WhatsApp Guidelines: 10 Tips On How To Not Get Blocked By Clients

WhatsApp is one of the best platforms for advertisements. Not just because it’s fast or cost-effective, but also because WhatsApp is one of the most widely used applications which allows businesses to reach out to a wider customer base.

But WhatsApp is a personal messaging app where people like to have close conversations with their family and friends. Invading their personal space with unsolicited advertisements may not be received very well in many cases. But not all hope is lost yet. There are certain guidelines that businesses can follow for their advertising and avoid WhatsApp ban by their clients.

Tips on WhatsApp Marketing to avoid WhatsApp block

Here are some of the WhatsApp anti-ban guidelines to consider for your WhatsApp marketing and :

1. Get consent from your audience

One of the most important tips is to get consent from your target audience before sending them Whatsapp notifications. Unlike other platforms, WhatsApp follows strict measures to protect its users from unwanted spam and junk messages. So it’s advisable for businesses by taking consent from their customers before sending them WhatsApp notifications either through SMS link or via website or app.

2. Don’t sound like a bot

Make sure your messages sound human. Making it sound like a robot might give an impression to your audience that you are a bot or the message is spam. If possible, try communicating with your audience in their local language or tone to make them feel more special and interested in the conversation.

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people”

– William Butler Yeats

3. Save the contact numbers of your customers before sending them messages

Having all the numbers saved in your phonebook will help you identify each one of your customers individually. It will also help WhatsApp AI to identify you as a genuine person instead of a spamming bot.

4. Use your business account for all WhatsApp conversations

Using a professional WhatsApp account with a brand logo as the display picture and all business-related information in its bio can help audiences identify the business uniquely. Using this guideline for WhatsApp marketing also eliminates the risk of being marked as spam.

5. Address each contact by their names

Addressing each individual by their names makes the person feel special and gives them the impression that the message is exclusively for them. Adding elements that invite their response can also ensure better engagement and help in building the brand image.

6. Send out meaningful content

Make sure that the content you share with your audience is useful for them. It could be anything from a new product update, a new tutorial video, or a promotional advertisement. Sending useless ‘Good morning’ messages or seasonal greetings can annoy your audience and send you to their block list.

7. Schedule your messages appropriately

When it comes to advertising, timing is everything. Sending messages at wrong times of the day like early mornings or late at night can result in messages being ignored. Also applies for days such as Saturday nights or Monday early mornings. These are the times when people prefer not to be disturbed. So plan your content schedule accordingly.

8. Try sending short messages

Reading long text messages can be a little overwhelming for your audience. Sending shorter messages will make them more readable. For situations where long text messages are unavoidable, adding an intuitive headline that describes the whole text can help get your readers’ attention to the message. This WhatsApp guideline can be useful for both text messages as well as promotional content.

9. Avoid sending forwarded messages to a large group of people

Messages that have been forwarded on WhatsApp are labeled as “Forwarded”. Sending an already forwarded message to a large group of people will mark the message as “Forwarded many times”. This looks like spam and results in your reader ignoring it or blocking you all together. It’s always advisable to always verify the authenticity of the message before forwarding it to anyone.

10. Always prefer using WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp over the same network

WhatsApp AI keeps track of the network used to check if a message is spam. Using the different networks/ hosted networks for both Web and App may appear as spam and may even result in your WhatsApp account being deactivated.

Using these anti-ban WhatsApp guidelines religiously, you can ensure that your WhatsApp messages reach your audience and are read. However, it does not always guarantee that your number will not be muted or blocked by your customer as it always depends on person to person how they see your marketing approach and if they are interested in engaging in any kind of conversation.

Do & Don’ts of WhatsApp Marketing

Apart from suggested guidelines, there are also some do’s and don’ts that has to be kept in mind at all times for effective WhatsApp marketing:

Do’s

1 . Do engage with your audience’s group chats, feedbacks, and grievances. It helps in building a strong bond.

2. Do make your content interesting and engaging for a better response from your audience.

3. Do turn on your “Read” receipts to know if your messages have been read by your audience, If your audience is not reading or responding to your messages consistently, avoid sending them messages in the future.

4. Do make sure that the audience that you are trying to send a WhatsApp message to is available on the platform before you send out any specific information.

Don’ts

1 . Don’t send messages to individuals who have blocked you. As it may result in your number being blocked permanently or worse marked as spam.

2. Don’t send multiple messages all at the same time. Sending messages with a gap of a minute or two gives the recipient time to read the messages and reply accordingly.

3. Don’t send random messages to random people as there is a high chance that the person can report you as spam. As per WhatsApp policy, if any number is marked as spam by 5-10 people, your number can be banned.

4. Don’ forward unknown links or URLs to a large number of people. Many times it can be malicious content or a harmful virus and can cause a lot of damage to you as well as its recipients.

WhatsApp marketing can be easy if we know exactly what to avoid in our marketing approach. Though there are no fixed rules for it, these guidelines can be of great help for businesses that are just starting with their WhatsApp marketing. You can also enhance your WhatsApp Business features by integrating them with other tools such as SCRM and WhatsApp Link Generator for a more holistic experience.