WhatsApp Business API: what it can and cannot do
The channel Indian customers actually read, with rules most implementations ignore.
The WhatsApp Business API allows automated business messaging through approved templates outside a 24-hour session window, and free-form replies inside it. It requires recorded opt-in, and quality ratings fall — eventually blocking sending — if recipients report or block your messages.
Key takeaways
- Outside the 24-hour window you may only send approved templates.
- Opt-in must be recorded with a timestamp and a source; assume you will have to prove it.
- Quality rating is real. Sending unwanted messages degrades it and eventually stops you sending.
- Use it for moments the customer expects: response, confirmation, delivery, reminder.
WhatsApp is the highest-attention channel available to an Indian business, and the fastest one to ruin. The rules exist precisely because it is so effective.
The session window
When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens in which you can reply freely with any content. Outside that window you can only send pre-approved template messages, and each one is charged. Almost every design decision in a WhatsApp integration comes down to this one rule.
Templates, approved in advance
- Written and submitted for approval before you can use them, with variables for the personalised parts.
- Categorised — utility, marketing, authentication — and priced differently.
- Rejected if they read as promotional in a utility category, so write them honestly rather than trying to slip marketing through.
- Worth keeping few. Ten well-written templates beat forty that nobody maintains.
What to use it for
| Use | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Instant lead acknowledgment | Response within seconds; the conversion effect is large |
| Qualification questions | Answered in a chat people already have open |
| Order and delivery updates | Expected, useful, rarely reported |
| Appointment reminders | Reduces no-shows measurably |
| Cart recovery | Effective, and easy to overuse — one or two messages |
Where the automation ends
Automate the acknowledgment, the qualification questions and the reminders. Hand to a human the moment the conversation needs judgement, and make the handover obvious to the customer. Bots that pretend to be people are the fastest route to a blocked number and an annoyed market — the wider pattern is on AI Automations and in our guide to WhatsApp lead automation.