Broadcast best practices
Sending a WhatsApp campaign is powerful — open rate above 90%, click rate 3 to 5 times higher than email. But it's also a privilege that Meta can take away from you if you abuse it. This article gathers the essential principles for making your campaigns effective and sustainable.
1. Opt-in is non-negotiable
WhatsApp is not a marketing channel by default. It's a conversational channel where your customers talk to you as they would to someone close to them. To avoid betraying that relationship, opt-in is mandatory.
Valid opt-in sources
| Source | Example |
|---|---|
| The contact writes to you first | The best possible opt-in — implicit and indisputable |
| Web checkbox | Form with explicit text mentioning WhatsApp |
| Explicit in-store request | The customer gives their number and agrees to be contacted on WhatsApp |
| Reply to an opt-in SMS | You ask them by SMS, they reply YES |
Invalid opt-in sources
- Purchased lists — prohibited, degrades your quality rating within hours.
- Numbers collected from business cards without explicit WhatsApp consent.
- Members of a WhatsApp group — belonging to a group is not an opt-in for individual sends.
- Numbers collected for another channel without specific WhatsApp consent.
- Buying lists
- Sending to contacts without consent
- Automatically importing group members
- Reusing numbers collected for other purposes
All of these practices lead to reports, a drop in your quality rating, and ultimately the blocking of your WhatsApp Business number.
Handling STOP
Reepli automatically processes unsubscribes:
- When a contact replies
STOP(or an equivalent keyword), they are marked as unsubscribed. - Unsubscribed contacts are automatically excluded from subsequent campaigns.
Configure your keywords in Settings → Assistant → Opt-out keywords if you want to add variants (unsubscribe, désabonner, etc.).
2. Choose the right template category
The Marketing vs Utility choice isn't a matter of pricing — it's a matter of approval and scoring.
| If your message is… | Correct category |
|---|---|
| Confirmation of a placed order | Utility |
| Reminder for a booked appointment | Utility |
| OTP code | Authentication |
| Promo, offer, launch | Marketing |
| Newsletter | Marketing |
| Post-purchase feedback request | Utility (tied to a transaction) |
A Marketing message submitted as Utility is rejected by Meta. A Marketing message used for a transactional message is less risky but costs much more for nothing.
3. Personalize (really)
A generic template signed "The Reepli team" converts poorly and attracts reports. Three possible levels:
| Level | Technique | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Contact's first name | +10 to 15% read rate |
| Intermediate | First name + contextual reference (city, product purchased) | +20 to 30% reply rate |
| Advanced | Content tailored to history (hot lead, pipeline stage) | +30 to 50% conversion rate |
Reepli gives you access to dynamic variables drawn from the contact record (name, labels, stage…). Use them.
For every dynamic variable, always configure a default value. If 30% of your database has no first name on file, a Hello , message is a disaster. A simple Hello is a better default value.
4. Respect the send frequency
Over-soliciting is the number one cause of unsubscribes and reports. A customer who receives 3 campaigns in 4 days blocks or reports you, full stop.
Recommended cadence
| Type | Reasonable frequency | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing / promotional | 1 to 2 times per week | 3 times per week |
| Newsletter / informational | Once per week | Twice per week |
| Transactional (Utility) | Based on events | No strict limit |
| Re-engagement | Once per month | Twice per month |
Rules to follow
- Spacing — at least 48h between two Marketing campaigns to the same segment.
- Global cap — a contact should not receive more than 4 to 5 campaigns per month, all types combined.
- Overlaps — if a contact matches several filters, they may receive two campaigns on the same day. Use exclusions to avoid that.
- Watch the signals — an unsubscribe rate above 2% on a campaign is a red alert.
5. Choose the right time
WhatsApp is not email: a send at 11 PM is intrusive, not convenient.
| Audience | Time slots that work | To avoid |
|---|---|---|
| B2C general public | 11 AM–1 PM, 6 PM–9 PM on weekdays | Before 9 AM, after 10 PM, Sunday morning |
| B2C family | Wednesday afternoon, Saturday morning | School rush hours |
| B2B | 9 AM–11 AM, 2 PM–4 PM on weekdays | Friday evening, weekend |
| International | Adapt to the recipient's time zone | A single send across multiple time zones |
If your audience spans several time zones, segment by country rather than sending once for everyone.
6. Preserve your quality rating
The Meta quality rating (green / yellow / red) governs everything: your tier, your quotas, your eligibility for the green badge. Losing it means spending weeks to recover it.
Actions that keep the rating green
- Clean opt-in — see point 1.
- Personalization — see point 3.
- Reasonable frequency — see point 4.
- Quality templates — clear, useful, not misleading.
- Easy unsubscribe — visible STOP button or explicit footer.
- Cleaned database — remove contacts inactive for 6+ months.
What to do if the rating drops to yellow or red
- Stop Marketing campaigns immediately.
- Focus on Service conversations (customer-initiated) and Utility (transactional).
- Identify the templates with the most reports (visible in the Templates section).
- Disable or rework those templates.
- Wait 7 to 30 days depending on how deep the problem is.
Details in Messaging limits.
7. Structure your messages effectively
A good WhatsApp campaign follows a simple structure:
[Clear identification]
Hello {{1}}, this is the Acme team.
[Context or reason for the message]
You asked us for a quote last week.
[Main information]
Here are the updated terms: ... (URL button "View quote")
[Footer]
Reply STOP to stop receiving our messages.
To avoid:
- Dense messages over 500 characters.
- Multiple different calls to action.
- Technical jargon or aggressive marketing ("LAST CHANCE!!!").
- Repeated pseudo-urgency.
- Text in ALL CAPS.
8. Test before broadcasting
Systematically, for every new campaign:
- Test audience — create a mini campaign with your number and 1 or 2 colleagues.
- Check on a real phone — not the Reepli preview, the actual rendering on WhatsApp.
- Variables — are they properly filled? No raw
{{1}}showing? - Media — does the image load? Does the video play?
- Buttons — does the URL open the right page? Does the "Confirm" button come back correctly into Reepli?
A well-tested campaign is worth ten campaigns sent blindly.
9. Legal compliance (GDPR)
For European recipients:
- Explicit and specific consent for WhatsApp.
- Allow access, modification, and deletion of data.
- Document your processing in your GDPR register.
- Appoint a DPO if the nature of the processing requires it.
Exporting contacts to CSV makes it easier to comply with user requests.
Pre-send checklist
- The template is approved and its content is clean.
- The variables have default values.
- The audience is filtered and the counter is consistent.
- The exclusions are in place (unsubscribed, Lost, etc.).
- The opt-in is valid for all contacts.
- The frequency is respected for this segment.
- The send time slot is suited to the audience.
- The estimated cost is acceptable.
- A test was sent to an internal number.
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Sending without opt-in | Reports, drop in quality rating, blocking |
| Excessive frequency | Mass unsubscribes |
| Generic content | Low engagement, reply rate < 5% |
| Wrong template category | Rejection at the next submission, damaged scoring |
| Audience too broad and poorly filtered | High cost for poor results |
| No testing | Variable error, broken image, dead link |
Related articles
For tailored advice on your campaigns, contact support via the chat at the bottom right of the dashboard or by email at [email protected].