As businesses increasingly leverage WhatsApp for customer engagement, understanding the platform’s message limits and quality rating system becomes crucial. This guide, provided by Jetlink, offers an in-depth look at WhatsApp’s messaging limitations, quality ratings, and strategies for scaling your business-initiated conversations effectively.
1. WhatsApp Messaging Limits Overview
WhatsApp imposes daily message limits to control the number of business-initiated conversations a phone number can initiate within a 24-hour period. These limits help manage the volume of messages businesses can send while maintaining the quality of the communication. Each messaging limit tier is based on two primary factors:
Messaging Volume: The number of unique customers a business can contact within a rolling 24-hour period.
Quality Rating: A score assigned by Meta (formerly Facebook), reflecting how well customers are engaging with the messages.
The limits are divided into the following tiers:
250 Conversations: The default starting point for any business after registering a WhatsApp business number.
1,000 Conversations: The next tier for businesses that have successfully completed business verification and demonstrated reliable messaging behavior.
10,000 Conversations: Granted to businesses that maintain a high-quality rating and a higher volume of conversations.
100,000 Conversations: Reserved for businesses with extensive messaging needs and an impeccable quality record.
Unlimited Conversations: For top-tier businesses that have proven their ability to handle large-scale, high-quality messaging.
2. WhatsApp Business Verification and Identity Verification
To increase messaging limits, businesses must follow a verification process:
Business Verification
To move beyond the initial 250 conversations tier, businesses must first complete Meta's business verification process. This includes:
Submitting business details through WhatsApp Manager.
Ensuring that your business is compliant with WhatsApp’s policies.
Proving that your business can be trusted to handle customer communications responsibly.
Once verification is complete, Meta will automatically evaluate your performance and decide whether to upgrade you to the 1,000-conversation tier.
Identity Verification
If your business is eligible for a further increase, Meta may request identity verification. This can be triggered in WhatsApp Manager under the "Limits" section. The verification request will also trigger a webhook notification with the alert_type set to INCREASED_CAPABILITIES_ELIGIBILITY_NEED_MORE_INFO.
Businesses that successfully verify their identity are eligible for higher messaging limits, provided they meet other requirements like high message quality and customer satisfaction.
3. Increasing Messaging Limits: Pathways to Higher Tiers
Once your business has completed the verification steps, you can increase your messaging limits by following these best practices:
Open 1,000 Conversations in 30 Days
Meta requires businesses to open at least 1,000 unique conversations within a 30-day period. Each conversation must be initiated using a WhatsApp-approved template with a high-quality rating. This shows that your business is capable of managing a higher message volume without compromising the quality of communication.
Send High-Quality Messages
Message quality plays a vital role in determining whether you can increase your limits. To ensure high quality:
Personalize Your Messages: Tailor your messages to each user’s needs and avoid sending generic welcome messages.
Send Opted-In Messages: Only send messages to users who have opted in to receive messages from your business.
Optimize Message Frequency: Avoid overwhelming customers by sending too many messages in a short period of time. Strike a balance between providing value and maintaining a respectful communication frequency.
Adhere to WhatsApp’s Business Messaging Policy: Ensure that all your messages comply with WhatsApp’s strict policies for business messaging, focusing on relevance and user consent.
Automatic Scaling
As you meet the criteria for higher message volumes, WhatsApp will automatically scale your messaging limits based on:
Your Business Phone Number's Status: The number must be "Connected."
Quality Rating: Your quality rating must be "Medium" or "High."
Conversations Over 7 Days: The number of unique business-initiated conversations over the last 7 days must be at least half of your current messaging limit.
If these conditions are met, your messaging limit will automatically increase after 24 hours. However, if your quality rating has been flagged as low for seven consecutive days, your messaging limit will be reduced.
4. Quality Rating and Its Impact on Messaging Limits
Meta evaluates the quality of your business messages based on how customers respond. This rating system affects whether you can increase your message limits and could potentially cause your limit to drop if the rating falls too low.
Quality Rating Tiers
Your quality rating can fall into one of three categories:
Green: High-quality communications. This is where you want to be for the best results.
Yellow: Medium-quality communications. It’s important to improve your message content to avoid a further decline.
Red: Low-quality communications. If this continues, your messaging limits will be downgraded.
How Quality Rating Affects Messaging Limits
Flagged Status: If your number’s quality rating falls into the red zone, Meta will flag the phone number. If the number remains flagged for more than 7 consecutive days, your messaging limit will automatically be reduced to a lower tier.
Restricted Status: If your phone number reaches its maximum limit of initiated conversations, no further business-initiated messages can be sent for the next 24 hours. You’ll have to wait for the next window to send additional messages.
To maintain a high-quality rating, ensure that:
Customers are not blocking your number.
You are not sending spam-like messages or contacting users who haven’t opted in.
You keep track of the feedback you receive from customers and adjust your messaging strategy accordingly.
5. Reaching Your Messaging Limit: What to Do
If you reach your messaging limit within the 24-hour period, you’ll need to wait until one or more active conversations end. For example, if a conversation that started in the last 24 hours is closed, you’ll be able to initiate new conversations up to your limit.
It’s important to regularly check your current messaging limit and monitor the number of unique conversations. You can do this through WhatsApp Manager under Overview > Limits. After reaching the 1,000-conversation threshold, the Insights panel under Account Tools will display your new messaging limits and any increases from automatic scaling.
6. Handling Denials and Requests for Tier Upgrades
If Meta denies an increase in your messaging limit, your business will remain at its current tier. You may receive webhook alerts, which provide information on why the request was denied and how you can take further actions to increase your limit:
INCREASED_CAPABILITIES_ELIGIBILITY_DEFERRED: This alert suggests sending more high-quality messages or opening 1K conversations within a 30-day period.
INCREASED_CAPABILITIES_ELIGIBILITY_FAILED: This indicates that you need to either request another increase or open 1K conversations in 30 days.
INCREASED_CAPABILITIES_ELIGIBILITY_NEED_MORE_INFO: This alert indicates the need for identity verification before a tier upgrade can be granted.
To request an upgrade, submit a support ticket via WhatsApp Manager by selecting Ask a Question > WABiz: Phone Number & Registration > Request type > Request a Messaging Tier Upgrade.
7. Best Practices for Scaling with WhatsApp
As you scale your business-initiated messaging on WhatsApp, it’s critical to adopt a gradual and strategic approach:
Roll Out Slowly: When reaching out to a large customer base, gradually roll out messaging over a week to avoid overwhelming your system or triggering user complaints.
Monitor Message Volume: Track your message limits and usage to prevent hitting your cap prematurely.
Maintain High-Quality Communications: Focus on personalized, opt-in messages to enhance the customer experience and maintain a positive quality rating.
8. Where to Check Your Messaging Limit and Quality Rating
You can view your current messaging limit and quality rating in the following ways:
WhatsApp Manager: Under Overview > Limits, you can check your current messaging limit and any guidance for increasing your limit.
Facebook Business Account: Under Business Settings > Accounts > WhatsApp Accounts, you can view your limit in the messaging column for each phone number.
Jetlink Portal: Use the Campaigns section to manage your WhatsApp messaging settings and monitor your limit through the Messaging Limit column.
Conclusion
Navigating WhatsApp’s messaging limits and quality rating system is key to scaling your business effectively. By following best practices for business verification, identity verification, and maintaining a high-quality messaging strategy, your business can unlock higher tiers of message limits and enjoy seamless communication with customers. Remember, success in WhatsApp messaging is not just about reaching more users, but also about providing valuable, engaging, and compliant content that meets both business goals and user expectations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many WhatsApp messages can I send in a day?For WhatsApp Business API, the message limit varies depending on your tier: 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000 unique users per day. This limit is influenced by message quality and user engagement.
What is the maximum message length on WhatsApp?WhatsApp allows a maximum message length of 65,536 characters. This includes text, spaces, and special characters. While you can send long messages, most users keep their messages well below this limit.
How to forward more than 5 messages on WhatsApp?To forward more than 5 messages at once, you need to split them into multiple batches. WhatsApp limits forwarding to 5 recipients at a time to prevent spam and the spread of misinformation.
What is the WhatsApp message limit per day?WhatsApp’s messaging limit for businesses depends on their tier. It starts at 1,000 messages per day for new users and can scale up to 100,000 as your business builds trust and engagement.
How to increase WhatsApp’s character limit?You cannot increase the character limit of 65,536 on WhatsApp. However, if your message exceeds this limit, you can split it into multiple parts or shorten the content
If you have any further questions on managing your WhatsApp messaging limits through Jetlink, don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team for assistance.