring a consistent brand presence.

Advanced automation

With WhatsApp Business API, you can run advanced automation to solve repetitive queries and order-related updates. This frees up the customer support team for other complex tasks and ensures efficiency in providing customer support.

Scalable support

Using one WhatsApp number, you can text customers across the globe. This allows you to maintain a record of the chats for analytics. There will be no missed messages, providing a seamless customer experience.

WhatsApp Business API integration with backend systems

WhatsApp Business API lets you integrate your CRM, order management, or ticketing tools, allowing you to get user history, send personalized messages, and trigger workflows without switching between platforms.

End-to-end encryption

To ensure customer privacy, WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption, keeping customers' chats secure. This helps you to build customer trust as they will feel confident in interacting with your brand.

WhatsApp Business API use cases

The WhatsApp Business API enables medium and large businesses to communicate with customers at scale through automated, secure, and personalized messaging. From customer support to marketing campaigns, its use cases span the entire customer journey, improving engagement and efficiency. 

Here are some WhatsApp Business API use cases:

Customer service automation

WhatsApp Business API helps you automate customer queries, ensuring that your customers do not have to wait a long time for replies or experience frustrating back-and-forth email threads.

You can build smart workflows to offer instant support for queries such as FAQs, order tracking, refund requests, and more.

Onboarding and post-purchase support

After customers make a purchase or sign up, you must constantly make efforts to keep them as loyal customers.

With WhatsApp Business API, you can automate the initial touchpoints:

• Send welcome kits, guides on product use, and onboarding flows.
• Order completion messages with the instructions on the next steps to follow.
• Share demos or product setup help.
• Ask for feedback post-purchase, provide support, or ask for documentation.
• Trigger automated messages for warranty registration.

Appointment reminders

When your customers have an appointment date coming up, reminding them is essential to reduce no-shows and avoid resource waste. Additionally, if they are not available, your customers can even reschedule the appointment to a later date.

Sending deals and offers

Customers feel encouraged to purchase if they find an offer or discount, specifically if they are personalized. You can run marketing campaigns and send exclusive offers to certain customers, keeping the customers engaged with your brand.

Automated updates

You can connect WhatsApp with Razorpay, Shopify, Zoho, HubSpot, and Google Sheets to update customers about order confirmations, payment alerts, and shipping updates.

• Sending payment receipts and order confirmations.
• Providing shipping updates with tracking links.
• Sending webinar or demo reminders.
• Sharing appointment confirmations.
• Nudging customers for abandoned carts.

Product recommendations

Customers prefer it when brands take the effort and send personalized product recommendations. With WhatsApp Business API, you can send personalized product recommendations and deals using previous purchase history, chats, and customer preferences.

How to set up WhatsApp Business API

Before we start with the WhatsApp Business API registration, here's what you need to do:

Sign up for a free trial to get started with Gallabox and implement the business account WhatsApp API. If you face any issues during signup, complete it via the email sent to you. Make sure your business has an official email and a working website. A fresh, unused phone number is required for WhatsApp Business API registration.

After that, follow the steps below:

Set up your team

• Assign roles and access levels (e.g., manager, support, marketing).
  
  
• Invite team members accordingly.
  

Import contacts

• Import customer data individually or in bulk.
  
  
• Use Gallabox connectors for Google Sheets, CRM, etc.
  
  
• Filter and segment your contacts for better targeting.
  

Use the Shared Team Inbox

• Access all customer chats in one interface.
  
  
• Assign chats and leave internal notes.
  

Configure WhatsApp templates

• Create templates for general updates, like reminders and alerts
  
  
• Personalize messages using dynamic variables and media.
  

Launch marketing campaigns

• Create chatbots using a no-code builder.
  
  
• Set up drip marketing campaigns on WhatsApp.
  
  
• Use WhatsApp Flows to collect structured data via interactive forms.
  

Integrate with your tech stack

Connect with CRM, e-commerce, logistics, spreadsheets, payments, calendars, and more. You can use the built-in connector or request a custom integration through APIs and generic webhooks.

WhatsApp Business API pricing & messaging limits

WhatsApp Business API uses a conversation-based pricing model, where businesses are charged per 24-hour conversation window, not per individual message.

What is a Conversation?

A conversation is a 24-hour messaging session between your business and a customer. It starts when a message you send is delivered. The type of message sent determines the category of the conversation and its charges.

There are four conversation categories:

Marketing (Paid)

Used for promotions, product announcements, and retargeting (e.g., cart reminders).

Utility (Paid)

Used to send transaction updates like confirmations, delivery alerts, or payment reminders.

Authentication (Paid)

Used for one-time passcodes (OTP) during login or verification.

Service (Free)

Used to respond to customer inquiries.

How Conversations are opened

Marketing, Utility, and Authentication conversations are opened when you send a template of that category, and only if a conversation of that category isn't already active.

Service conversations are triggered when a non-template message is sent and no other conversation is open.

Each conversation lasts 24 hours from the time it is opened.

Free  entry point Conversations (72 hours)

Suppose a customer messages you via a Click to WhatsApp Ad or a Facebook Page CTA, and you respond within 24 hours. In that case, a Free Entry Point conversation starts and lasts 72 hours, during which you can send unlimited messages (template or not), without any extra charges.

Rates

Rates vary by:

• Conversation category
  
  
• WhatsApp provides regional rate cards in different currencies.
  

WhatsApp messaging limit

WhatsApp enforces a daily cap on the number of unique customers a business can initiate conversations within a rolling 24-hour period.

The default limit is 250 Business-Initiated Conversations per Day.

This is the starting code for all new business phone numbers. However, WhatsApp allows this limit to scale automatically, based on your behavior and performance.

Here is the criteria to increase the messaging limit:

Eligibility requirements:

• Status should be “Connected.”
  
  
• Quality rating should be either “medium” or “high.”
  
  
• Initiated conversations should be equal to or more than 50% of your current limit (with unique customers) over the past 7 days.
  

WhatsApp scales your sending limit in these tiers:

• 1K Conversations/24 hours
  
  
• 10K Conversations/24 hours
  
  
• 100K Conversations/24 hours
  
  
• Unlimited Conversations/24 hours
  

How it works:

• You can manually move from 250 to 1K conversations.
  
  
• Beyond 1K, WhatsApp uses automatic scaling based on performance.
  
  
• If your quality rating drops to “Low,” the limit stays at 250 until it improves.
  

How Gallabox helps businesses with the WhatsApp API

Gallabox helps you scale and drive customer engagement with tools and data by maintaining customer interactions and eliminating inefficient strategies.

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• Provide tailored responses that guide your customers towards the business objectives. with AI-rewrite
• Maintain a seamless workflow by integrating with your existing tech stacks.
• Set up campaigns to be sent at specific times to engage with them and move ahead in the sales funnel.
• Handle conversations just like human agents with the trained chatbots

Examples of how Gallabox helped brands boost customer interaction

Here’s how Gallabox helped brands to drive meaningful conversations and improve customer experiences:

Sattvic Store: 25% RTO to onboarding over 2000 customers in a month

Sattvic Stores by Kabir Innovations is an online marketplace that offers organic health supplements and herbal products, sourcing directly from rural startups and women entrepreneurs. However, the brand faced a 25% return-to-origin (RTO) rate due to mismatched orders, relied on manual customer support, and had to spend heavily on marketing to reach their niche audience.

To address these challenges:

• Gallabox introduced a WhatsApp chatbot tool that transformed their operations. The bot engaged customers in real-time, counselling them based on their needs and significantly reducing RTOs.
• Customer queries and preferences were collected and stored in a shared database accessible to the entire team, streamlining customer service and personalizing product recommendations.
• Gallabox’s WhatsApp broadcast and labelling features allowed Sattvic to target niche segments with product-specific updates, leading to effective cross-selling and upselling while slashing marketing costs by 30%.

The results?

• Within just 30 days, Sattvic saw a 10% drop in RTO and onboarded over 2,000 customers in two months.
• The chatbot also saved 10,000 minutes of human effort and cut manual agent workload in half.

LivingStone Stays: Scattered communications to organized interactions and an increase in direct bookings

LivingStone Stays set out to redefine leisure travel by offering experiential holiday planning through a unified platform. However, scattered communication systems hindered their growth.

Teams lacked a centralized inbox, relied on multiple phone numbers, and manually drafted messages, leading to confusion and inefficiencies across customer, partner, and property owner interactions. IVR-based communication failed to provide the intuitive support for effective lead qualification and travel planning.

To resolve this, LivingStone Stays adopted Gallabox’s WhatsApp Business API.

• With a shared, multi-agent WhatsApp inbox, teams could manage all conversations from one number, removing confusion and boosting collaboration.

• Gallabox also built a rule-based chatbot to capture qualifying leads, enabling agents to step in only when needed.
  
  
• Pre-approved WhatsApp templates replaced manual messaging, saving significant time and effort across departments.
  
  
• Integration with Zoho CRM made broadcasting campaigns seamless and data-driven.
  
  

The transformation?

• The team’s communication became faster and more coordinated, leading to increased direct bookings.
  
  
• Managers gained visibility into conversations across all touchpoints, ensuring better oversight.
  

Keep customer interactions seamless and effective with Gallabox

The WhatsApp Business API is a powerful tool to streamline customer interactions and elevate the overall customer experience. With chatbots, pre-approved templates, and built-in analytics, you can send personalized recommendations, share real-time order updates, and respond to customer queries quickly and efficiently.

Gallabox's advanced tools and features help you create customized marketing campaigns for different customer groups. Additionally, the no-code chatbot builder automates routine queries, driving the focus to other complex tasks.

Furthermore, there will be no switching between apps, as Gallabox can be effortlessly integrated with your tech stack, keeping your workflow smooth and eliminating bottlenecks.

Don't let manual processes ruin customers' experiences and affect business growth. Sign up for WhatsApp Business API Software now and leverage WhatsApp to target your leads.

FAQs on WhatsApp business API 

Is it possible to obtain the WhatsApp Business API without incurring costs?

Yes, you can access the WhatsApp Business API for free through Meta’s WhatsApp Cloud API. However, charges apply when sending messages; Meta uses a conversation-based pricing model. If you go through a Business Solution Provider (BSP), they may also add platform or service fees.

Is it possible to set up the WhatsApp Business API without a registered company?

No, a registered business is required. Meta mandates business verification through a Meta Business Manager account.

Can I use the WhatsApp Business API to send promotional messages to customers?

Yes, but only using pre-approved message templates. Meta now allows promotional content, provided it complies with their policies. These templates must be informative, relevant, and provide value to the customer.

Can multiple team members use the WhatsApp Business API to manage customer interactions?

Yes, platforms like Gallabox offer shared team inboxes that allow multiple users to manage conversations, assign chats, and collaborate with notes.

Is it necessary to use a Business Solution Provider (BSP) to access the WhatsApp Business API?

No, it's not strictly necessary. You can use Meta’s WhatsApp Cloud API directly. However, a BSP simplifies the process with dashboards, tools, integrations, and support, ideal for businesses seeking an easier WhatsApp Business API developer setup.