90% of users access internet via their mobile phones. Even with numerous applications being available for businesses to connect with their customers, the debate always boils down to the two biggest names of VoIP service, Viber and WhatsApp.
Both these services offer numerous features, but each is different in its way. This comparative analysis is all about knowing which applications would suit your establishment better by highlighting what differentiates and unifies the two.
User Interface
One of the most common criteria for judging an application would be the ease of use. The interface is what the customer sees and must interact with primarily.
Viber
Viber has various customizations and themes which are available for the customers to choose from. In addition to the background, customers can also change the colour of the chat bubble.
Despite the customizations offer, Viber’s interface is generally perceived to be a bit complicated and has features such as games and a bot store which might not be ideally suited for business purposes.
WhatsApp, on the other hand, has a minimalistic and straightforward interface. Although it has limitations in terms of customization, it is intuitive and is built to suit the user’s instincts.
Despite these shortcomings, WhatsApp’s interface is preferred widely for its non-disruptive characteristics.
Message Types
For any communication application, messages are important indicators. Both the applications allow users to share written content, images, voice notes, links and contacts. Apart from these similarities, let’s find out what sets each apart.
Viber
Viber supports a larger file size in comparison and offers 3 types of business messages. There are promotional, transactional and conversational messages. In case of time sensitiveness, Viber lets the customer convert the message to an SMS in case the recipient does not have an internet connection.
WhatsApp on the other hand requires prior approval to initiate conversations and users are confined to templates that they must use. With WhatsApp Business, ‘Session Messages’ are very common with for a 24-hour messaging window for user-initiated conversations.
Also read: Whatsapp marketing vs SMS marketing
Voice & Video Calls
Although both the platforms are used for business ‘messaging’, both voice and video calls are features which are used by businesses often.
Viber
Viber allows for users to connect with other users on Viber. It also goes beyond the confines of inter-application connectivity and allows you to make VoIP calls to mobile and landline numbers so you can contact people who do not have a Viber account.
WhatsApp does not have the feature of connecting with numbers that are not WhatsApp users. It focuses solely on inter-application connectivity.
Privacy Policy
Privacy is a yardstick for a lot of applications and especially when it concerns business, it is required that what you send or customer communications in general be privileged.
Viber
Viber offers end-to-end encryption, but that does not include group chats and they offer the user the choice to switch encryption off. Viber offers ‘Secret Chats’ which contain self-destructing messages which can’t be forwarded or taken screenshots of.
‘Hidden Chats’ are found in a different section, which can be accesses only by a PIN code. Since Viber also contains ads, it collects data pertaining to location and device information to deliver personalized ads.
WhatsApp in comparison has a more air-tight end-to-end encryption feature which prevents even the application from seeing what the sender and the receiver send to each other. It also allows users to verify the contact through QR code. The application also provides two-factor authentication for extra security. In addition to archived chats which are kept in a separate section, it recently introduced Locked Chats which can be accessed through a pin.
Marketing Insights
It is important that when you use applications for business messaging, you get insights into how effective your campaigns are. Such insights will help businesses gauge what changes they need to make to their way of reaching out.
Viber
Viber Business Messages have the edge in terms of CRM integration. They enable it easily and offer extensive analytics to know how well your marketing campaign has worked and how the customers have interacted with them.
You can understand customer behaviour, purchase history and where the customer is with respect to the sales funnel to craft highly personalised campaigns.
WhatsApp for Business provides basic statistics such as when the message was sent, delivered and read. However, it doesn’t support CRM software integration just yet, although there has been news of that being introduced with future updates. For now, analytics functionality can be added with an API using a third-party provider.
Group Conversations
Group Conversations are used for Bulk Messaging. Bulk Messaging is when you wish to reach out to your customer base in entirety to let them know of any offers or promotional messages. For business messaging, this is a vital factor to consider.
Viber
Viber allows for bulk messages through ‘Broadcast Lists.’ Here, you can segment who your audience would, schedule messages and personalize the experience for the customers. ‘Communities’ are also a part of the Viber offerings wherein you can add any number of members to receive your content.
Contrarily, WhatsApp makes it very clear that it is not a bulk-messaging application and does not allow automated messaging.
WhatsApp values a person’s wish about receiving messages and in the event of Broadcast messages or being added to a group, it offers the users the option to opt out of these messages by letting the customer choose who gets to add them to such channels.
WhatsApp has added a Channels section which a user can join to receive the content that is sent by the Channel Administrator.
The Popularity Factor
Popularity ensures exposure. The more an application is popular, the more the adoption by people at large. Popularity amplifies both the good and bad of the application and is a crucial factor in choosing an application for business messaging.
Viber
Several countries do not allow VoIP calling and Viber Out is extensively used in those cases. Due to that, Viber has a dedicated user base in certain regions such as Eastern Europe and Middle East where it is particularly popular, with a current user base of 1 billion users.
WhatsApp has 2 billion active users and is extremely popular due to its ease of use and lack of ads. It’s extremely popular in countries like Brazil and India where it continues to be the most widely used messaging application.
Pricing
By pricing, we mean the revenue stream that the application thrives on. For businesses to adopt messaging applications, it must be cost effective while providing the features that are essential.
Viber
Viber involves country-specific monthly payment with the pricing being charged per promotional message which are delivered. They also have in-app purchases through stickers and games and Viber Out offers low-cost calls to non-Viber users. CRM integration is also supported for a fee.
The major source of revenue is because WhatsApp charges businesses to use their API to communicate with their customers, be it sending order updates, promotional messages or customer care. WhatsApp does not charge for the first 1000 conversations per month following which fees kick in per 24-hour conversation session. The rates are different for different regions.
Conclusion
The comparison between the two applications show that each has its own advantages and things that they fall short in. If we were to draw out a clear comparison, Viber with its advanced analytics and integrations would be favoured from the marketing perspective.
On the other hand, WhatsApp has a larger user base and with its simplistic design, may appeal to and be used by people who are not well-versed working with a complex interface. At the end, the decision to be made is simple when there’s a thorough understanding of your business and what would work for you. Here’s to making the right choice!
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