With 2.7 billion monthly active users and more than 100 billion messages sent every day, WhatsApp has firmly established its position as a dominant force in the messaging application space. For businesses, fostering meaningful connections with our customers lays the foundation for lasting success—which is why WhatsApp Business has become an indispensable platform for engaging and accessible customer communications.

However, what happens when customers cannot connect to WhatsApp, lack access to mobile data or are inactive on the channel? Here’s your Plan B: set up a fallback channel (such as SMS) where customers can still receive the message. This ensures that your messages will be delivered to customers, increasing your reach and engagement.

In this post, we'll outline best practices for the three categories of WhatsApp business-initiated conversations: Utility, Marketing, and Authentication.

1. Utility conversations: emphasize timeliness and extend fallback duration

WhatsApp_message.png
WhatsApp message notifying recipient about an upcoming delivery with tracking link

Utility messages are transactional messages such as bill payments notifications or parcel delivery updates. These provide vital, timely information to your customers. Tips to increase the probability of customers receiving these messages promptly:

Emphasize timeliness: Ensure that these messages are sent within business hours.

Extend fallback duration: Extend your fallback duration to prevent customers from receiving both an SMS and a WhatsApp message.

Picture this: if you were to set your SMS fallback duration to one hour, our platform would send an SMS message to customers who did not receive the WhatsApp message within that hour.

However, WhatsApp would continue to try delivering messages for up to 30 days, which means that customers who come online within the 30 days period would also receive the originally intended WhatsApp message. Therefore, it is recommended to extend your fallback duration to decrease the odds of customers receiving two identical messages.

2. Marketing conversations: personalize messaging and increase fallback duration

Marketing messages are pivotal in driving customer engagement. When crafted effectively, they have the power to ignite interest, prompt action, and build lasting connections. Tips to optimize the delivery and impact of these messages:

Personalized messaging: Craft your messages to be specific, relevant, and tailored to your audience for higher engagement. For the fallback SMS message, it is recommended to send a concise text to prevent the need for sending multiple SMS messages if the original WhatsApp message happens to be lengthy.

fallback_on_8x8_Connect.png
Fallback text on 8x8 Connect
sms_sample.png
Fallback text received as an SMS

Extend fallback duration: Similar to Utility conversations, consider setting a longer fallback duration to prevent scenarios where customers receive an SMS message followed by a WhatsApp message. In scenarios where there is little urgency for messages to be delivered, it is best to maximize the fallback duration to 24 hours.

Maintain an updated list of contacts: Periodically check your contact list to verify that you are utilizing the most current phone numbers for your marketing campaigns. You may leverage our Contacts API or Contacts module in the 8x8 Connect portal to update them as needed. It is important to ensure your marketing messages are sent only to those who have opted in, to ensure your message templates and account quality are not impacted due to violations of WhatsApp’s Business Policy.

8x8_connect_contacts.png
Edit contacts on 8x8 Connect

3. Authentication Templates: user preferences and offer resend options

Authentication messages provide an extra level of security by allowing businesses to verify users through one-time passcodes (OTPs). As these messages are time-sensitive and must be promptly received by customers, it is vital to ensure their maximum effectiveness:

Set user preference: Give your customers the option to select their preferred channel for OTPs within your mobile app or website. This ensures the OTP is delivered through the most suitable channel for each customer, significantly enhancing the chances of successful delivery and reducing the need for fallback channels.

authentication_channel.png
Give your customers the option to select their preferred channel for OTPs within your mobile app or website

Resend Option: Always provide an option for customers to request another OTP if the first one fails to arrive, regardless of their chosen channel. This way, you ensure a seamless and reliable authentication process, providing a safety net for any potential delivery issues.

No internet, no problem with 8x8

To maximize the chances of your messages reaching your customers successfully, 8x8 offers automated fallback options from WhatsApp to SMS and other messaging channels. During onboarding, businesses can set the fallback duration according to our preferences. Our existing 8x8 Connect users can also reach out to our support team to update the fallback duration.

If you are utilizing our Chat Apps API, remember to specify the appropriate extended fallback duration for a seamless messaging experience. This ensures that your messages are delivered promptly, even if there are any temporary issues with the primary channel.