Whatsapp Marketing: secrets to avoid ban:
01: Use a telephone number dedicated to whatsapp marketing
Our recommendation is to use a dedicated phone number for WhatsApp marketing. If you install the WhatsApp business app, you can also use and associate a landline number, which could even be a VoIP number.
There are two reasons why you should use a phone number:
- You will be able to insert the company logo, name and description;
- If there is a BAN from whatsapp, you will not lose the personal number with which you communicate with your friends and relatives.
02: Use the business version of Whatsapp
Use WhatsApp Business (available for Android and iOS devices) this version, being created specifically for companies, local businesses and VAT numbers, will certainly have more permissions, even if WhatsApp has never given guidelines on how the algorithm works, we only know that it is against spam and therefore pro-customer therefore recipient, user.
03: Send messages to existing chats
Another tip is to send messages to contacts with whom you have already had a chat, because if you send messages to multiple people (even if they have given you privacy consent) with whom you have never had a chat, after a certain number of messages WhatsApp will surely ban your number.
We recommend creating a follow-up list and then targeting it with WhatsApp Responder follow-up lists. After creating the lists, we'll use the WhatsApp Responder widget, and by running an SMS campaign, the recipient will have to click on a link that will send them a message with the subscription word. Therefore, the first message in the chat will be from the customer, who will be automatically subscribed to your list. This way, you can contact them again with much greater peace of mind because you've already had a chat with the person you're dealing with.
04: The sending frequency
We recommend limiting messages to one or two per week, as WhatsApp notifications arriving every day and you don't have truly important content to share can be annoying and invasive. Therefore, we recommend sending a few messages with interesting content to avoid people reporting you.
You have to consider that it's not like using email; the open rate is very low and the impact on the customer is minimal. People who receive emails very often don't even check their inbox daily, so it's not annoying.
05: Message recipients can choose whether or not to unsubscribe. A disgruntled user reports you and doesn't buy.
Our advice is to give the option to remove yourself from the lists by using the word "unsubscribe" and therefore not receive your messages anymore.
Another tip, if not in all messages, at least every other message, write at the end of the message "if you do not wish to receive our communications, write the word unsubscribe" this way they will not receive subsequent communications via the follow-up lists.
Why is it important to write this?
Because a disgruntled user will either report you as spam or block you, WhatsApp's algorithm means you're doing something the recipients don't like and could lead to a ban. Furthermore, if someone is disgruntled, they won't buy your products and services, so there's no point in having these people on your lists.
06: Split your shipments over different times of the day or over multiple days
Another tip is to split your emails across different times of the day or across multiple days, thus creating multiple follow-up lists. The more you split your emails, the fewer invitations you'll receive at the same time, and therefore the lower your chances of being banned by WhatsApp.
The advice is to choose different times of the day, for example if we have to send 600 messages, we will divide them into 200 messages in the morning, 200 in the afternoon and 200 in the evening or if there is no urgency to send them all on the same day, we will divide them by days, so as to reduce the number of invitations sent at the same time and lower the risk of being banned from WhatsApp.
07: Don't spam
The final tip is to give value to every message and avoid spamming. This means that if you don't know what to communicate to your customers, don't send them any communications. If you must send a WhatsApp message, it should be something useful and valuable, such as a reminder, an offer, a coupon, or something they'd be happy to receive. This way, you'll definitely avoid being blocked or otherwise reported by the recipient.
