Ghanaian businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform face a new digital operating cost for reaching customers, with promotional messages priced at more than five times the rate of utility and authentication messages under the platform’s current pricing structure.
For businesses in most parts of Africa, WhatsApp lists a rate of US$0.0225 for each delivered marketing message, compared with US$0.0040 for utility messages and US$0.0040 for authentication messages.
At an exchange rate of GH¢11.26 to the US dollar, those rates translate to approximately GH¢0.253 for a marketing message and GH¢0.045 for a utility or authentication message.
The difference could become material for companies using WhatsApp to run large-scale promotional campaigns, particularly retailers, e-commerce businesses, travel companies and other consumer-facing firms that rely on direct messaging to reach customers.
WhatsApp says businesses are charged on a per-message basis for messages it delivers to users, rather than simply for messages sent. The company says the amount charged depends on both the recipient and the category of the message.
The pricing structure places marketing communication at the centre of the cost equation. WhatsApp says marketing messages can support businesses across the customer journey, from “generating awareness” and driving sales to retargeting existing customers. Such messages include offers and promotions, product recommendations and abandoned-cart reminders.
That makes the marketing rate particularly relevant to businesses treating WhatsApp as a sales and customer-acquisition channel.
A campaign sent to 10,000 customers at US$0.0225 per delivered message could cost about GH¢2,534. Reaching 100,000 customers could cost approximately GH¢25,335.
The economics are considerably different for transactional communications. WhatsApp describes utility messages as communications generally triggered by a user action, such as placing an order or submitting a payment. The company says these messages are non-promotional and can include information such as package delivery updates.
Authentication messages, meanwhile, are designed to support identity verification through one-time passwords, including during logins or transactions. WhatsApp lists the rate for these messages at US$0.0040 in the relevant market category.
The platform also provides an important distinction for customer service. WhatsApp says it “does not charge for service messages”.
The pricing model creates a financial incentive for businesses to distinguish between customer support, transactional communication and promotional activity.
The change could make marketing efficiency more important, particularly for businesses with large customer databases. Companies may have to measure the revenue generated from WhatsApp campaigns against the cost of reaching each customer, rather than treating messaging as an almost costless extension of social-media marketing.
Companies will need to factor WhatsApp messaging costs into their digital marketing budgets, with greater attention to campaign targeting, customer response rates and revenue generated per message. Businesses that can link WhatsApp communication directly to sales, customer retention and completed transactions will be better placed to manage the additional cost.
