Reduce the risk of blocking in WhatsApp: key rules#
December 27, 2023
Businesses need to interact with customers, to convey to everyone the announcement of new promotions and discounts. For this purpose, sending out messages is ideal. That said, due to its strict anti-spam policy, WhatsApp bans up to two million accounts due to unsolicited messaging every month. Read about what are the rules of bulk messaging and how to reduce the risk of account blocking in our article.
WhatsApp Recommendations#
The official WhatsApp website states that messaging between users is a "confidential process". The messenger's development team has created recommendations worth following to reduce the risk of getting banned when sending messages and a set of actions to avoid "to keep the platform and users safe."
- Send messages to those who wrote to you first. For example, if a customer found your number in WhatsApp on external resources and sent the first message himself.
- Before adding a user to a group, you should get their consent in a private chat. And also respect users who decide to leave the group.
- If you own a group, set up the ability to block other users from posting messages. A group can be blocked if a message from a member gets a lot of complaints from other members of the group.
- Try not to forward messages if the author of the message is unknown or if there are doubts about the veracity of the message. WhatsApp tries to prevent the spread of false information.
- We recommend that you do not send a message to more than 200 customers per day.
- It is better to distribute mailings to large bases to several numbers.
What to avoid#
WhatsApp's website also lists actions that increase the risk of account lockout.
- Sending unwanted messages. WhatsApp tries to fight against sending messages if the user in the chat has asked not to write to him anymore.
- WhatsApp discourages the use of automatic mailings and template messages. The messenger uses machine learning technology and monitors spam complaints from users.
Next, we will tell you how to make messaging more lively.
- You shouldn't share users' contacts without their consent. And also you should not send a message to contacts that have been obtained from illegal sources.
- The official website advises to avoid automatic collection of user information on WhatsApp unless the user has given permission for the collection, storage and use of his personal data (phone number, profile picture and status in WhatsApp).
WhatsApp is guaranteed to block for spam (ads that are not interesting to the user), fraud or threatening the security of messenger users.
Recommendations from Green API#
Following WhatsApp's guidelines and working according to the platform's rules is the basics, but it also doesn't guarantee that your account won't be blocked. The Green API team has developed a number of their own recommendations that will help reduce the chances of your account being blocked, in addition to the basic recommendations from the messenger developers. And it will also help make messaging more diverse and build green communication with customers.
The "age" of the number#
The most resistant to blocking are numbers that have been registered in WhatsApp for a long time. The greater the "age" of the phone number's registration in the messenger, the less likely it is to be blocked.
From new numbers, it is recommended to start sending messages only a day after registration. For a new number, the greatest risk of getting banned is in the first ten days.
After registration, it is recommended to link a new number to the web version of WhatsApp only after 24 hours.
Also, in the first 10 days, it is not recommended to send messages via Instance and not to create groups. And start sending messages only on the day after connecting to the instance.
At the most risky time for a new number, you should not send messages to more than 20 new contacts per day.
Ratio of messages sent to messages received#
The ideal development would be: if all customers write to you first. But if you need to start a dialog with a client yourself, aim for a statistic - for every 100 messages you send, 50 clients reply to you. With a ratio of 50% of responses to the mailing, the number has a significantly lower chance of being blocked.
STOP command#
A customer can send a complaint about too active mailing list. If there are many such complaints, WhatsApp will automatically ban the account. In such a case, give the user an opportunity to stop your mailing with any phrase in the chat. For example, at the end of the message, add, "Write the word 'Stop' to unsubscribe" when sending out a newsletter. Plus, this will increase the response ratio received from users.
Address by name#
In your newsletter, address by the customer's name. This way you'll make each message unique, which will increase the chances of not getting banned from WhatsApp. And can increase the conversion rate of replies from customers.
Question in the first message#
You can add a question in the text of the first message. Asking permission to send messages to the customer is ideal for this. This way, it will be easier to start a dialog with the customer, you can get a reply message from them and quickly identify loyal customers.
Short messages#
It is better to send several short messages than one long message. This way of communication is more like a conversation between two people than a machine mailing.
Instance settings#
Before you connect a number to an instance, you should make sure that there are no messages in the queue using the showMessagesQueue method. If there are messages in the queue, you will need to remove them using the clearMessageQueue method.
The interval for sending messages from the queue should be increased to 15000 milliseconds.
The 500 millisecond interval is a clear marker of message sending automation.
Number warming#
Ask the customer to add the number from which you plan to send notifications of new discounts and promotions to their contact list.
Conduct a mailing among clients only if you already have a correspondence with him.
Keywords in the message#
Use keywords that are appropriate for the business, services provided and that encourage the customer to take action. Use direct action verbs: "If you have any questions about repairing your appliances, feel free to email us."
Apply keywords to assist the customer: "If you need advice on product selection, email us with the word 'Consultation'."
Encourage the customer to share feedback about services rendered, purchases made, or the experience of contacting you, "Rate our products and write a review with the tag "Review"."
Send messages with interactive requests: "Take our product survey. To do so, send a chat message with the word 'Survey'."
Notify customers about promotions and discounts using keywords: "Want to know details about our new promotion? Send us the word 'Promotion'."
Speed of mailing#
Send one message no more than once a minute.
Do not leave the newsletter on for more than 8 hours a day.
Do not run the newsletter more than three days in a row.