Before Commslayer sends a WhatsApp marketing message, it checks two things: has this customer agreed to get it, and have they heard from you too much lately? If either answer is wrong, the message is skipped.
Which messages need consent
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Campaigns: need consent
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Automations: need consent
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Abandoned checkout: needs consent
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Order updates like shipped or delivered: don't need consent, because they're transactional messages and use Utility templates
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Replies in a conversation: don't need consent. You're just answering the customer
So a customer without marketing consent still gets their order updates, but not your promotions.
Where consent comes from
WhatsApp marketing consent comes from Shopify. Commslayer reads it from the customer's phone number in Shopify and keeps it in sync, but you have to collect consent from customers.
Each channel is separate. A customer who agreed to email or SMS marketing hasn't agreed to WhatsApp, so they won't get WhatsApp marketing messages. Consent is also tied to the phone number it was given for.
How to see a customer's consent
Go to Marketing → Profiles. Each customer shows one of three statuses:
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Opted in: can get WhatsApp marketing messages
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Opted out: won't get them
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Not set: we have no answer from them, so they won't get them either
Only Opted in customers get marketing messages. Use the tabs at the top to filter the list by status.
Open a customer to see the Consent card, with the status, source and collection date for WhatsApp, email and SMS. The consent history further down shows each time their consent changed.
How to find out who you can reach
When you build a segment, the preview shows how many customers are Reachable on WhatsApp. You'll see the same kind of count when you pick a segment for a campaign. Contacts without marketing consent are skipped when it sends, and the campaign report lists them as No marketing consent.
How to limit how often customers hear from you
The message frequency limit stops campaigns and automations from stacking up into spam. It's off until you turn it on.
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Go to Marketing → Settings
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Turn on Message frequency
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Fill in the three fields:
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Most messages: the most marketing messages one customer can get, across campaigns and automations
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Within this many days: the period that limit covers. Set 0 to count for all time
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Quiet gap between messages (hours): how long to wait before the next one. Set 0 for no gap
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Click Save
For example, 4 messages within 7 days with a 12-hour gap means no customer gets more than 4 marketing messages in any 7 days, and never two within 12 hours.
What happens when a customer hits the limit
The message is skipped, not delayed. It won't go out later. In a campaign report, it's listed as Sending limit reached.
So if you're about to send an important campaign, check that a recent one won't use up your customers' limit.
What the limit doesn't touch
The limit only covers WhatsApp marketing messages. Order updates aren't affected and keep sending, though abandoned checkout is a marketing message, so it does count.