WhatsApp has categorized outbound (brand-to-user) messages into two major types. Here is a table summarizing the differences between the message types.
| Session Message | Post-Session Message | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Definition | Any message which is sent within 24 hours from the user's last message. | Any message which is sent after 24 hrs from the user's last message. |
| 2. Nature | You can send any nature of messages - promotional, transactional, conversational, etc. There is no need for approval from the WhatsApp team. | Only messages of transactional nature are allowed. Also, only the message templates which are pre-approved by the WhatsApp team can be sent. |
| 3. Initiate Conversation | You can't initiate a conversation with a new user. User have to initiate the conversation with you. | You can initiate a conversation with a new user but only after getting his consent. |
| 4. Content Types | You can send rich-text (bold, italics, strike, monospace), image/video/audio, PDF/documents, location, contact messages. | You can send rich-text (bold, italics, strike, monospace) messages. |
| 5. Personalization | Possible using dynamic parameters | Possible using dynamic parameters |
| 6. Limit | There is no limit within 24 hours. When the user replies again the 24 hours window resets. | There is a limit on total messages you can send per day. The limit starts from 1000 msgs/day can be increased to 100,000 msgs/day. |
| 7. Cost | Free | WhatsApp charges brand for these messages. |
Some more important features of WhatsApp Business messages:
- How does the 24-hour limit works?
- How the promotional nature of messages is decided?
- What are the different ways to initiate the conversation?
- User-Initiated Conversations
- Brand-Initiated Conversations
- What are different Message Content Types?
- How you can personalize the messages?
- How do the limits work?
- How much does WhatsApp charge?