Templates, not free text
You cannot start a conversation with free text. Any message you send outside the 24-hour window after a customer wrote to you must use a template that Meta has reviewed and approved, in a category — marketing, utility or authentication — that determines both what it may say and what it costs.
Templates carry variables, so "Hello {{1}}, your order {{2}} has shipped" is one approved template serving thousands of personalised messages. Approval usually lands within minutes to a few hours.
Opt-in is the part people skip
WhatsApp requires that recipients agreed to be contacted on WhatsApp specifically. A phone number given at checkout for delivery purposes is not consent to be sent promotions.
Workable opt-in looks like a checkbox at checkout that names WhatsApp, a "click to WhatsApp" ad, a QR code the customer scanned, or simply a conversation they started themselves — which is the strongest signal of all.
What a compliant campaign looks like in practice
- An audience built from your own contacts, filtered by label, activity or an import you can account for
- An approved template matched to the right category, with per-contact variables
- Sending throttled per minute rather than all at once
- Opted-out contacts skipped automatically, with STOP honoured the moment it arrives
- Delivery, read, reply and failure tracked per recipient, so a bad list is obvious on the first send
Why the cheap tools are the expensive ones
Panels advertising unlimited WhatsApp blasts for a flat fee work by driving an unofficial client. They are against the terms, they are detectable, and the number they burn is usually the one printed on your packaging and shopfront.
The official route has a per-message cost, and that cost is the mechanism doing the work: it makes sending to people who do not want to hear from you expensive enough to stop.
Where we sit
Waphie sends campaigns through the official API, which means we cannot offer you unlimited blasting and would not if we could.
If a provider is quoting a flat monthly fee for unlimited WhatsApp marketing with no Meta charges mentioned, ask them directly which API they use. The answer decides whether your number survives the year.