Send Marketing Messages with MM API – Hibot Guide

The Marketing Messages API is only for sending marketing template messages.

To send:

• Authentication messages

• Utility messages

• Freeform messages

• Receive customer replies

you must continue using the normal WhatsApp Business API /messages endpoint alongside MM API.

With Hibot, both can work together on the same phone number.

Supported Message Types

The /marketing_messages endpoint supports only:

• Approved Marketing Templates

It does not support:

• Text messages

• Authentication templates

• Utility templates

• Interactive non-template messages

If you try to send unsupported message types, WhatsApp returns an error.

Endpoint

Use:

POST /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages

Example:

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "919876543210",
  "type": "template",
  "template": {
    "name": "summer_sale",
    "language": {
      "code": "en_US"
    }
  }
}

Important Template Sync Delay

When you create a new marketing template, it may take up to 10 minutes before it is fully usable with MM API.

This sync is required for:

• Delivery optimization

• Click tracking

• Conversion tracking

The same 10-minute delay also applies if:

• The template was inactive for more than 7 days

• You are sending the first message after a long pause

Best practice:

Wait at least 10 minutes after creating or reactivating a template before sending real campaigns.

Time-To-Live (TTL)

MM API allows marketing templates to expire automatically if they are no longer relevant.

TTL range:

• Minimum: 12 hours

• Maximum: 30 days

Example:

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "to": "919876543210",
  "type": "template",
  "template": {
    "name": "flash_sale",
    "language": {
      "code": "en_US"
    }
  },
  "time_to_live": 43200
}

43200 = 12 hours

If the message is not delivered within 12 hours, it automatically expires.

Automatic Creative Optimizations

MM API automatically improves your marketing messages to increase engagement.

Meta reports these optimizations increased click-through rate by around 13.9%.

Possible automatic improvements include:

• Image enhancements

• Headline extraction

• Promotion tags

• Better text formatting

• Product suggestions

• Improved link formatting

• 
  

Available Automatic Optimizations

Optimization	Description
Image Filtering	Improves image quality and appeal
Headline Extraction	Creates a headline from important text
Tap Target Title	Creates a title above CTA area
Text Formatting	Bolds or cleans text formatting
Auto Promotion Tag	Extracts offers like “50% OFF”
Product Extensions	Adds related catalog products
Link Formatting	Shortens or beautifies URLs
Image Banner	Adds padding to improve image size

Currently Paused Optimizations

These features are currently paused and may not be applied:

• Image Cropping

• Text Overlay

• Image Animation

• Background Generation

Even if enabled, they may not appear right now.

Configure Optimizations at Template Level

By default, all optimizations are enabled.

You can enable or disable specific optimizations for a single template when creating or editing it.

Example:

{
  "name": "summer_sale",
  "language": "en_US",
  "degrees_of_freedom_spec": {
    "creative_features_spec": {
      "auto_promotion_tag": {
        "enroll_status": "OPT_IN"
      },
      "text_formatting_optimization": {
        "enroll_status": "OPT_OUT"
      },
      "product_extensions": {
        "enroll_status": "OPT_OUT"
      }
    }
  }
}

Possible values:

• OPT_IN

• OPT_OUT

• 
  

Get Template Optimization Settings

To view which optimizations are active for a template:

GET /<TEMPLATE_ID>?fields=degrees_of_freedom_spec

Example response:

{
  "degrees_of_freedom_spec": {
    "creative_features_spec": [
      {
        "key": "AUTO_PROMOTION_TAG",
        "value": {
          "enroll_status": "OPT_IN"
        }
      },
      {
        "key": "TEXT_FORMATTING_OPTIMIZATION",
        "value": {
          "enroll_status": "OPT_OUT"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Configure Optimizations for Entire WABA

You can also apply optimization settings to your entire WhatsApp Business Account.

Example:

{
  "degrees_of_freedom_spec": {
    "creative_features_spec": {
      "auto_promotion_tag": {
        "enroll_status": "OPT_IN"
      },
      "text_extraction_for_headline": {
        "enroll_status": "OPT_IN"
      },
      "product_extensions": {
        "enroll_status": "OPT_OUT"
      }
    }
  }
}

This affects all future templates unless overridden at the template level.

Product Policy

MM API can automatically fall back to normal Cloud API if your onboarding is incomplete.

You can control this using product_policy.

Option 1: Cloud API Fallback

{
  "product_policy": "CLOUD_API_FALLBACK"
}

If MM API is unavailable, the message will still send using Cloud API.

Option 2: Strict Mode

{
  "product_policy": "STRICT"
}

With STRICT, the message will fail instead of falling back.

Use this if you only want the message sent through MM API.

Message Activity Sharing

You can optionally control whether Meta can use message activity (such as reads or clicks) to improve optimization.

Example:

{
  "message_activity_sharing": true
}

Options:

• true = Allow sharing for better optimization

• false = Do not share activity

If omitted, your WABA default setting is used.

Example Full Request

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "919876543210",
  "type": "template",
  "template": {
    "name": "festival_offer",
    "language": {
      "code": "en_US"
    }
  },
  "product_policy": "CLOUD_API_FALLBACK",
  "message_activity_sharing": true,
  "time_to_live": 86400
}

This request:

• Sends a marketing template

• Allows fallback to Cloud API

• Shares message activity

• Expires after 24 hours

• 
  

Status Webhook Response

When the message is sent through MM API, the webhook returns:

{
  "conversation": {
    "origin": {
      "type": "marketing_lite"
    }
  },
  "pricing": {
    "category": "marketing_lite"
  }
}

If the message falls back to Cloud API:

{
  "pricing": {
    "category": "marketing"
  }
}

This helps you identify which system actually sent the message.

Receiving Replies

MM API is send-only.

It cannot receive customer messages.

To receive replies, you must also use:

POST /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages

and keep your WhatsApp webhook connected through Cloud API.

This means:

• MM API = Send marketing campaigns

• Cloud API = Receive replies + send other message types

• 
  

Best Practice for Hibot Users

Use this setup:

Purpose	Endpoint
Marketing campaigns	/marketing_messages
Utility / Authentication	/messages
Customer replies	Cloud API webhook
Time-sensitive promotions	MM API + TTL
Better engagement	Enable creative optimizations

Final Thoughts

For the best WhatsApp marketing performance in Hibot:

• Use approved marketing templates

• Wait 10 minutes after template creation

• Send through /marketing_messages

• Enable creative optimizations

• Use TTL for time-sensitive campaigns

• Keep Cloud API active to receive replies