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WhatsApp: Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about WhatsApp messages in Customer.io.

How do I know the difference between SMS and WhatsApp deliveries?

If you set up WhatsApp support in Customer.io using your Facebook Business Account, you’ll see a whatsapp type in the Delivery Logs.

If you send WhatsApp messages using Twilio, you’ll see a twilio type in the Delivery Logs. WhatsApp messages sent through Twilio are nearly identical to SMS messages in Customer.io. You can see the difference between Twilio SMS and WhatsApp messages using the to and from fields in the Delivery Logs. WhatsApp messages prefix these values with whatsapp:.

Otherwise, all of the reporting metrics that apply to SMS messages also apply to WhatsApp messages.

Does Customer.io know if a Twilio sender is WhatsApp-approved?

No. Unfortunately, if you send WhatsApp messages using Twilio, we cannot identify WhatsApp senders separately from your SMS senders. You can only obtain this information from the WhatsApp Senders page in your Twilio console.

Because Customer.io can’t tell the difference WhatsApp and SMS senders, you might want to add “WhatsApp” or “SMS” to your sender names in Twilio before you sync sender identities from Twilio to Customer.io. When, when you sync (or re-sync) your sender identities from Twilio to Customer.io, you’ll be able to tell the difference between SMS and WhatsApp senders in Customer.io.

Do you support Messaging Service SIDs?

No. You must provide a single sender ID when you send a message.

Why do I get a 21212 error?

This error means that your message’s From address uses a Messaging Service SID. We don’t support Messaging Service SIDs for WhatsApp messages today. You’ll need to provide a single sender ID when you send a message.

A Messaging Service SID is essentially a pool of senders that Twilio uses to load-balance messages. See Twilio’s documentation for more information about registering WhatsApp senders with Twilio.

Do you support conversational messaging?

Yes, but you’ll need to set up specialized campaigns to support it.

Conversational messaging are one-to-one, free-form messages between you and your customers. Per WhatsApp requirements, your audience must initiate the session by texting you first. When your audience begins a session, you can send free-form replies for up to 24 hours.

To detect the start of a session, you’ll need to set up a workflow in Twilio to handle the incoming message. The process would be similar to our unsubscribe keyword process.