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Viber Business | Business Messages

Viber Business Messages enable enterprises to communicate directly with their customers on Viber, using the same platform that they already use when talking to their friends. It allows you to personally interact with your customers, keep them engaged with your business, and drive them to perform actions.

Business Page

Companies can create a Viber Business Page with a short profile and details about their business, such as their website. In addition to creating credibility and improving user engagement, a Viber Business Page also boosts consumer trust for business messages.

 

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As a commitment to delivering relevant business messages, Viber authenticates brands with a Blue Tick. Users can update their subscription to the service at any point in time.

Every Business Message includes a Blue Tick to reassure users they aren’t receiving spam. When a business sends a message to a Viber user, it will be displayed in a dedicated Viber chat from that sender. The end users will view the following:

  • Business information: Business name and logo, business website URL and description.
  • The Viber verified icon: Green (or blue for iOS devices) checkmark.
  • Unsubscribe button: Each Viber user has the option to opt out from receiving messages from a specific sender by blocking that sender. They can also opt out of receiving all Business Messages directly in their settings.
  • Learn more button: A way to find out more information about the sender.

Types of Business Messages

Viber helps reduce friction throughout the customer journey with various types of business messages:

  • One-way: Companies send out notifications and alerts; users cannot reply.
  • Two-way: Companies start the conversation and users can reply, allowing for deeper interactions.
  • Sessions: Users initiate the conversation with companies.

Each of these messaging services can be ordered separately – which trigger an unique serviceID. Even when a company orders more than one service, these are all connected with the same Business Page.

Transactional and Promotional Messages

There are two types of business messages enterprises can send to users: transactional and promotional. Each of these messages are handled and charged differently by Viber.

Transaction Messages

Transactional messages are of informative nature that may contain text only, however they can also contain an optional URL related to the text. Examples include: appointment reminders, transaction notifications, flight alerts, and more.

Here are a few examples of transactional messages:

1-way message:

Hi {{name}}! Thanks for placing an order at FabClothes. Your order 786564, for a total of EUR 64.00, is confirmed. The expected delivery date is May 5th.

2-way message:

Dear {{name}}, your appointment with Dr. Mueller scheduled for May 5th at 10AM is confirmed. To change the time of your appointment or cancel, please reply to this message.

Transactional messages in Russia

In Russia, transactional messages are sent in a template format in the form of a predefined message structure sent by the service and manually approved by Viber. Templates are created to ensure that messages are easy to send and adhere to Viber guidelines. This is Russia-specific service and is only available in this country. .

If you are based in Russia and plan to send service traffic outside of Russia, it is necessary to use two different accounts—one for your end users in Russia and the second account for your end users in other countries.

Promotional Messages

Promotional messages have the purpose of promoting the business, a particular product or special offers/deals. Usually, this message contains more interactive elements such as buttons, emojis, images, etc.

All promotional service messages must be labeled "Promotional". In case a business message is not identifiable as transactional and/or targeted to a specific user, it will be considered and charged as a promotional message.

Here are a few examples of promotional messages:

1-way promotional message:

Dear {{name}}, thank you for choosing to fly with {{company name}}! With your flight tomorrow, you are gaining {{number}} miles. Use your miles in the airline shop here (link or button).

2-way promotional message:

Hi {{name}}, enjoy the last week of FabShoes winter sale! Discounts for all online store purchases! Find the latest offers here (link or button).

According to Viber guidelines, the first message towards the end user cannot be a promotional message.

Sessions

Sessions is a set of two-way messaging with the same user in a defined timeframe. The Sessions service allows business a new channel of communication with their subscribers essentially for customer support purposes.

Users can also initiate conversations by asking a question, reporting a problem, changing a reservation, etc. By clicking on your company’s “Viber Sessions” contact option, users can start chatting and launch a session. Each session has its own service ID.

A company can add a Viber Sessions deeplink to your website, apps, social media, email signature and/ or Viber profile page. Then, have a person or chatbot on hand to respond, of course.

Each session is configured as follows:

  • The session is set for a default period of 12 hours (in seconds).
  • Each session will have a default maximum of messages (60). When reached, a new session will be opened automatically.
  • A fixed rate according to the message type.

In regards to billing:

  • The charge for the Sessions/ Replyable messages will be per session and not per delivered message. This will allow the business multiple message deliveries with a fixed price per session.
  • The session will be opened and billed after the business replies to the user's first message.
  • The Session rate will be applied ONLY if the user initiated the conversation. The business may send the first message in a session however, in that case it will be charged as a regular one-way message.

Sessions require a dedicated business account. Existing business accounts that would like to use a session type should create a new account.

Content Types

Viber Business Message content types consist of:

  • Rich text (1,000 character length)
  • PDF
  • Images
  • Interactive buttons
  • and more!

This is how the content types are available per Viber messaging services:

Service type Text Image Text & button Text & button & image
One-way X X X X
Two-way X X X X
Sessions X X

Rich text 

{
  "to": "12331132",
  "channels": [
    "viber"
  ],
  "viber": {
    "from": "1233423454",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "hi!"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Image

{
  "to": "12331132",
  "channels": [
    "whatsapp"
  ],
  "whatsapp": {
    "from": "1233423454",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "image",
        "image": {
          "url": "https://www.tyntec.com/themes/custom/tyntec/image/tyntec-logo-color.png"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Interactive button (with text) 

{
  "to": "12331132",
  "channels": [
    "whatsapp"
  ],
  "viber": {
    "from": "1233423454",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "Do you want to know more?"
      },
      {
        "type": "button",
        "button": {
          "caption": "Yes",
          "callback": "https://api.tyntec.com/follow-up/4587db99-0e79-4231-a797-2ac1cf11239b"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Interactive buttons (with text and image) 

{
  "to": "12331132",
  "channels": [
    "whatsapp"
  ],
  "viber": {
    "from": "1233423454",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "This is our offer"
      },
      {
        "type": "image",
        "image": {
          "url": "https://www.tyntec.com/themes/custom/tyntec/image/tyntec-logo-color.png"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "button",
        "button": {
          "caption": "I accept",
          "callback": "https://api.tyntec.com/offers/2b87db99-0e79-4231-a797-2ac1cf11009b"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Forbidden industries and use cases

Viber Business Messages’ content does not permit any of the following:

  • Political parties or organizations with a political nature
  • Gambling and Trade - online and offline casino businesses, bidding, lottery, bitcoin, binary options and forex companies.
  • Credit/loan services and pawn shops unless these services are offered by a registered financial institution such as banks and services that are endorsed by banks
  • Content with sexual nature and any other adult content
  • Tobacco related services
  • Alcohol related services
  • Businesses that are involved in weapons and drug trade
  • Open portals/blogs that have no control over the published content, for example
  • Internet websites that allow its users to create content and share it
  • Religious services including churches, temples, mosques etc.
  • Online spiritual services such as tarot cards readings, astrological mapping, etc.
  • Companies that we consider as Viber’s competitors.