If you’ve not already heard, WhatsApp and marketing are synonymous in today’s day and age. Or, at least, it is getting there.  

It is a gateway to nearly half the world, surpassing the user base of social media by about 20%.  With over 2.5 billion monthly active users across 180 countries, it can be the differentiator you are looking for to help you penetrate major  markets across the world. It lets you raise awareness about your business, generate leads, and provide that excellent service that your customers rightfully deserve.  

The BigB bot by Flipkart is a brilliant example of WhatsApp marketing that helped them achieve $2.5 million (USD) in revenue in a short span of 2 weeks. It was personalized, interactive, and relatable–a combination bound to succeed.

Most companies venture into WhatsApp marketing, trying to replicate the same success that businesses like Flipkart did. However, there are a few things you need to consider before planning your WhatsApp campaign. These factors affect the reach of your ongoing and all subsequent campaigns—Whatsapp’s messaging tiers and Quality ratings. 

What Are WhatsApp Messaging Limits and Quality Ratings?

Messaging limits are the limits WhatsApp imposes on the number of business-initiated conversations that can occur in a 24-hour moving period. These conversations can be categorized into:

• Marketing messages for promoting a new product/service
• Utility messages such as payment reminders 
• Authentication templates such as one-time passwords. 

These limits are divided into four tiers: 

• 1,000 business-initiated conversations in a 24-hour moving period.
• 10,000 business-initiated conversations in a 24-hour moving period.
• 100,000 business-initiated conversations in a 24-hour moving period.
• An unlimited number of business-initiated conversations in a 24-hour moving period. 

How does WhatsApp determine the quality rating of your business number?

WhatsApp determines the quality rating based on the feedback received from your customers on the recent messages sent by your business number. The feedback can be in the form of number blocking or other issues. Based on the feedback received, the quality ratings are:

1. Green: High Quality 

At a high-quality rating, your business number remains in the Connected status and can be upgraded to the next level, provided it meets other criteria. 

2. Yellow: Medium Quality

Similar to a high-quality rating, your business number remains in the Connected status and can be upgraded to the next level, provided it meets other criteria. However, you need to ensure that the quality doesn’t deteriorate, and it is best to analyze how it can be improved.  

3. Red: Low Quality

Your business number will be Flagged. The number will be Connected nevertheless. You will be given seven days to improve the rating to a Medium or High to maintain the current messaging limit. If you fail to improve the rating, WhatsApp will decrease your messaging limit to a lower messaging level. 

As soon as your business number reaches its messaging limit, the status would change to Restricted, regardless of the quality rating and messaging tier. WhatsApp prevents you from sending new messages for 24 hours. You can still respond to any messages initiated by the customer.  

Maintaining a high-quality rating is imperative since it helps you upgrade to higher messaging tiers and access more features. WhatsApp lets you analyze the reasons for number blocking to help you improve the quality of your business number. The analysis will help you plan your campaigns better, segment your customers more strategically, and send better messages, mitigating the risk of more customers blocking you. 

As soon as you register a number with WhatsApp Business, you can send 250 business-initiated conversations with unique customers in a rolling 24-hour period.

To upgrade your business number to the 1,000-tier, you must ensure that it meets the prerequisites and is eligible for an increase. Once you reach the 1,000-tier, you can progress to the higher tiers through automatic scaling. 

Upgrading to higher messaging tiers through automatic scaling

Automatic scaling is he process by which WhatsApp determines whether your messaging limits should be increased based on the following criteria:

1. The quality rating of your business phone number is Medium or High
2. The status of your business phone number is Connected
3. Your business phone number has been used to open business-initiated conversations amounting to at least half of your current messaging limits, over the past seven days. 

Once your business phone number satisfies the above criteria, WhatsApp will upgrade your business number to the next level–24 hours later. 

How do Messaging Limits impact Your WhatsApp Marketing campaigns?

Messaging limits on WhatsApp can significantly impact your marketing campaigns, especially in how you plan and execute them. 

For WhatsApp, it is essential to protect their users from unsolicited messages because it can negatively impact their customer retention in the long run. For businesses, it might hinder your chances of reaching a broader audience. However, in the long run, it can help you strategize your marketing campaigns more efficiently and achieve more success with WhatsApp. Here’s how:

1. It will help you identify and segment your target audience and reevaluate if WhatsApp is the best channel to reach them. 
2. The more clarity you have on your target audience, the more personalized, valuable, and relatable your messages will be, helping you improve  your customer engagement rates.
3. You engage with only those customers who have opted in for WhatsApp communication,  enhancing your campaign's reach and effectiveness. 

WhatsApp's messaging limits require a focus on quality over quantity. The idea is to engage meaningfully with your audience, maintain high-quality interactions, and gradually scale your campaigns as your messaging limits increase.

Best Practices to Reach Higher Messaging Tier Levels and maintain quality on WhatsApp

WhatsApp prioritizes businesses that practice responsible messaging.  It is a crucial factor while progressing businesses through messaging tiers. To reach higher WhatsApp messaging tier levels, it is important to maintain a positive interaction history, avoid spam-like behavior and ensure that your messages are helpful to your customers. 

Building Trust with WhatsApp

Some important points to keep in mind:

1. Start by maintaining a High-Quality Sender Reputation. 
2. Adhere to WhatsApp Business Messaging policy while crafting your WhatsApp marketing strategy. 
3. Using a verified business account can enhance your credibility a great deal and lets you customers know it is indeed you. 
4.  Create a communication strategy where customers find value in the messages you send and not dismiss it as intrusive. 
5. Develop templates for recurring messages and avoid using promotional language. 

It is essential to minimize the number of complaints since it can hinder your progress to higher tiers. Send messages to users only if they have opted in for WhatsApp communication from your business. Additionally, make it easy for your customers to opt out of the messages and respect their preferences. 

Developing Customer Engagement Strategies

To maximize the impact of your WhatsApp messaging:

1. Start by personalizing your messaging content.
2. Tailor your messages to individual customers, use their names, and reference past purchases.
3. Segment customers based on their preferences or purchase history, enabling you to send targeted messages relevant to each segment. Also, categorize your customer base into new, repeat, and high-value customers so that your messages can cater to each group's specific needs and behaviors.
4. While sending messages, keep in mind the timing and frequency of your messages. Ensure that it aligns with your customers' preferences when customers are most likely to engage and avoid sending them too frequently or at odd hours, resulting in opt-outs. Experiment with different times and frequencies to identify what works best for your business.

Utilizing Messaging Metrics

Did you know WhatsApp has a 98% open rate, indicating that nearly all messages sent on WhatsApp are read? About 80% of these messages are opened within 5 minutes of sending them. WhatsApp is a responsive platform, and people quickly react to your messages. They can report or block your business or further engage with you, telling you whether the messaging resonated with them. 

To move up the messaging tier, monitor specific numbers such as the number of messages sent, customer engagement metrics, successful delivery, complaints received, block reports, etc. Ensure these numbers align with WhatsApp's expectations and do not hinder your advancement to higher tiers. 

While learning about the messaging limits and quality ratings can improve the reach of your campaigns, a comprehensive platform like Gallabox further enhances your ability to automate customer interactions, segment your audience, and provide personalized experiences. 

By leveraging Gallabox's capabilities, businesses can streamline their messaging efforts, monitor messaging metrics, and ensure excellent customer engagement while adhering to WhatsApp's policies. Companies such as Qatar Insurance Company have doubled their lead generation with Gallabox. You can do too!