Conversations

WhatsApp Business operates on a conversation-based system, where a conversation is a 24-hour window triggered by a message from the business, either proactive (business-initiated) or in response to a user's message (user-initiated). This system affects internal mechanisms, limits, and pricing. It's important to understand the different types of conversations, especially if you plan to use business-initiated Message Templates to engage customers.

User-Initiated Conversations

In this category, customers initiate conversations, which can also be triggered by automatic welcome messages.

For example, if a customer inquires about a product not available in your store, a LiveChat agent might send a link to the product. This starts the 24-hour session. If the customer was searching in the wrong section, they’ll be satisfied with the agent's help and end the conversation.

You’ll be charged for one user-initiated (Service) conversation if the agent resolves it within 24 hours. The conversation starts when you respond to a customer. If you don’t respond, no charges apply. However, if automatic replies are enabled and you respond to an incoming message (e.g., spam), a user-initiated conversation will start.

Business-Initiated Conversations

You can start proactive conversations by sending Message Templates or WhatsApp campaigns from LiveChat to customers who have opted in. These always begin with a pre-approved template.

The conversation type depends on the template used, and you can switch categories by sending a different template during the conversation.

If you wish, you can continue reading about Message Templates. Regardless of your decision, we suggest reading the Campaigns article as the next step.

Message Templates

WhatsApp Message Templates are pre-approved formats for businesses to send notifications or customer care messages to opted-in users. They can cover reminders, updates, and resolutions and are the only way to start conversations with customers who haven't messaged you in the last 24 hours. Template messages are created and stored on the Meta side in Meta Business and can be accessed through WhatsApp Manager.

Categories

When creating a new Message Template, you'll need to choose one of three categories. Each category is designed for different use cases, and Meta has created specific guidelines for each:

• marketing - promote your business with communications like welcome messages, offers, newsletters, retargeting, app promotions, and building customer relationships to increase awareness and drive sales; they can also include templates with mixed content or unclear details.

• utility - used for transaction-related messages like order confirmations, receipts, appointment reminders, opt-in management on WhatsApp, order management, account alerts or updates, feedback surveys, and for continuing a conversation on WhatsApp; they include specific details, like order numbers.

• authentication - send one-time authentication codes for verifying transactions or logins, helping businesses with account verification, recovery, or security; to use them, you need to:

  • use WhatsApp’s preset authentication Message Templates, with optional add-ons like security disclaimers and expiry warnings,

  • set up a one-time password button (copy-code or one-tap),

  • follow content rules: no URLs, media, or emojis, and parameters can’t exceed 15 characters.

To see how to create Message Templates, go to the Creating Message Templates article.

Examples

Below are examples of messages along with their objectives and proposed template solutions.