“The best business experiences meet people where they are. Already, more than 1 billion users connect with a business account across our messaging services every week. They’re reaching out for help, to find products and services, and to buy anything from big-ticket items to everyday goods.”

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That’s what Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of the META platforms said on May 19^th during the messaging event the company organized to introduce some new features and technologies. It comes as no surprise since the company actively introduces new technologies for the use of businesses. Looking back, we see that:

• In January 2018, WhatsApp for Business Application was introduced for Android.
• In August 2018, WhatsApp Business API was introduced.  
• In April 2019, WhatsApp for Business Application was introduced for IOS.

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As can be deduced from above, WhatsApp already offers API services that help businesses provide advanced-level customer services and generate extra revenue. For more information on these services, you can check our blog posts for general information and our ‘The Ultimate Guide to WhatsApp Business API’ e-book for more detailed information by clicking here.

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Looking Ahead

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Finally, it was about time META introduced a new technology for encouraging more businesses to get involved with the company’s offerings. And at the Conversations event, as expected, the company announced that they are opening up the new cloud-based version of the WhatsApp Business Platform. With this cloud-based API service, ‘any business of any size around the world’ will be able to establish a presence on WhatsApp via secure cloud hosting services provided by META itself. This new technology is currently not available in Turkey, though it is only a matter of time till it breaks into Turkish markets as well.

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“Any business or developer can easily access our service, build directly on top of WhatsApp to customize their experience, and speed up their response time to customers by using our secure WhatsApp Cloud API hosted by Meta. And this is an important step to help more businesses connect with people and help more people message the businesses that they want to support—big and small.” -Mark Zuckerberg

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Recurring Notifications

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One final feature we would like to mention is the recurring notifications. During META’s first-ever ‘Conversations’ messaging conference, they announced the ‘Recurring Notifications’ feature, which is to be used on the Messenger Platform. With this feature, businesses will be able to send proactive, recurring messages to the clients who agree to receive them.

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From notifications, updates, and newsletters to anything companies would like to send, they will be able to reach their customers who agree on receiving them. This comes as a surprise as META had been strict on the frequency of communication between companies and customers, in order to prevent companies from spamming their customers. With this new feature, companies are now able to communicate more with customers who agree on receiving recurring notifications.

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Wrapping Up

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Besides the announcement of WhatsApp Cloud API, META also mentioned that there will be additional upgrades to the WhatsApp Business App (most suitable for small-scale businesses), like adding FAQs, click-to-chat links, and product catalogs. They also stated that they are planning to launch a paid WhatsApp Business App subscription service to help businesses manage their conversations on up to 10 devices. All of these new features and the announcement of the brand-new WhatsApp Cloud API got us excited for what the future may bring forth. With each passing day, we are trying our best to keep up with the newest technological advancements and bring them to you in the best possible way. To work with us and benefit from our products and services, you can simply click here to fill out our form and our team will be there to meet you any time of any day.