With more businesses embracing messaging to engage with their customers, Meta on Thursday announced a slew of new features and programmes including full availability of verified badge - a trust marker- for small businesses to establish credibility and credentials with consumers.

At the WhatsApp Business Summit in Mumbai, Meta also spotlighted Artificial Intelligence tools for enhancing the messaging experience. To start with, Meta will make it easy to activate AI directly from WhatsApp Business app to enable businesses to engage more efficiently with their customers - it has recently started testing this in India, and says early results are exciting.

The US social media giant also announced customised messages on WhatsApp Business app, as it pledged commitment to supporting the growth of small businesses in India.

Meta said the line up of features and updates will help businesses across the country build a presence and create great in-chat experiences for customers while driving performance ahead of the upcoming festive season.

It also announced WhatsApp Bharat Yatra - an outreach to various tier 2 and 3 cities in India for offering on-ground, in-person training to small businesses. Under the initiative, it will train small businesses in setting up their WhatsApp Business accounts, creating catalogs, educating them on how to set up ads that click to WhatsApp, among others.

Meta India, Vice President Sandhya Devanathan noted: "The way we WhatsApp a business has only continued to grow... The manner in which Indians are WhatsApping businesses is second to none." According to the platform, the ease of WhatsApp has placed it at the centre of India's digital transformation, helping businesses with ideas and new models of growth.

WhatsApp presented various instances of how businesses are already using messaging to engage with their customers - from Max Life simplifying experiences for non savvy digital users with vernacular chat support, to Maruti Suzuki tapping digital-savvy customers with WhatsApp Flows.

Meta said that the new features announced at WhatsApp Business Summit demonstrate its commitment to helping businesses maximise their value per dollar while providing exceptional customer experiences on WhatsApp.

The verified badge would allow small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app to establish credibility with their customers.

"Millions of small businesses use the WhatsApp Business app in India, and they frequently tell us that they want to stand out and build credibility with their customers. Now, Meta Verified is available to all eligible small businesses in India using the WhatsApp Business app," according to a Meta release.

With Meta Verified, businesses that choose to subscribe and demonstrate their authenticity will receive a verified badge, impersonation protection, account support, and premium features that help amplify their brand online and make it more efficient to chat with customers.

The same badge will appear on their WhatsApp Channels and Business pages, making it easy to share on social media and websites.

Starting today in India, small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app will be able to send customised messages to their customers, say appointment reminders, birthday greetings or even updates on a holiday sale, more easily, and faster.

"This new feature, available for a fee, gives businesses the ability to send personal messages with a customer's name and customisable call-to-action buttons and will also enable them to schedule the day and time the messages are sent," the release said.

Meta also outlined best practices for businesses to build meaningful and valuable connections with people ahead of the busy festive season.

"People don't want their WhatsApp to become overloaded like other channels, making them miss out on important messages from people and businesses they care about and want to hear from. That's why we're focused on helping businesses foster meaningful and valuable connections with people. Whether a business is creating a custom flow or running a messaging campaign for a holiday sale, there are several things to keep in mind to help them be successful on WhatsApp," it said urging businesses to seek customers' permission for each type of message being sent be it a timely update on a delivery or a holiday sale coupon.

It also exhorted businesses to be thoughtful about when and what messages are being sent to customers.

"Make sure the subject line or preview text clearly indicates the message's relevance and be thoughtful about when it's being sent..." The release said adding that basic information provided to businesses like read rates can help them gauge what's working and what's not, which in turn can help determine the right frequency for messaging customers to avoid overload.

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