This is a WhatsApp rule, not a Zoye rule. Understanding it helps you keep your WhatsApp costs and risks low.
How the window works
When a customer messages you first, a 24-hour window opens.
- Inside the window, you can reply in your own words, as many times as you like. No template is needed.
- Outside the window, you can only send a message template that Meta approved in advance.
Answering versus opening
Answering someone who wrote to you happens inside the window. The lead bot works this way, so it needs no template and no approval.
Opening a conversation with someone who has not written to you needs an approved template. Broadcasts work this way.
Meta can charge for business messages on WhatsApp. Its charges depend on the kind of message and the country, and Meta sets them. Within Zoye, your plan includes a monthly allowance of WhatsApp messages, and only messages to customers count. Your own chats with the assistant never do. For the current details, see pricing.
Get customers to write first
The cheapest and friendliest route is to let the customer start the chat. Then you can answer like a person, not like a template.
- Put a WhatsApp link or a QR code on the counter, the invoice footer or your email signature.
- Use a click-to-WhatsApp advert. Meta can give a conversation that starts from one a longer free window.
Zoye's Capture Wizard can create the lead link and the QR code for you. Ask the assistant to open it.