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Win-back message for inactive customers (API)

The scenario sends a personalised WhatsApp marketing template to an existing customer who bought or used the service before but has been inactive for months.

Use case overview

The scenario sends a personalised WhatsApp marketing template to an existing customer who bought or used the service before but has been inactive for months. The message includes their name, the last product they purchased, the date of their last order or visit, and a tailored win-back incentive. A static URL button opens the store or account page to shop again.

Template example

Hello {{1}}! We miss you — your last order was on {{3}} for {{2}}. {{4}} Tap the button below to come back and shop with us again.

Shop again
  • {{1}}
    customer name
  • {{2}}
    last purchased product name
  • {{3}}
    date of last order or visit
  • {{4}}
    win-back incentive or offer details
  • “Shop again”
    button — fixed in the Meta template
WhatsApp Business API for inactive customer reactivation

When to use it

Use this scenario when you already have paying or active customers who have gone quiet for months — no recent order, visit, or login — and you want to win them back before they churn for good. It fits e-commerce recency segments built on purchase history, SaaS teams re-engaging users who stopped logging in after prior usage, and agencies running lapsed-customer win-back for client brands. It is not for dormant leads who never converted, nor for cross-sell right after a fresh purchase.

Win back revenue from customers you already earned
The campaign targets people who already bought or used the service, so a return costs one template send rather than acquiring a stranger from scratch.
Reminders grounded in real purchase history
Four body variables carry the customer's name, last product, last activity date, and win-back offer, so the message reads as a personal follow-up, not a mass promotion.
Reach lapsed buyers outside the 24-hour window
An approved MARKETING template delivers on WhatsApp even when no conversation is open, so reactivation does not depend on a recent inbound message.
Less manual win-back list building
CRM or ecommerce supplies the recency segment and last-purchase fields, and the template goes out on that trigger — no rep rebuilds spreadsheets or retypes offers for each lapsed customer.
Churn-prevention campaign tracking
Delivery results are logged for churn-prevention analytics, so marketing knows how many lapsed customers received the win-back message before measuring returns elsewhere.

Workflow

  1. Trigger

    CRM or ecommerce platform flags a recency segment of lapsed customers beyond the inactivity threshold.

    event · triggered

  2. Capture event

    The system resolves phone numbers and last-purchase context for each contact in the segment.

    phone: "+…"

  3. Build & send

    A personalised win-back template is built with four body variables and a static URL button.

    POST /sendTemplate

  4. Delivered

    Each opted-in lapsed customer receives the WhatsApp reactivation message.

    delivered

  5. Status tracked

    Delivery results are logged for churn-prevention campaign tracking and follow-up.

    status: "read"

WhatsApp Business API for inactive customer reactivation

Technical implementation

Prerequisites

  1. 1MSG API Key · How to get API Key
  2. WhatsApp Business account · How to Connect WABA
  3. WhatsApp Template · How to Approve WABA Template
  4. Customer opt-in · How to Manage Customers Consent

Code examples

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# === Configuration (replace "___" placeholders) ===

API_BASE_URL="https://api.1msg.io"        # production 1MSG API base URL
CHANNEL_ID="___"                           # channel ID from 1MSG dashboard
API_TOKEN="___"                            # channel JWT token (Bearer)

TEMPLATE_NAME="___"                        # approved template name
TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE="___"                   # template namespace (required — send fails without it)
TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE="___"                    # template language code, e.g. "en"



# === Test data ===
TEST_PHONE="___"                 # client phone in international format
TEST_CUSTOMERNAME="___"         # {{1}} customer name
TEST_PRODUCTNAME="___"         # {{2}} product name
TEST_DATE="___"         # {{3}} date or time
TEST_ADDITIONALINFO="___"         # {{4}} additional info

PHONE_NORM="$(printf '%s' "$TEST_PHONE" | tr -cd '0-9')"

for pair in "CHANNEL_ID=$CHANNEL_ID" "API_TOKEN=$API_TOKEN" \
            "TEMPLATE_NAME=$TEMPLATE_NAME" "TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE=$TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE" \
            "TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE=$TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE" "TEST_PHONE=$TEST_PHONE" \
            "TEST_CUSTOMERNAME=$TEST_CUSTOMERNAME" \
            "TEST_PRODUCTNAME=$TEST_PRODUCTNAME" \
            "TEST_DATE=$TEST_DATE" \
            "TEST_ADDITIONALINFO=$TEST_ADDITIONALINFO"; do
    val="${pair#*=}"
    if [ -z "$val" ] || [ "$val" = "___" ]; then
        echo "Missing configuration value: ${pair%%=*}" >&2
        exit 1
    fi
done

if [ -z "$PHONE_NORM" ]; then
    echo "Error: phone number has no digits after normalization" >&2
    exit 1
fi

URL="${API_BASE_URL%/}/${CHANNEL_ID}/sendTemplate"

# params carries body ONLY. Button text is fixed in the Meta template — no button param.

# {{1}} customer name → ${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}
# {{2}} product name → ${TEST_PRODUCTNAME}
# {{3}} date or time → ${TEST_DATE}
# {{4}} additional info → ${TEST_ADDITIONALINFO}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
  "phone": "${PHONE_NORM}",
  "template": "${TEMPLATE_NAME}",
  "namespace": "${TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE}",
  "language": { "policy": "deterministic", "code": "${TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE}" },
  "params": [
    {
      "type": "body",
      "parameters": [
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_PRODUCTNAME}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_DATE}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_ADDITIONALINFO}" }
      ]
    }

  ]
}
JSON

RESPONSE="$(curl -s -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST "$URL" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$PAYLOAD")"

HTTP_CODE="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | tail -n1)"
BODY="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | sed '$d')"

case "$BODY" in
    *'"sent":true'*) ok=1 ;;
    *) ok=0 ;;
esac

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 200 ] && [ "$HTTP_CODE" -lt 300 ] && [ "$ok" -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "Message sent to client."
    echo "API response: $BODY"
else
    echo "Send failed. HTTP status: $HTTP_CODE" >&2
    echo "$BODY" >&2
    exit 1
fi

Response and delivery status

HTTP 2xx and JSON "sent": true mean 1MSG accepted the message for sending — not that it already reached the customer's phone. Save the id field (looks like wamid.…) to correlate delivery callbacks.

200 OKResponse
{
  "sent": true,
  "message": "Sent to [email protected]",
  "description": "Message has been sent to the provider",
  "id": "wamid.HBgLMzgwNjM5..."
}
  • sent

    Accepted for sending — not yet on the customer's phone

  • id

    Store it; delivery callbacks and hookInfo are keyed on this

Delivery statuses and webhooks →

Common errors

StatusAPI responseCauseFix
200Message was not sent: template is not definednamespace, template or language is missing from the request body.Send all three. Take namespace and the exact template name from GET /templates; language is an object: {"policy": "deterministic", "code": "en"}.
200template name (…) does not exist in <language>The template is approved in a different language than the one requested.Use the exact language code the template was approved in (for example es_MX is not the same as es). Check it in GET /templates.
200Message was not sent: provide chatId, phone, bsuid, or usernameNo recipient the channel could resolve.Pass exactly one recipient: phone (country code plus number, digits only), chatId (for example [email protected]) or bsuid.

All error codes →

Common questions

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