WhatsApp unveils AI tools, advanced marketing, and voice features to boost business engagement

WhatsApp Enhances Business Engagement with New AI, Marketing, and Voice Features

At its recent Conversations conference in Miami, WhatsApp introduced several updates focused on improving how businesses engage with their customers. These features emphasize better marketing management, expanded AI capabilities, and enhanced calling and voice options. This marks a clear step toward making WhatsApp a comprehensive platform for customer interaction.

Centralized Marketing Tools Across Platforms

One major update is the integration of marketing tools across WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram through Ads Manager. Businesses can now manage creative assets, campaign setups, and budgets from a single dashboard. After onboarding, companies can upload subscriber lists and choose between manual message management or Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+ tool, which automatically optimizes budget allocation across placements.

In addition, businesses will soon be able to create ads directly in WhatsApp Status using Ads Manager. This streamlines ad creation and helps reach audiences more effectively within the WhatsApp environment.

AI-Powered Business Interactions

WhatsApp is developing a new Business AI tool to assist companies in handling customer inquiries more efficiently. This AI can provide personalized product recommendations, facilitate purchases on a company’s website, and follow up directly with users through WhatsApp chats. The initial rollout will expand to more businesses in Mexico, with further regions to follow.

New Calling and Voice Features for Businesses

To complement text-based communication, WhatsApp Business Platform users will soon access advanced calling and voice functionalities. Larger businesses will be able to receive incoming calls and make outgoing calls when requested by customers. The platform will also support voice messages and video calls, features particularly useful for sectors such as telehealth.

These updates set the stage for future AI-driven voice support capabilities. WhatsApp recommends that businesses interested in adopting these new calling features connect with one of its official partners for implementation support.

What This Means for Marketing and Communications Professionals

• Simplified Marketing Management: Managing campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from one place saves time and improves coordination.
• Improved Customer Interaction: AI tools enable more personalized, timely responses that can drive conversions and customer satisfaction.
• Expanded Communication Channels: Adding voice and video options creates richer engagement opportunities, especially for service industries.

Marketing and communications teams can leverage these tools to create more integrated, responsive customer journeys within WhatsApp’s ecosystem. For those looking to deepen their AI skills related to marketing and customer engagement, exploring targeted AI certification courses for marketing specialists could be a valuable next step.