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What does the error 131049 mean?

The error message you're encountering—"This message was not delivered to maintain healthy ecosystem engagement. (131049)"—is implemented by WhatsApp to prevent users from receiving excessive marketing messages within a short period. This measure ensures a positive user experience by limiting the number of marketing messages a user can receive within a specific timeframe.

It is important to note that WhatsApp is measuring all the marketing messages a user is receiving from different businesses. If that number goes beyond a certain threshold, all marketing messages sent to that user will be rejected for a certain period of time. The cool down period is not specific and there is no way to know when this period is completed for a user.

You can learn more about this error code from WhatsApp's own documentation here.

Recommendations to Address This Issue:

  1. Send a utility template message: If the message you are trying to send to a customer is important or time sensitive, consider using a utility template instead. Messages for these templates are delivered promptly and are not affected by marketing message limits.

  2. Space Out Marketing Messages: Avoid sending multiple marketing messages to the same user within a short period. Allow adequate time between messages to prevent triggering the limit.

  3. Encourage User Engagement: Design your messages to prompt user responses. When a user replies, it opens a new conversation window, allowing for more interactive communication.

  4. Retry with Caution: If a message fails due to this error, avoid immediate retries. Instead, implement a retry schedule with increasing intervals:

    • First retry: after 12 hours
    • Second retry: after 24 hours
    • Third retry: after 48 hours

  5. Segment Your Audience: Focus on sending marketing messages to users who have previously engaged with your business. Tailoring content to interested users can improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of triggering this error.

By implementing these strategies, you can enhance user engagement and minimize the occurrence of this error in your WhatsApp marketing campaigns.