WhatsApp is the world’s number one marketing messenger today, with millions of businesses confidently depending on it to grow their brands.

A few years ago, WhatsApp became a global household name when billions of people started using it as a prompt messenger and medium to share thoughts and ideas. Well, it still serves exactly that purpose in its most basic forms.

However, it has grown, over the years, to include numerous fantastic features that allow users to do much more than chat. Prominent among these features is the WhatsApp business engagement solutions, which help all categories of businesses to attain reasonable growth without hassles.

As a marketer, if you are yet to integrate WhatsApp business into your everyday marketing operations, you certainly are missing out on a lot. Don’t worry; the WhatsApp business statistics below will help you catch up quickly.

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• The number of people using WhatsApp is currently more than 2 billion worldwide.
• WhatsApp is currently used in over 60 languages and over 180 countries worldwide.
• On average, 100 billion messages are sent every day on WhatsApp.
• WhatsApp was the best-performing social media app during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• WhatsApp can offer a click-through rate of about 45-60% on campaigns.
• When compared to any other channel available, WhatsApp’s open rate is a whopping 98%.
• By 2023, businesses will be able to save 2.5 billion hours through WhatsApp chatbots.
• WhatsApp Business speeds up customer service by 225%, boosts sales by 27%, and enhances conversion rates by 20%.

Whatsapp user base and usage statistics

You must have guessed that WhatsApp is huge, but just how big a marketing channel is WhatsApp?

The short answer is “very huge.” For the long answer and a look into why WhatsApp remains one of the biggest social media platforms for marketing, we’d look into a couple of statistics.

• The number of people using WhatsApp is currently more than 2 billion worldwide.

As of 2016, the number of WhatsApp users was 1 billion, which rose to 1.5 billion in 2018. The recent number for 2022, it shows that WhatsApp has been adding around 500 million users every two years.

The United Nations report estimated the world population to hit 8 billion in 2022. The implication is that WhatsApp’s user base currently represents a whopping 25% of the overall world’s population.

What this means for your business is limitless access to potential customers. It can only get better as the user base continues to enjoy consistent growth.

• WhatsApp is currently used in over 60 languages and over 180 countries worldwide.
• WhatsApp has an average of 13 million downloads, with 11 million downloads in August 2022 alone.
• WhatsApp had a 44.6 percent adoption growth in the second quarter of 2022.
• On average, 100 billion messages are sent daily on WhatsApp, translating into 4.2 billion messages per hour and 1.1 million each second.

• Around one-quarter of the total WhatsApp users (500 million) upload WhatsApp statuses every day.
• WhatsApp users spend an average of 18.6 hours on WhatsApp every month.

As is evident from the numbers above, WhatsApp has a huge user base that continues to dedicate so much time to it. When you add the fact that WhatsApp is as personal as you can get, it represents a pretty fertile ground for businesses looking to reach their customers effectively.

With its availability in different languages, it is easy for users to reach new audiences in various languages and for business owners and marketers to promote their products and services to prospective clients conveniently.

Whatsapp during the pandemic

We already recognize many marketing channels, but some may not do well at certain times. The Covid-19 pandemic is an example that shook the world, but even WhatsApp performed better at that time.

• WhatsApp was the best-performing social media app during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The use of WhatsApp by e-commerce businesses saw a 352% increase during the pandemic.

The restrictions during the pandemic meant businesses needed to turn to digital channels to continue serving their customers. It resulted in better performance for apps like Zoom, TikTok, and Skype, but WhatsApp saw the greatest growth.

Those numbers are important because they show that WhatsApp is a resilient marketing channel that thrives even in difficult times.

WhatsApp user demographics

While WhatsApp is used far and wide by different groups of people, statistics show that some use it more than others. This can help businesses better manage their WhatsApp marketing alongside other social media platforms.

• Most WhatsApp users (27%) fall within the age group of 26 to 35.

In addition, around 20% are 36 to 45 years old, and 19% are between 15 and 25 years old. 46 to 55-year-olds make up 17%, while 13% are 56 and older.

The stat points to the fact that WhatsApp is highly accepted by numerous age groups, with a slightly higher acceptance by those between 26 and 35 years old.

• Excluding China, 69 percent of internet users use WhatsApp.

Besides China, WhatsApp is also partially or completely unavailable in other countries like North Korea, Cuba, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Syria, and Iran.

• India has the biggest WhatsApp Business market, with a monthly average usage of 15 million, followed by Brazil with 5 million.

From the huge user base in India, 84% of SMBs say WhatsApp helps them communicate with customers, while 80% say it helps them grow their business.

If these groups are your main business targets, you now have more reasons to leverage WhatsApp Business.

Whatsapp business open and click-through rates

Email marketing has always had impressive open and click-through rates, but WhatsApp has raised the bar significantly.

• WhatsApp is able to offer a click-through rate of about 45-60% on campaigns.
• When compared to any other channel available, WhatsApp’s open rate is a whopping 98%.

No good marketer will overlook such an opportunity unless unaware of it. If you have not already embraced WhatsApp marketing, this seems to be the best time to take advantage of it and position your business to a global audience.

WhatsApp business statistics

1. Users have downloaded WhatsApp Business on Google Play and Apple stores more than 215 million times.
2. After reaching 5 million users within a year of launching, there are over 50 million WhatsApp Business users.
3. According to Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, 175 million people use the app to contact businesses every day.
4. About 40 million users use the business catalog features to find products and services every month.

Whatsapp business chatbot statistics and benefits

Chatbot availability and usage are central to modern service delivery methods. Thanks to WhatsApp Business API, organizations now automate their WhatsApp messenger to attend to both customers and staff quickly and reliably.

1. WhatsApp Business APIs have an open rate of 99% and a response rate close to 50%.
2. By 2023, businesses will be able to save 2.5 billion hours through WhatsApp chatbots.
3. WhatsApp Business speeds up customer service by 225%, boosts sales by 27%, and enhances conversion rates by 20%.
4. 70% of white-collar employees will interact with chatbots daily by 2022.
5. Chatbots to deliver $11 billion savings by 2023.
6. Hubspot increased the clicks from email by 86% by adding a WhatsApp option next to any CTA that says “Book a Meeting.”
7. Customer support is the top reason for contacting businesses on WhatsApp. Pre-sales support, community engagement, raffles, and games are the others.
8. 33% say getting immediate help is the top benefit they get from interacting with businesses on WhatsApp, while 28% say it is after-business-hour services.

• As for why they contact businesses through the platform, 54% say it is for delivery tracking, and 50% mention appointments and notifications. 43% do so to get special deals, and 39% say customer service.

These bots effectively provide round-the-clock support, apply personalized features, ensure customer engagement, run bulk notifications, launch promotions, gather feedback, conduct surveys, etc.

Conclusion

Technology consistently drives positive changes into our day-to-day activities, and early adoption of these changes places users and businesses at favorable advantages.

WhatsApp business statistics have shown how resourceful the integration of this technology in marketing can be. WhatsApp Business is capable of making marketers’ tasks easy and helping to achieve better results while delivering an enjoyable experience to customers.

For a transformative business approach, we recommend that all levels of businesses, especially small and medium-scale businesses, tap into this opportunity.

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