How the SmartEngage Inbox Works

Conversations arrive on your own WhatsApp Business number, so the inbox only works once that number is connected. Until then, the WhatsApp page shows a Connect Your Number First message with a button that takes you to the Connect page.

If you have not connected yet, follow How to Connect WhatsApp to SmartEngagefirst.

A conversation appears the moment a customer sends a message to your connected number. That can happen in several ways:

• A customer replies to one of your campaigns
• A customer taps a button on a template you sent
• Someone scans your WhatsApp QR code or opens your chat link
• A customer who already has your number simply writes to you

To start conversations from posters, packaging or your shop counter, see How to Share Your WhatsApp QR Code.

Each conversation is tied to a phone number. If that number is already one of your contacts, the thread shows the contact's name. If it is not, SmartEngage uses the name the customer set on their own WhatsApp profile and, as long as your plan has room for another contact, adds the number to your default contact book so you can include them in future campaigns.

For how the default contact book fits in, read How Contacts and Contact Books Work in SmartEngage.

On a desktop the WhatsApp page is split into columns. On a phone you see one column at a time, and a back arrow takes you from a thread to the list.

• The conversation list on the left, newest activity first, with a search box and filter tabs
• The open thread in the middle, with the message box at the bottom
• Customer details on the right on a wide screen, or behind the Customer details button in the thread header on a smaller one

Until you choose a conversation, the middle column says Pick a Conversation. New messages appear as they are sent, with no need to reload the page. If you ever want to force a fresh copy of the list, use the Refresh button at the top of the page.

The search box above the list matches a customer's name, phone number, email address or company. The tabs underneath narrow the list to All, Unread, Assigned or Starred, and each tab shows a count. Conversations you have archived sit behind a separate Archived row at the top of the list.

A conversation reaches the Assigned tab when someone presses Assign in its thread header and chooses an owner from the people in your workspace, including yourself. Choosing Unassigned takes it off the tab again.

Assigning, starring, archiving and the unread view are covered in How to Organise Conversations with Your Team.

Click a conversation to open it. Messages are shown oldest to newest, grouped under a day label, and the thread scrolls to the latest message. Opening a thread also clears its unread count and tells WhatsApp the message has been read.

Customers send more than text, and the thread shows it. Photos, videos, voice messages, documents, stickers, shared locations and contact cards all appear in the thread. If a customer sends something WhatsApp cannot pass on to businesses, such as some newer app features, it is shown as an unsupported message rather than silently dropped.

Your own messages show a small status mark: sending, sent, delivered or read. A message that failed is marked as failed, with the reason underneath, so you know it did not arrive.

When the conversation is open for a reply, the message box sits at the bottom of the thread. Type your reply and press Send. WhatsApp allows up to 4,096 characters in a single text message, and SmartEngage shows a counter as you get close.

You can also:

• Quote a specific message by choosing Reply on it, so the customer sees exactly what you are answering
• React to a message with an emoji, or insert emoji into your reply
• Attach a photo, video or document up to 5 MB, with an optional caption

The 5 MB limit is SmartEngage's own, not WhatsApp's. For a larger file, send it from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone instead.

WhatsApp only lets a business reply in its own words for 24 hours after the customer's last message. Once that window closes, the message box is replaced by a notice saying when the window closed and that only an approved template can be sent, with a Send a Template button underneath.

If a reply is sent just after the window has closed, for example from a screen left open, SmartEngage refuses it with the message "The 24-hour reply window has closed. Use Send a Template in this conversation to reopen it." Nothing is passed to WhatsApp.

Press Send a Template, choose one of your approved templates, fill in any values it needs, and press Send Template. When the customer answers, the window opens again and the normal message box comes back.

The rule is explained in full in The 24-Hour Reply Window Explained.

The panel beside the thread shows who you are talking to: their number and country, and whether the conversation is open for a free reply or the reply window has closed. It has three parts:

• Details, where you can record a name, email, company, tags and notes, then press Save Details. If the number is not a contact yet, saving creates one, and everything you enter is kept on that contact record.
• Campaign History, listing the campaigns this number has received and what happened to each message
• Activity, with counts of messages received and sent, when the customer first and last wrote, and whether they have opted out of marketing

You can also add a photo for the customer. WhatsApp does not share customers' profile pictures with businesses, so any photo here is one your team adds.

If a customer replies with STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE, SmartEngage marks their contact as opted out and sends a short confirmation, so they know the request was heard. Campaigns then skip that number. If they later reply START or SUBSCRIBE, they are subscribed again and told so.

Keywords are matched as the whole message, not as part of a sentence, so a customer who writes "please don't stop the offers" is not unsubscribed by mistake.

The inbox is where campaigns turn into sales, so it is worth checking every day. A fast, helpful reply also keeps customers engaged, which helps your number's quality rating.

For ideas on what to say when customers write back, read Turning WhatsApp Replies Into Sales.