What a tier actually controls
Every WhatsApp Business API number has a messaging tier, which dictates how many unique recipients it can send template messages to within a rolling twenty four hour period. This only applies to messages sent out, broadcasted, pushed for marketing, or reminders scheduled within that span, and does not include replies sent by customers within the same span, or as part of an engaged customer service conversation. It’s also important to note that all numbers start on the lowest tier, regardless of any established presence the business may have with their audience.
The tier ladder
Tier one being 250 unique customers contacted within a day, and then moving upwards to tier two, tier three, and the unlimited tier, with every tier permitting more unique contacts within said day.
What moves you up a tier
Having a steady amount of messages sent out within a period of time, across a contact list that permits a reasonably high engagement, without high levels of blocking reports, spam complaints, or failed deliverable attempts; the more you send, the higher tier you can climb on a regular basis. It’s a simple metric that Meta deems appropriate for a business to reach out to a higher amount of people, before they deem them trustworthy enough to be able to send to even more.
What keeps you stuck, or pushes you downwards
Sending to lists that do not engage, or have higher than average blocks, spam reports, or failed attempts, especially when increasing the overall volume of messages being sent and/or using acquired lists that weren’t cultivated beforehand as part of the initial list-building process will push you down, or keep you on a lower tier than you’d expect. In short, going from 300 messages per week to 10 000 right after buying a list will almost certainly keep you on a lower tier than if you slowly increased volume and engaged more people throughout every step of the way.
How this is properly handled
The businesses that handle tier increases the best tend to do so by first sending out a steady amount of messages with any new number on a smaller, more engaged list before starting to scale any further; by keeping lists clean and not sending to anyone that has gone completely inactive, or marked their past messages as spam; and by having their level of engagement, and quality rating monitored before any issues arise, rather than only realizing things have gone wrong when it’s already too late.
Where this is often overlooked
Businesses that have their own WhatsApp API setup tend to have little to no understanding of their tier, and quality rating, as most don’t know how to find it in the first place, as it isn’t always readily apparent within a dashboard. This is one of those things that most businesses should actively have somebody monitoring rather than doing nothing about it, and assuming nothing will happen.
Where to go from here
If there’s been any point in the past where either broadcasting or campaign messages didn’t go through as smoothly as expected, or underperformed for no apparent reason, it’s probably a good idea to either double-check, or ask somebody more experienced to double-check what tier the number is currently on, and what the overall quality rating is. It’s usually a fast thing to look into for an experienced provider, and can be essential in understanding why certain things fail, or simply underperform unexpectedly.