> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cntillion.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# WhatsApp win-back campaigns: a practical guide

> How WhatsApp win-back campaigns work: templates, opt-in, limits and what to measure. Then run one where your AI agent answers every reply.

GuideWin back customers on WhatsApp, with an agent that answers every reply.

A WhatsApp win-back campaign writes to customers who stopped buying or using
your service and gives them a reason to come back. The message is the easy
part. What decides the result is who you write to, whether they agreed to hear
from you, and what happens when they answer. This guide covers the rules
WhatsApp sets, the mistakes to avoid, and how to run one with Centillion.

## What a win-back campaign is

A win-back targets a specific group: customers who were active and are not
anymore. A subscriber who cancelled, a shop customer who has not ordered in
six months, a member whose plan lapsed. The campaign has one of two goals:

* **Bring them back.** Tell them what changed since they left, such as a
  feature they asked for, a lower price or a new product, and make the next
  step easy.
* **Learn why they left.** Ask, listen, and record the reason, so the next
  campaign and the product can address it.

WhatsApp suits this because a reply opens a real conversation. That is also
where many campaigns fail. A customer
answers with a question, an objection or a complaint, and nobody is there to
respond for hours. A win-back works best when every reply gets a prompt,
informed answer.

## How WhatsApp outbound messages work

WhatsApp separates conversations the customer started from messages the
business starts. When a WhatsApp user messages a business, a 24-hour customer
service window opens, and inside it the business can reply freely. Outside
that window, Meta's documentation says "you can only send pre-approved
template messages" ([Meta, sending messages](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/cloud-api/guides/send-messages)).
A win-back almost always starts outside the window, so it starts with a
template.

**Templates have categories.** Meta sorts templates into marketing, utility
and authentication. Utility templates "must be non-promotional", tied to
something the user did or asked for. A message meant to bring a customer back
is promotional, so it is a marketing template
([Meta, template guidelines](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/updates-to-pricing/new-template-guidelines)).

**Pricing is per message.** Since July 1, 2025, Meta charges on a
per-message basis, and "rates vary based on the template's category and the
recipient WhatsApp phone number's country calling code". Since October 1,
2026, replies inside the customer service window are charged too, past 1,000
free a month per number, as the [WhatsApp channel page](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/whatsapp.md)
explains. Meta updates its rate card
from time to time, so check the current rates on
[Meta's pricing page](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing)
before you plan a large send.

**Messaging limits.** Meta caps how many different people a business can
message outside a customer service window in a moving 24-hour period. Newly
created business portfolios start at 250
([Meta, messaging limits](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/messaging-limits)).
The limit belongs to the business portfolio, so every number in it shares it.

## Consent comes first

WhatsApp requires opt-in before a business messages someone. Meta's policy
asks that businesses "clearly state that a person is opting in to receive
communication from the business", name the business, and "provide clear
instructions for how people can opt out of receiving specific categories of
messages, and honor these requests"
([Meta, getting opt-in](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/overview/getting-opt-in)).
Users can also turn off marketing messages from a single business inside
WhatsApp.

> [!WARNING]
>
> Consent rules also come from law, and they differ by country. Check with your
> counsel before a first campaign in a new market.

## What to watch for

**Write to the right people.** A win-back is for customers who left. Filter on
what you know, such as the date of the last order or the reason they gave, and
leave out anyone who opted out. A smaller, well-chosen audience beats a blast.

**One message, one reason.** Say what changed and what you would like them to
do. A template with three offers reads like an advertisement.

**Respect their time.** Send in the customer's daytime, in their timezone.
Space campaigns out, and stop writing to people who do not answer.

**Personalise safely.** A first name helps. A template that goes out with an
empty variable looks broken. Every variable needs a fallback, or the contact
should be skipped.

**Plan the reply.** Decide before launch what the agent may offer, what it must
never promise, and when a person takes over. Write it down as a playbook. A
customer who answers "I left because of your fees" deserves a real answer.

**Measure what matters.** Delivery and read rates tell you the message
arrived. The result is how many came back and why the others left. Decide how
you will count a customer as reactivated before you send.

## Run it with Centillion

In [Centillion](https://cntillion.com/docs/introduction.md), a campaign starts conversations with customers
you already have. You choose who to reach from what you know about them, write
the playbook the agent follows, and pick the channel. On WhatsApp, Centillion
sends an approved template, and when someone replies, your agent answers with
that playbook and records what came of it. Campaigns require Standard or
above. The full reference is [Outbound campaigns](https://cntillion.com/docs/campaigns.md).

![Outbound overview with agent, channel and status filters and the Create a batch call menu](https://mintcdn.com/centillion/1m_-bXBRb9Y5-6eZ/images/campaigns/campaigns-01-outbound.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1m_-bXBRb9Y5-6eZ\&q=85\&s=488ec2f27ba6f954c6e0a5a0b70c6c7a)

Outbound lists calls and campaigns across your agents. Create a batch call opens the Telephony, WhatsApp calling and WhatsApp messages choices.

**1. Create the campaign**

Open **Outbound → Create a batch call → WhatsApp messages**. At workspace
level, choose the agent that will handle the replies.
Pick the number to send from and an approved template; templates are
created and approved in WhatsApp Manager. **Select from template** opens
your template library.

**2. Fill the variables**

Click each variable in the message to map it to a contact field, such as
the first name or any contact attribute, or to fixed text. Give a fallback
for variables a contact might not have; a contact with an empty variable
and no fallback is skipped.

**3. Choose who answers**

**AI replies** lets your agent respond to every reply. **Human takeover**
creates a Helpdesk ticket when a recipient first replies, and needs
Helpdesk enabled.

**4. Write the playbook**

Under **Playbook and guidelines**, pick the goal, such as **Win the
customer back** or **Learn why they left**. Then write what to say, what
never to say, when to hand the conversation to a person, and compliance
notes such as how the agent introduces itself. This section appears only
with **AI replies**. The agent reads the playbook in every conversation
the campaign opened, for 30 days, and it never overrides the agent's
guardrails.

**5. Set the sending rules**

Under **Schedule and sending rules**, set the start, the messages per
minute, your **Meta messaging limit** and quiet hours.

**6. Pick the audience and launch**

Choose **Continue to audience** and select contacts, or use **Add
filter**, for example `last_active_at` more than 60 days ago, or
`churn_reason` is `fees_pricing`. Then confirm that these contacts agreed
to receive WhatsApp messages from you. **Send now** becomes available once
the required settings are complete, and opens a review before anything goes
out. With a later start, it reads **Schedule campaign**.

What Centillion does on its own:

* **Opt-outs.** A contact who replied STOP, asked the agent not to be
  contacted again, or turned off marketing messages from your business in
  WhatsApp is left out of every campaign. A WhatsApp opt-out ends when they
  reply START.
* **Quiet hours.** No message goes out during quiet hours in the contact's own
  timezone, read from a `timezone` attribute or the campaign's default.
* **A fresh check per contact.** The audience is fixed at launch, and each
  contact is checked again just before their message goes out. Someone whose
  attributes no longer match the audience by then is skipped, so keep the
  attributes that say a customer came back up to date.
* **Outcomes.** With the goal **Win the customer back**, a contact counts as
  reactivated when they say they will come back, or, if you set a
  **Reactivation signal**, when a date attribute your CRM keeps reads the day
  the message was sent or later. With **Learn why they left**, the reason is saved
  on the contact and appears on the [Churn reasons](https://cntillion.com/docs/customer-data/churn-reasons.md)
  page.
* **Pauses with a reason.** If WhatsApp rejects the template, the access token
  or billing, restricts your WhatsApp Business account, does not recognise the
  number, or does not confirm that it took a message, the campaign pauses and
  says why. Fix the cause and resume it.

Each campaign shows its funnel: sent, delivered, replied, reason collected,
reactivated and opted out, with every contact's timeline below it.

## Questions

### Is a win-back message a marketing message on WhatsApp?

Yes. A message meant to bring a customer back is promotional, and Meta's
guidelines put promotional content in the marketing category. Meta bills
template messages to your WhatsApp Business account.

### Can I message customers who never opted in?

No. WhatsApp requires opt-in, and Centillion asks you to confirm that the
audience agreed to receive WhatsApp messages from you before you launch.

### What happens when a customer replies?

With **AI replies**, your agent answers using the campaign's playbook and
records the outcome. With **Human takeover**, the first reply opens a Helpdesk
ticket for your team.

### How many customers can one campaign reach?

Up to 50,000 contacts. How many go out per day also depends on the messaging
limit Meta set for your business portfolio, which every campaign on the same
number shares.

### Can I run the same campaign by phone?

Yes, with the **Voice call** channel, once a workspace owner has set up
outbound calls. See [Outbound AI calls](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/outbound-calls.md).

## Try it

Pick the customers who have not been active for 60 days, write one honest
message about what changed, and let the agent answer the replies. Start with a
small audience and read every conversation from the first day.

> [card] [Start free](https://app.cntillion.com/sign-up?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=article\&utm_campaign=guides-whatsapp-win-back-campaigns)
>
> Start on the Free plan, or take a seven-day trial of a paid plan. Your agent is live on your site in an afternoon.

> [card] [Book a demo](https://cal.com/patrick-turricelli-smgfks/15min?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=article\&utm_campaign=guides-whatsapp-win-back-campaigns)
>
> Fifteen minutes with the team, on your own use case.

Or ask the assistant on this page.

## Related

> [card] [Outbound campaigns](https://cntillion.com/docs/campaigns.md)
>
> Audience, the WhatsApp message, the playbook and the results.

> [card] [Chatbot vs AI agent](https://cntillion.com/docs/guides/chatbot-vs-ai-agent.md)
>
> Why the agent answering replies needs a goal and written rules.

> [card] [Churn reasons](https://cntillion.com/docs/customer-data/churn-reasons.md)
>
> Find out why customers leave and target each group.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.