Conversations are ongoing message threads lasting 24 hours between you and your customers. They begin and WhatsApp incur charges upon delivery of messages you send to customers. The criteria that determines when a conversation is opened and how it is categorized is explained below.

Conversation Categories

Conversation categories are divided into the following:

1. Marketing: This category facilitates various objectives, from raising awareness to driving sales and re-engaging customers. Examples include announcements of new products, services, or features, targeted promotions or offers, and reminders for abandoned carts.
2. Utility: This category allows you to follow up on user actions or requests. Examples include confirmation of opt-ins, order and delivery management (such as delivery updates), account updates or alerts (like payment reminders), and feedback surveys.
3. Authentication: This category is for authenticating users using one-time passcodes, potentially at multiple stages in the login process (e.g., account verification, account recovery, integrity challenges).
4. Service: This category is for resolving customer inquiries.

Marketing, utility, and authentication conversations can only be opened with template messages. Service conversations can only be opened with free-form messages.

Opening Conversations

Conversations are opened when you send a template message or free-form message under the following conditions.

1. Marketing, Utility, and Authentication Conversations

Marketing, utility, and authentication conversations are opened when you send an approved marketing, utility, or authentication template message to a customer and no open conversation with that category exists between you and that customer.

For example, if an open authentication conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them another authentication template message within 24 hours, a new conversation is not opened. If you send them a marketing message, however, a new marketing conversation is opened, resulting in two open conversations.

2. Service Conversations

Service conversations are opened when you are within a customer service window, you send a free-form message to a customer, and no open conversation of any category exists between you and the customer.

For example, if an open conversation of any category exists between you and a customer and you send them a free-form message within 24 hours, no new conversation is opened. However, if no open conversation exists and the customer messages you (which starts a customer service window) and you reply within 24 hours with a free-form message, a new service conversation is opened.

Customer Service Windows