Glossary
WhatsApp Business, in plain words.
28 terms you’ll meet setting up WhatsApp for a business — from BSP to quality rating — each defined in a sentence or two, with a link to more.
- Authentication message
- A template that carries a one-time password or login code.
- Broadcast
- One template sent to many opted-in people at once. On the API there is no 256-person cap, but your messaging limit and Meta’s per-user limits apply.
- Broadcasts →
- BSP (Business Solution Provider)
- A company Meta approves to connect businesses to the WhatsApp Business API. Some BSPs bill you for messages themselves, usually with a markup; others let Meta bill your own account directly.
- Business verification
- Meta’s check that your business is real, using documents like a GST certificate. It unlocks higher messaging limits and is required for the green tick. It is Meta’s step and can take a few days.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ad
- A Facebook or Instagram ad whose button opens a WhatsApp chat with your business instead of a website.
- Customer service window
- The 24 hours after a customer’s most recent message. Inside it you can reply with any message, no template needed. After it closes, you need an approved template to write first.
- Display name
- The business name customers see on your WhatsApp messages. Meta reviews it and it must match your business.
- Flow (automation)
- A sequence of steps — wait, ask, branch, message, assign — that runs on its own when something happens, such as a new lead arriving.
- Flows →
- Free entry point
- When a customer reaches you through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, Meta keeps replies free for 72 hours.
- Green tick
- The verified badge next to a business name on WhatsApp, now shown as a blue checkmark (Meta calls it an Official Business Account). Meta decides who gets it; the business must be verified and the number on the API for 30 days. Applying is free.
- How to apply →
- Hinglish
- Hindi and English mixed in one sentence, often in Roman script — “COD hai kya?”. How a large share of Indian customers actually type.
- Hindi & Hinglish →
- Knowledge base
- The documents an AI assistant answers from: FAQs, price lists, brochures, policies. A good assistant answers only from it and cites the passage it used.
- The AI assistant →
- Marketing message
- Any template that promotes: offers, announcements, first messages to new leads, cart reminders, win-backs. Always charged, and Meta limits how many one person receives a day.
- Markup
- What a platform adds on top of Meta’s per-message rate when it bills you for messages. On public pricing pages we checked in 2026, between about 10% and 26%.
- Platforms compared →
- Message template
- A pre-approved message format required for any message you start, such as a reminder or an offer. Templates can have variables ({{1}}), buttons and a media header. Meta approves each one.
- Templates in NudgeBolt →
- Messaging limit (tier)
- How many different people your number can start conversations with in a day. A new number starts low and moves up in steps as it sends good-quality messages.
- Meta Business account
- Your business’s account with Meta (via Meta Business Suite). Your WhatsApp Business account, phone numbers and message billing sit under it. If it is yours, the number and its history are yours.
- Opt-in (consent)
- A customer’s agreement to receive WhatsApp messages from you, ideally recorded with where and when it was given. Messaging people without it is the fastest way to lose quality rating.
- Consent at import →
- Opt-out (STOP)
- A customer asking not to be messaged again. It should be honoured immediately and permanently.
- Per-user marketing limit
- Meta caps how many marketing messages each person receives in a day across all businesses, and declines the rest — no matter which platform you use.
- Phone number migration
- Moving a WhatsApp Business number from one provider to another. Since Meta’s account change in October 2026 the number is shared with the new provider instead of moved, so it keeps working; templates, contacts and opt-ins are still carried over separately.
- How switching works now →
- Quality rating
- Meta’s score for your number, based on how people react to your messages. Blocks and reports lower it; engagement keeps it healthy. A low rating can hold back or reduce your messaging limit.
- Number health →
- Service message
- A free-form reply you send inside the 24-hour customer service window. Since 1 October 2026, the first 1,000 a month per number are free, then charged at the utility rate.
- Template category
- Meta sorts templates into marketing, utility and authentication, and prices them differently: in India, ₹0.8631 for marketing and ₹0.115 for utility per delivered message.
- Full rate card →
- Utility message
- A template about something the customer did or asked for: order updates, appointment reminders, receipts. Cheaper than marketing — as long as it contains no promotion.
- WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)
- The account inside your Meta Business account that holds your WhatsApp phone numbers, templates and messaging settings.
- WhatsApp Business API
- Meta’s official way for businesses to send and receive WhatsApp messages through software instead of a phone app. It allows a shared team inbox, broadcasts to opted-in customers, automation and integrations. Meta now runs it as the “Cloud API”.
- What NudgeBolt builds on it →
- WhatsApp Business app
- The free phone app for small businesses. Good for one person on one phone; it has no shared inbox, no real automation and broadcast lists only reach people who saved your number.
- App vs API, compared →
Now put it to work.
Connect your own number and NudgeBolt handles templates, consent, pacing and the 24-hour window for you.
