WhatsApp Business: how it works and costs

If you run a B&B, a restaurant or a beach club, customers already message you on WhatsApp: to book, to ask for directions, to find out whether there is a table tonight. Often, though, those messages land on the same WhatsApp you use with family and friends, and get lost. WhatsApp Business is the version designed for businesses: it is free to download and ready in half an hour.

What it is and what it costs

There are two things with similar names:

the WhatsApp Business app, free, for Android and iPhone. It is designed for small businesses where the owner, or someone on the staff, answers customers personally;
the WhatsApp Business Platform, for companies that handle large volumes of messages or connect them to their own software. It is usually set up through a provider and, since 1 July 2025, Meta charges for it per message: replies to people who wrote to you in the last 24 hours are free, promotional messages are paid.

For a B&B, a holiday home, a restaurant or a beach club, the app is almost always enough. The rest of this guide is about the app.

How to switch from regular WhatsApp

The same number cannot be on WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business at the same time. You have two options:

move your number to WhatsApp Business: the app can bring your chats, photos and settings with it. Make a backup first, and bear in mind that moving back does not bring everything back;
use a dedicated number for the business: the tidiest choice, because it keeps work separate from your private life and you can hand the phone to whoever stands in for you.

First step: the business profile

It is the page customers see when they tap your name. Fill it in completely: name, category, address, opening hours, a two-line description, website, email and a recognisable photo, such as your logo or your entrance. WhatsApp itself points out that a complete profile reduces the questions you receive.

Automatic replies: greeting and away messages

They are two messages you write once and that go out on their own.

The greeting message reaches people who write to you for the first time.
The away message replies when you cannot: always, during a period you choose, or outside the opening hours set in your profile.

Two examples to copy and adapt:

Hi, thanks for your message! I’m Maria from B&B Il Golfo and I’ll reply as soon as I can, usually within an hour. In the meantime, here is the house guide, with times, parking and tips: [link]

Hi! I can’t reply right now: I’ll get back to you tomorrow from 9am. Check-in, Wi-Fi and parking are all in the house guide: [link]. If it’s urgent, call me on [number].

Quick replies: the everyday questions

Quick replies are saved messages, up to 50, that you call up by typing “/” in a chat and picking the right one. They are not sent automatically, but they let you answer the questions you get every day in two seconds. The app already prepares a few using the hours and address in your profile. Some ideas:

/checkin: arrival time and what to do if you arrive late;
/parking: where to leave the car and what to avoid;
/book: “Send me the day, time and number of people and I’ll confirm”;
/menu: the link to your online menu.

Catalogue, labels, link and QR code

The catalogue shows up to 500 products or services, with photo, price, description and link: the rooms of a B&B, the dishes of the day, the umbrellas of a beach club.
Labels keep your chats in order: “new customer”, “booking confirmed”, “call back”.
The app creates a short link and a QR code: whoever opens them can message you without saving your number. Put them in your Instagram bio, on your website, on your business card, at the till or on the door.

When automatic messages are not enough

Greeting and away messages are fixed texts: they always say the same thing. Quick replies, on the other hand, need you to be on your phone. But the real questions arrive at eleven at night, often in another language: “What’s the Wi-Fi password?”, “Does the front door lock?”, “Where can we eat fish nearby?”.

The simplest solution is to put a link to a digital guide to your property in the greeting and away messages, with all the information written down once and for all. If the guide includes an AI assistant that answers only with what you have written, guests get an answer at any hour and in their own language, without waiting for you.

For questions about the town, if you are in Gaeta, you can recommend Enea on WhatsApp to your guests, Scopri Gaeta’s free concierge: events, beaches, parking, the ZTL and bus times.

Where we can help

With ENEA Cloud we prepare your property’s digital guide, with the assistant that answers guests. You put the link in your WhatsApp Business greeting message and many questions are answered before they reach you. The properties already using it in Gaeta are among our real cases.

Sources

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited, under the editorial responsibility of ENEA Cloud. Rules, timetables and prices can change: always check the source.

WhatsApp Business for your business: how it works, what it costs, automatic replies

What it is and what it costs

How to switch from regular WhatsApp

First step: the business profile

Automatic replies: greeting and away messages

Quick replies: the everyday questions

Catalogue, labels, link and QR code

When automatic messages are not enough

Where we can help

Read more

Sources

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