Payments via Pix, calls and artificial intelligence in Portuguese are among the Conversations announcements
Meta held the third edition of Conversations, the company’s global event on business messaging, and announced news for companies that use WhatsApp.
In April this year, the company launched a new version of artificial intelligence (AI) and, during the event, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, announced the launch of AI in Portuguese and other languages, which should take place in July 2024.
“Even though India is the country with the most users, our level of engagement is much higher. So, when we think about putting artificial intelligence, the voice assistant embedded in WhatsApp in Portuguese, imagine how many people we give access to more features and more ideas”, says Laura Chiavone, director of Meta agencies in Brazil.
Still on artificial intelligence, Meta stated that they are training AI to answer the most popular questions that companies receive via WhatsApp, facilitating communication between companies and customers. Additionally, AI is being integrated to create ads on Facebook and Instagram, reminding customers when to leave an item in their cart or offering a discount on purchases.
“All the AI initiatives we have are to give brands the power to talk on a scale with millions of people. Respecting the brand’s tone of voice and values. Everything we are doing, from generative AI to the way we deliver campaigns are ways for brands to maintain their personality, reaching people in a way that is non-invasive, thinking about the long term”, says Laura.
Another new feature is the extension of payments functionality to medium and large companies in WhatsApp conversations. In 2023, Meta launched the payments functionality on WhatsApp Business through the app, facilitating transactions for small businesses. Now, the company has extended the function to the WhatsApp Business platform, allowing medium and large companies to receive payments as well. Furthermore, the payment option via Pix was added, making it easier for the company to insert the key and register the payment for the buyer.
WhatsApp Business apps in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Colombia are starting to receive the implementation of Meta Verified, which guarantees different functionalities for companies, such as improved account support, including protection against impersonation, and the option for employees to use WhatsApp on multiple devices.
Meta believes that the news can help with the strategies developed for brands. “Agencies are perhaps one of our biggest partners in developing campaigns that connect WhatsApp with brands. Through solutions we have, such as Click to WhatsApp, which is when we make an ad inviting the person to chat with that brand, the person clicks on the ad and goes to chat. It’s a way for you to create a user base for a brand with consent and conversations that are personalized”, concludes the director.
Furthermore, WhatsApp will allow users to make calls to large companies through the tool. This functionality is being tested and will soon be expanded to more companies in the coming months.
