As a digital agency in Bournemouth, we’re always on the lookout for additions and changes in the digital world of online communication. On 5th September, massively popular free messaging service, WhatsApp released a statement on their blog announcing that they will target businesses with future services. The details aren’t all that clear yet, but let’s take a look at what WhatsApp aim to do and how it might affect its user base.
Apps for businesses
The statement on the WhatsApp blog explains that businesses have many different needs. As a result WhatsApp is working on a free ‘WhatsApp Business’ application for small businesses, and an ‘enterprise solution’ for bigger companies. It’s likely the latter of the two will have a cost associated and will provide bigger businesses with the features they require to communicate with customers effectively.
What this means
Since WhatsApp abandoned the £0.69 annual subscription charge in 2016, perhaps charging large businesses will double up as a method to monetize the app. For small businesses and individuals already using WhatsApp, this seems to be a win-win, as we will receive more features at no extra cost. As the application is owned by Facebook, customer to business interaction may function similarly to that of the Facebook Messenger app.
Will it succeed?
Since WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014, its monthly user base has grown to over 1.3 billion. It’s likely that when these future apps release, we will all be aware. If the features are useful, people will probably use them. The applications could even revolutionise the way businesses communicate with customers, but only time will tell.
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