HubSpot Update: WhatsApp Pricing Change - Free Service Messaging

Everyone. Welcome back. Ready for another deep dive.

Always.

Alright. So today, we are looking at a pretty interesting HubSpot update. Yeah. And, I think this is one that a lot of folks are gonna wanna pay attention to, especially if you're in that space where you're using HubSpot, you're using WhatsApp for your business. Right.

Sure.

Because it kinda has to do with pricing and

Big time.

WhatsApp. Yeah. So, should be interesting.

Yeah. Let's do it.

Okay. So big news coming out of HubSpot. Starting November 1, 2024, conversations started by customers through HubSpot's WhatsApp integration are no longer going to count towards a user's usage limit.

That's a big deal. Yeah. This is big news

Yeah.

Especially if you're a business, using WhatsApp for, you know, service, talking to your customers, things like that.

Yeah.

Because, you know, typically, these platforms have you have some kind of usage limit. Right? Like, a certain number of messages you can send per month before they start charging you more money.

Yeah. Yeah.

And so this is this is a big deal.

Yeah. And that they're being very specific in the way they're wording this in the update. Mhmm. That it's service conversations.

Right.

So what exactly does that

mean? So a service conversation in HubSpot's eyes is a conversation that is started by the customer.

Okay.

So not one that started by the business. Got it. So that's an important distinction. If the customer messages you first Okay. That's free.

Got

it. Unlimited Okay. Which is awesome.

That makes a lot of sense. Okay. Yeah. So then what's the opposite of a service conversation in HubSpot land?

Right. So they have a couple of different buckets. They call them marketing conversations, utility conversations, and authentication conversations.

Okay. So if I initiated as the business owner sending out a message, that would fall into one of those buckets.

Exactly.

Okay.

Yep.

So give me some for instances of each of those.

Sure. So, you know, a utility conversation. You know, let's say you're sending, an order confirmation.

K.

That would be utility.

Okay.

Or if you need to send a billing statement through WhatsApp for some reason

Okay.

That would be a utility conversation. Authentication, you know, pretty self explanatory, maybe like a onetime password

Gotcha.

That you need to log in. They text you a code or something. And then marketing, you know, that's pretty broad. They give the example of, you know, promotional messages.

Okay. So like a blast.

Exactly. Yeah. You know, we're having a sale 20% off. Okay. Something

like that. Got it. Okay. So those are not unlimited.

Right. So those they still have Okay. You still have, like, a certain number that you can send every month.

So HubSpot's not just, like, giving away everything for free. Mhmm. They're still incentivizing.

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like they're just gonna, you know, completely torpedo their pricing model or anything.

Totally. Totally. But this feels significant. You know? Like, I'm already kind of thinking through, like, okay. If I'm a business owner and I'm listening to this, like, what does this actually mean for me? Right. You know?

Yeah. So this is a this is really big for anyone using HubSpot to manage customer service through WhatsApp. Okay? Especially if you're, in Marketing Hub, alright, because that's really where this change has been made.

Gotcha.

So so think about it this way. If you were previously sending, say, 2,000 customer initiated WhatsApp messages a month, okay, that you were being charged for, those are now free.

Okay.

So that's potentially, you know, 100 of dollars back in your pocket each month.

Wow. Okay. Yeah. No. That's that's not insignificant at all.

It's not nothing.

Especially, I'm thinking, you know, a lot of people using HubSpot. They're all smaller businesses. Right? So that's actually a significant chunk of change.

Absolutely.

Wow. Okay. And it's interesting. It's almost like, they're really pushing people to, like, put the power in the customer's hands in a way. Yes. It's a good place. They're they're saying, like, hey. You know, if you're using this as, like, a as a tool where you're constantly blasting out messages to customers Mhmm. Like, that's one thing. But, you know Yeah. If you're using this as a way to communicate and you're encouraging your customers, like, hey. Reach out to us on WhatsApp

Yeah.

If you have questions. Like, now you can really do that without having to worry about the cost.

Exactly. And think about it this way too. Imagine you're a business owner, and you're thinking about putting your WhatsApp number, like, on your website. Right. You know? Like, contact us on WhatsApp. In the past, you might have been a little hesitant. You're like, well, what if everybody starts messaging me on WhatsApp?

My bill's gonna be so high.

Yeah. Am I gonna be able to afford this? You know? But now now you're empowered to really say, hey. Contact us on WhatsApp because you know that those service conversations, those questions, those quick interactions, those are gonna be free.

Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Wow. So this is definitely something to think about strategically. You mentioned, you know, this applies to certain HubSpot tiers.

Right.

So what are those tiers? And, like, for our listener, like, what do they need to know to know if this applies to them?

Yeah. So this will apply to anyone who has a marketing enterprise plan, a marketing plus pro plan, a service pro plan, or a service enterprise plan.

Okay.

So, essentially, you know, if you think about, like, the different HubSpot tiers, those are usually kinda based on the size of your business, the types of features that you need, things like that. So Okay. If you're on one of those plans, great. This update's awesome. If you're not, it's still worth checking out HubSpot's website, kind of looking at the details of your plans, seeing how they handle WhatsApp messaging. Yeah. But if you are on one of those plans, this is a big deal.

Okay. Yeah. So HubSpot users, it's time to, like, really reevaluate, like, how how you're using this, how you're how you're thinking about this. And it's almost like this is such a big change. It's almost like you wanna, like, take a step back and be like, alright. How can I, like, completely refresh the way that I'm thinking about using WhatsApp to communicate with customers?

Absolutely. And I think, you know, one of the first things you should do is think about how you're encouraging people to contact you on WhatsApp. Right? So Alright. Is that on your website? Do you have, like, a little WhatsApp icon or, you know, some text that says contact us on WhatsApp? Yeah. You know? Do you have that in your email signatures? Like, think about all the different ways that people can find your business

Right.

And make sure that WhatsApp is front and center, especially if you're using HubSpot to manage those conversations.

Totally. Okay. So almost like shifting some communication that maybe you were doing on email. Maybe now it's like Yeah. That's a better fit for WhatsApp.

Exactly. Especially for those quick questions, those, like, service related inquiries. Totally. Things that don't necessarily need, like, a long drawn out email chain.

Right. Yeah. Awesome. Okay. Well, this is super, super interesting. A lot to think about. Yeah. Really appreciate you breaking this down with us. It's a big update. Yep. And, I think, you know, we'll check back in in a few months and see.

I'd love to see how people are using this.

See how people are how people are using it.

Yeah.

So everyone listening, please reach out. Let us know. Like, are you using this new update?

Yeah. How's it going?

What are you finding? We'd love to hear from you.

Absolutely.

Until then, happy HubSpotting.

Happy HubSpotting.