WhatsApp Business App
Meta's free mobile app for small businesses — one phone, one user, manual replies. The starting point most businesses outgrow once volume or team size grows.
WhatsApp Business Platform (API)
Meta's programmatic interface for businesses: multiple agents, automation, integrations and broadcasts at scale. You access it through a platform (like Remarketly) rather than an app.
WABA (WhatsApp Business Account)
The business account container on Meta's side that holds your phone numbers, message templates and quality ratings.
BSP (Business Solution Provider)
A Meta-approved company that provisions WhatsApp Business Platform access for businesses. Some BSPs add a markup on every message; always check.
Cloud API
Meta's hosted version of the WhatsApp Business API — Meta runs the infrastructure and businesses connect over the internet. The modern default (the older self-hosted On-Premises API is being retired).
Unofficial API
Automation that drives a regular WhatsApp account through the web/phone protocol instead of Meta's official API. Cheaper and faster to start, but it carries account-ban risk — a trade-off any honest platform should disclose before you connect.
Message template
A pre-approved message format required to start a business-initiated conversation outside the 24-hour window. Supports variables ({{name}}), buttons and media.
Template categories (Marketing / Utility / Authentication)
Meta prices and reviews templates by category: Marketing (promotions), Utility (order updates, reminders) and Authentication (OTP codes). Each category has a different per-message rate — see our WhatsApp API pricing guide.
Template approval
Meta's review of each template before it can be sent. Usually minutes to hours; rejections cite policy categories you can fix and resubmit.
24-hour window (customer service window)
After a customer messages you, you have 24 hours to reply with free-form messages. Outside the window, only approved templates can start the conversation again.
Session message
A free-form message sent inside the 24-hour window — no template needed.
Business-initiated vs user-initiated
Who started the conversation. User-initiated replies are free-form within 24 hours; business-initiated messages require a template and are billed by category.
Per-message pricing
Meta bills template messages per delivered message, with rates set by country and template category. Utility messages delivered inside an open service window are free. Local AED/SAR examples are in our pricing guide.
Opt-in
The customer's permission to receive business-initiated WhatsApp messages — required by Meta policy before you broadcast. A QR scan that opens a chat is a natural opt-in moment.
Quality rating
Meta's per-number health score (green/yellow/red) driven by user blocks and reports. Low quality reduces your messaging limits — relevance and opt-in hygiene protect it.
Messaging limits (tiers)
How many unique customers a number can open business-initiated conversations with per 24 hours (1K → 10K → 100K → unlimited). Limits grow automatically with volume and good quality.
Meta verification (green tick)
The verified-business badge next to a brand name on WhatsApp, granted through Meta's business verification process.
WhatsApp Flows
Native in-chat forms and multi-step UIs (book a slot, fill a form, choose options) that run inside WhatsApp without leaving the chat.
Interactive messages (buttons & lists)
Messages with tappable reply buttons or selection lists — far higher response rates than free-text questions.
Carousel template
A swipeable multi-card template (image + text + buttons per card) used for product showcases.
Catalog
The product list attached to a WhatsApp business number — customers browse items and add to cart inside the chat. See WhatsApp Commerce.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads (CTWA)
Facebook/Instagram ads that open a WhatsApp chat with your business instead of a website. Conversations starting from CTWA ads get an extended free messaging window.
wa.me link / QR deep link
A link or QR code that opens a WhatsApp chat with your number, optionally with a pre-filled message — the bridge from a poster, menu or receipt into the chat. Generate yours with our free QR code generator.
Broadcast
One message sent to many opted-in customers at once — each recipient sees it as a normal 1:1 message, not a group.
Drip campaign
A timed sequence of messages (day 0, day 3, day 7…) triggered by an event like a first visit or an abandoned cart.
Chatbot / AI agent
Software that answers customers automatically — from simple button menus to AI that reads intent and replies in the customer's own language.
Unified / team inbox
One shared screen where a team answers every WhatsApp (and Instagram/Messenger) conversation — with assignment, labels and internal notes instead of a shared phone.
WhatsApp CRM
A customer database built from chat activity — every order, booking and conversation pinned to one profile. See Remarketly CRM.
Webhook
A server-to-server callback Meta sends when something happens (message received, delivered, read), so your platform can react in real time.
Read receipts (blue ticks)
Delivery and read indicators on each message — one grey tick (sent), two grey (delivered), two blue (read).
End-to-end encryption
WhatsApp messages are encrypted between the customer and the business endpoint — intermediaries can't read them in transit.
Channels / Newsletter
WhatsApp's one-to-many broadcast feed (separate from chats) that people follow like a social feed — useful for announcements, not conversations.
Digital receipt
A tax-compliant receipt delivered into the customer's WhatsApp instead of printed paper — and the opt-in moment that turns a walk-in into a contact you can re-engage. See Digital Receipts.
Remarketing / win-back
Messaging lapsed customers to bring them back — driven by receipt history and visit recency rather than guesswork. See Remarketing.
Segment
A saved customer filter (spent over X, hasn't visited in 60 days, loves category Y) used to target a broadcast precisely — small relevant lists beat big blasts.
Coexistence
Running the WhatsApp Business App and the API on the same number, so owners keep their phone app while the platform automates at scale.
Ready to put the vocabulary to work?
Start with what every term above has in common — a customer in a chat. Remarketly turns that chat into bookings, receipts, loyalty and repeat revenue.