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Getting Ready for Promotional Messaging

Promotional messages let you reach customers with marketing, offers, and announcements over WhatsApp. To send them reliably and stay within WhatsApp’s rules, you need the right setup and approvals. This guide walks you through what to prepare, how to send promotional messages from ChatMaven, and how to avoid common limits and errors.

Prerequisite

Complete the WhatsApp Integration setup and understand inbound conversations before using promotional messaging.

What you need before sending promotional messages​

Before you send broadcast or promotional messages, make sure you have:

  • Enough balance in your WhatsApp / Meta billing so template messages can be sent
  • Approved message templates for the content you want to send
  • Good phone number quality — your number should not be in a low or flagged state
  • Contact opt-in — contacts must have agreed to receive promotional messages from you
Consent is required

Sending promotional messages without opt-in can lead to failed sends, blocks, or account restrictions. Always ensure contacts have explicitly agreed to receive marketing messages. For more on opt-in best practices, see WhatsApp’s business policy.

Preparing your message templates​

Promotional messages on WhatsApp must use pre-approved message templates. You cannot send arbitrary marketing text; each template must be created and approved in your WhatsApp Business Account (via Meta).

Tips for templates:

  • Follow Meta’s template guidelines to reduce rejections
  • Use clear, professional language and avoid spammy or misleading content
  • Include placeholder variables (e.g. for name) where it makes sense
  • Submit templates in Meta Business Manager and wait for approval before using them in ChatMaven

Once a template is approved, you can use it in ChatMaven (or your broadcast tool) to send promotional messages to opted-in contacts.

Sending promotional messages from ChatMaven​

When your templates are approved and your number is in good standing:

  1. Check your WhatsApp balance so you have enough credits for the number of messages you plan to send.
  2. Use the approved template in ChatMaven’s broadcast or campaign flow. Select the template, fill in any variables (e.g. contact name), and choose your audience.
  3. Send only to opted-in contacts — filter your audience to contacts who have agreed to receive promotional messages.

If your business is not yet verified with Meta, you may be limited to a smaller number of unique contacts per broadcast (for example, 250). Verification and good quality can help you access higher limits.

Understanding messaging limits​

WhatsApp applies daily messaging limits per business (portfolio level). These limits control how many unique contacts can receive business-initiated (e.g. template) messages in a 24-hour period.

  • Limits are set by Meta and can increase as you maintain good quality and usage.
  • Typical progression can go from lower tiers (e.g. 250 or 1K) up to 2K, 10K, 100K, or unlimited, depending on verification, quality, and usage.
  • If your audience size is larger than your current limit, the broadcast will fail. Either reduce the audience or work on increasing your limit before sending.

You can check your current limits in Meta Business Manager → WhatsApp Manager → Phone numbers (or Account tools), depending on the current Meta interface.

Phone number quality rating​

Meta assigns a quality rating to your WhatsApp number based on how users interact with your messages (e.g. blocks, reports, positive engagement).

  • High (green): Good feedback; you can focus on growing volume and limits.
  • Medium (yellow): Some issues; review your content and opt-in process.
  • Low (red): Serious problems; improve quickly to avoid restrictions.

If your number is low or flagged, Meta may restrict or block broadcast and promotional messaging until the rating improves. To improve quality:

Common errors and what to do​

"The broadcast audience is greater than the message limit"​

Your selected audience has more unique contacts than your current 24-hour messaging limit.

What to do: Send to a smaller audience that fits within your limit, or work on increasing your limit in Meta (e.g. through verification and quality). You can also split the send into multiple broadcasts over different days.

"Rate limit hit" or throughput errors​

You are sending too many messages per second. Meta applies throughput limits (e.g. per second per number).

What to do: Send in smaller batches or space out the messages. If you use automation or integrations, reduce the send rate to stay under the limit.

"Spam rate limit hit" or similar​

Too many messages were blocked or reported, or you exceeded portfolio-level limits.

What to do: Ensure opt-in and template compliance, improve content quality, and consider upgrading your messaging limit. Wait for the 24-hour window to reset if you have hit the daily cap.

Messages fail or contacts don’t receive them​

Delivery can fail if the contact has blocked you, is in an unsupported region, or the message doesn’t comply with policy.

What to do: Verify opt-in, use only approved templates, and avoid content that could be flagged as spam. If needed, use another channel to ask the contact to message you first so you can reply within the customer service window.

Need help?​

FAQ and troubleshooting​

My marketing template was rejected.​

Meta enforces category, sample content, and opt-in rules. Rewrite to match approved patterns, avoid prohibited industries, and resubmit with clear variable examples.

Why can’t I broadcast to all contacts?​

WhatsApp requires opt-in and often an approved template for outbound promotional sends. Respect quiet hours and regional rules; your workspace limits may also cap volume.

Opt-outs still receive messages.​

Maintain a suppression list synced from user replies (e.g. STOP). ChatMaven and Meta both expect you to honor marketing opt-out immediately.