Template Messages with Promotional Content

Now Accepted Worldwide! Learn about Full-funnel Message Templates

All 360dialog WhatsApp Business API clients can now engage opted-in customers in full-funnel conversations across their customer journey.

This means that WhatsApp has removed the transactional-only restriction for business-initiated chats outside the 24-hour window (template messages) and will allow template messages with promotional content to be sent.

What changes?

Clients can immediately begin to send new types of template messages such as product recommendations based on a customer’s recent purchases, timely offers or valuable informational alerts.

• There’s no change to the message template creation process in Faceboook Business Manager or via API
  • Clients should choose an existing template category during submission
  • Template review will check for Commerce or Business Policy violations and correct formatting
  • Plan in advance to account for review times
• Clients must obtain opt-in from customers in advance of sending any business-initiated messages
• Clients need a well-defined outreach strategy and an experiment-based approach to see what resonates with their customers.

Driving High Quality Conversations is important

When sending Full-funnel template messages, it is important these messages are:

Expected: People have already opted in to receive this information over WhatsApp

Relevant: The messages are personalized to the customer, contain valuable information, and outline clear call to action(s) for the customer

Timely: People receive these messages at a logical time (ex: soon after engaging with the business, at a requested cadence)

As a reminder, people can block or report a business at any time, and WhatsApp may rate limit or automatically remove specific templates if a business’s quality rating is low for a sustained period.

What is the impact of this change?

In regions where this capability was tested, 60% of top enterprises have sent these new types of messages and reported up to 3x in response rates and 37x in conversions compared to SMS.

FAQs about messages templates with WhatsApp API

Q: Are all businesses eligible to send non-transactional messages

A: Yes, as of September 15, 2021, all businesses are now eligible to begin sending these new types of messages.

Q: Do businesses need to obtain opt-in before sending non-transactional messages?

A: Yes, opt-in is required before sending any proactive business-initiated messages on the Business API.If a user reaches out to a business to ask a question or find out more information, this does not imply opt-in. The business must still obtain opt-in from the user to receive future proactive messages on WhatsApp.

Q: Is there a new category for templates with promotional content, for example?

A: No changes will be made in the categories available. Businesses should choose an existing template category during submission.

Q: How is the phone number quality rating derived?

A: Quality rating is based on how messages have been received by recipients over the past seven days and is weighted by recency. It is determined by a combination of quality signals from conversations between businesses and users. Examples include user feedback signals like blocks, reports and the reasons users provide when they block a business.