Benefits of WhatsApp official API vs Unofficial Whatsapp bulk messaging tools

Do you want to grow your business with WhatsApp marketing but are not sure which channel to use? Read this article to understand the key differences between WhatsApp’s official API vs Unofficial WhatsApp bulk messaging tools 👇🏽

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How we discovered the power of WhatsApp marketing

We sent this message to 722 leads from last month

384 replied with Try now within 4 hours.

I have spent lakhs on Ads, SMS blasts, email marketing and other channels, never in my life have I seen this level of engagement.

Here’s why WhatsApp is so powerful

• It has 2 billion users, so your entire audience is using it.
• Everyone checks their WhatsApp message almost immediately after it is received.
• If you draft the right message, you can get 60-90% replies.
  That’s 30-40 times higher compared to the most engaging SMS and email campaigns.

If you are still reading then you want to use Bulk WhatsApp messaging for marketing your business. Maybe you just don’t know how!

That’s exactly what we will cover in this article.

Comparison of WhatsApp official API vs Unofficial Whatsapp bulk messaging tools

How you can get high ROI from WhatsApp

The thing about WhatsApp is – It does not even have to be a long-term campaign.

3 ways to get high ROI from WhatsApp marketing on day 1 itself, by utilizing the untapped potential of your existing databases!

#1 By targeting the list of your existing customers

This is really simple, collect the list of all your existing customers.

1. Send them the first message asking them if they want to receive updates and offers on WhatsApp.
2. Keep a list of people who subscribe.
3. Send them regular updates with the right CTAs.

#2 By targeting your old/cooling leads

You can WhatsApp marketing to turn your wasted, old, and cooling leads into your goldmine.

Remember this screenshot from the introduction?

Here we promoted a new feature to our old (supposedly wasted) leads and were able to get 60% conversion. Here’s how you can do the same

1. Collect your old and cooling leads.
2. Draft an appropriate offer.
3. Send them a WhatsApp blast.

Pro tips to ensure high conversion without spamming your audience

1. Don’t spam your audience, give them an offer that they would actually want…
2. At the end of the message, give them the option to unsubscribe.

#3 By targeting your contacts list

Here’s how you can use WhatsApp Marketing to turn your contact list into business opportunities

1. Collect your contact list in an Excel sheet, and remove hyper-personal and family contacts.
2. Send them the following message.

Hi *Rohan*

This is Rahul Agarwal

👉 I'm sending you this message because you have been on my contact list for a long time.

_I just wanted to see if we can explore business opportunities together._

*3 ways to do business with me are:*

1️⃣ You can refer anyone at work who is interested in telesales or contact management CRM
2️⃣ You can become a reseller partner and get a commission for every company that you introduce to TeleCRM
3️⃣ You can use TeleCRM for your own company if you have a telecalling/sales team

Now, these are just some of the ways to tap into the hidden potential of your existing lists.

Imagine the amount of business you can generate if you engage each and every one of your new and old leads using WhatsApp marketing…

Two Ways to Execute WhatsApp Marketing:

1. Using unofficial Whatsapp bulk messaging tools

This is where you buy a bulk WhatsApp messaging tool from the market and hook it into the WhatsApp/ WhatsApp business number that you are using on your phone. And send Bulk WhatsApp messages from that number.

Benefits of using unofficial tools

• Most of these unofficial tools give you the option to send bulk messages for free.
• Typically there is no per-message charge.
• You can continue using normal WhatsApp on WhatsApp business along with WhatsApp bulk messaging and marketing from the same number.
• You don’t need to go through any additional verification process by WhatsApp for this.

Limitations of using unofficial tools

• This is really slow and you can only message a limited number of people at a time
• You can send attachments images and personalization but you cannot send button messages or call to action. So in order to reply users have to type the message and send it to you. This reduces the overall number of replies that you get from your marketing campaign
• If you’re messaging unknown people this is what they see on their WhatsApp screen.
  
  And when people report or block your number, WhatsApp might ban your number from their platform temporarily or even permanently. So using the unofficial tools you can only send limited non-promotional types of bulk messages to a limited number of people.
• The unofficial tools are not reliable, since no unofficial tool is endorsed by WhatsApp. In fact, they say it’s illegal to use any unofficial tool for unauthorized bulk WhatsApp messaging. They can come up with an algorithm update any day and it can thwart your marketing campaigns.

But what if you want to schedule Marketing and message hundreds or even thousands of people in one go?

That’s where the second option for bulk WhatsApp messaging marketing comes in

2. Bulk WhatsApp messaging with Official cloud API

Here are the steps to execute bulk WhatsApp marketing through the official WhatsApp cloud API

1. You go and register and verify your business and a new messaging number on Facebook.
   Note: This cannot be the number that you are already using with WhatsApp on WhatsApp for business.
2. After verification, you connect your WhatsApp official cloud API account with a third-party provider like TeleCRM.
3. Upload your template and get it approved by Facebook.
4. Then upload your contact list into TeleCRM and send them bulk WhatsApp messages through the Official API.

Benefits of using official WhatsApp API for marketing

1. Since it is the official channel, there is no concept of number banning.
2. You can slowly increase your WhatsApp messaging limits to unlimited msgs.
3. A single WhatsApp handle can be accessed from a practically unlimited number of devices.
4. What’s up cloud API allows automation, so you can send automated welcome messages to every lead, and you can set auto-replies for common queries that people have, you can use the official API not just for marketing and promotion but also for providing instant automatic customer support to prospects and customers on WhatsApp
5. With tools like TeleCRM, you can build your own chatbot on the official API to auto-engage your leads and customers.
6. The official API allows you to send Bulk WhatsApp messages with buttons so that users can reply with a single click. As a result, you can get the maximum number of responses.

Limitations of the official WhatsApp Cloud API

1. It’s paid, and every conversation that you have with the official API is charged by WhatsApp. You can check the details of the charges and pricing system here.
2. Once upgraded to API, can’t use any other WhatsApp application on the chosen number.
3. First, you have to sign up and verify your business and WhatsApp number on Facebook.
4. After that you have to go through a mandatory pre-approval is required to send template messages/broadcast messages.
5. WhatsApp does not provide a direct interface for this and you have to rely on tools like Whatsapp CRM for sending bulk WhatsApp messages through the official API.
6. API does not support the use of WhatsApp groups

Unless you are a really small business that wants to target a really small audience, paying for conversations or getting your account/message templates verified by WhatsApp is not really that big of a deal.

As a business that is looking to grow rapidly using WhatsApp marketing what do you want is… A reliable scalable channel that you can use without worrying about petty issues like Number banning etc.

5 reasons why Whatsapp official API is a no-brainer

1. Built to scale

It is the official solution created by WhatsApp for businesses, this means if you want to target a large audience and you want your WhatsApp marketing campaign and list sizes to grow with your business then the official channel is the only option for you.

2. Fast and efficient

You can instantly message a practically unlimited number of people with just one click. Compare this with unofficial tools which can send a maximum of 500 to 600 messages per day and even that takes about half an hour to an hour for the messaging to complete. If you are really serious about growing your business then your biggest asset is your time. And when you use the official channel it saves you a lot of time every time you execute a campaign.

3. It’s official and reliable

If you’re really serious about WhatsApp as a marketing channel for your business, then you cannot rely on an official channel that can be thwarted by WhatsApp anytime you want.

It takes time and effort to set your funnels and campaigns right, you cannot set up your entire system, message sequences, etc., and then as soon send the first blast realize that your number got banned.

Your focus should not be on saving 50p on messages, but to get Rs. 50 and Rs. 500 in ROI from that 50p so that you can then scale the strategy further to grow your business.

4. You can use it to build complete experiences for your audience.

The right platform for creating a complete experience. With the official API, you can deploy automation like sending an automatic welcome message to every lead that you receive. Automated chatbot for providing customer support. etc. Further, you can use the WhatsApp API to create a complete experience, with transaction updates delivery status, etc. And these are just some of the things that you can do with the official API.

5. Eventually, you can even apply for and get the WhatsApp green tick

Once you build a system on WhatsApp’s official API and send messages to a large number of people you become eligible for the official verification and WhatsApp Green Tick. Because very few people businesses actually get the green tick once you have it, all the users who receive a message from you will know that you are a big business. It is the ultimate validation.

To conclude

If you’re not using WhatsApp Bulk messaging and marketing as part of your core strategy then you are missing out on big-time growth and engagement with your target audience. And if you are really serious about creating an amazing experience for your end users and growing your business as a result then you simply cannot afford to fiddle with the unofficial bulk WhatsApp messaging tools, Plus with the right provider you can get started almost immediately and you can give wings to your marketing operations.

So what are you waiting for?

Sign up to TeleCRM and start using WhatsApp’s official API for Bulk WhatsApp Marketing.

See Related:

• How to Send OTP with WhatsApp?
• How To Create WhatsApp E-Commerce Store?
• How to Send Bulk Messages on WhatsApp?
• Everything you need to know about WhatsApp Cloud API