How can a business reduce messaging costs?
Abdul Osama (عبدول أسامة) suggests sending more useful replies, keeping conversations on the platform where customers started them rather than automatically moving everyone to WhatsApp, and reviewing proposed marketing messages before they go out. WhatsApp is a messaging app that businesses also use to communicate with customers; some business messages can incur charges.
“Useful replies and channels in one place, instead of sending everyone to WhatsApp.” — Abdul Osama
What changed, according to the video?
Abdul says Meta, the company behind WhatsApp, changed its pricing in October. He says replies and marketing messages are charged under different categories, but does not give a full price list. Instead, he recommends reading the pricing document. These are figures reported in the video, not a universal cost calculation:
In numbers
- 24 hours: the period in which he says replies to a customer who initiated contact used to be free.
- 1,000 replies per month: the free allowance he describes per business number, not per customer.
- 10,000 replies: his example of messages that previously cost nothing; he estimates they would now cost about $100.
Check the current Meta rules and rates that apply to your business before budgeting. The video does not spell out every message category or billing condition.
The proposed approach
- Make quick replies more complete. For an online store, one prepared reply could cover price, shipping, sizes, and returns instead of requiring several short exchanges.
- Reply where the customer contacted you. Abdul describes Social Lab as a solution for managing conversations and says it can handle messages on Instagram, Facebook, and X without moving those customers to WhatsApp. Instagram, Facebook, and X are social platforms; Messenger is Facebook’s messaging service.
- Target messages and review AI suggestions. He says Social Lab can connect to ChatGPT or Claude to help analyze customer data, group customers, and propose an offer for each group. ChatGPT and Claude are AI assistants. The business owner reviews messages before they are sent.
“You’re the one who reviews before AI sends the messages.” — Abdul Osama
What to do next
Review your Meta bill and message categories, identify repeated questions, and note which platforms customers use first. Test fuller replies and human-reviewed targeting rather than assuming every conversation needs to move to WhatsApp.