Facebook protects its users from getting spammed with all kinds of promotional messages that nobody wants… just like email.
Facebook has rules for what can be sent out through the page inbox after 24 hours have elapsed since the contact’s last message to you.
These Facebook policies are designed to encourage businesses to:
- Respond to customers in a timely fashion when they reach out
- Share important updates that are personally relevant to their customers
What Does This Button At The Bottom Of The Inbox Mean?
When it has been longer than 24 hours since any contact messaged your page, there are only four kinds of messages that you are allowed to send to that contact through your Facebook page inbox.
Summary of Facebook’s 4 Message Types
- Confirmed Event Update: Send the user reminders or updates for an event they have registered for (e.g., RSVP’d, purchased tickets). This tag may be used for upcoming events and events in progress.
- Allowed
- Reminder of upcoming classes, appointments, or events that the user has scheduled
- Confirmation of user’s reservation or attendance to an accepted event or appointment
- Notification of user’s transportation or trip schedules, such as arrival, cancellation, baggage delay, or other status changes
- Disallowed
- Promotional content, including but not limited to deals, offers, coupons, and discounts
- Content related to an event the user has not signed up for (e.g., reminders to purchase event tickets, cross-sell of other events, tour schedules, etc)
- Messages related to past events
- Prompts to any survey, poll, or reviews
- Allowed
- Post Purchase Update: Notify the user of an update on a recent purchase.
- Allowed
- Confirmation of transaction, such as invoices or receipts
- Notifications of shipment status, such as product in-transit, shipped, delivered, or delayed
- Changes related to an order that the user placed, such as credit card has been declined, backorder items, or other order updates that require user action
- Disallowed
- Promotional content, including but not limited to deals, promotions, coupons, and discounts
- Messages that cross-sell or upsell products or services
- Prompts to any survey, poll, or reviews
- Allowed
- Account Update: Notify the user of a non-recurring change to their application to start a new account or an existing account.
- Allowed
- A change in application status (e.g., credit card, job)
- Notification of suspicious activity, such as fraud alerts
- Disallowed
- Promotional content, including but not limited to deals, promotions, coupons, and discounts
- Recurring content (e.g., statement is ready, bill is due, new job listings)
- Prompts to any survey, poll, or reviews
- Allowed
- Human Agent: Allows human agents to respond to user inquiries. Messages can be sent within 7 days after a user message.
- Allowed
- Human agent support for issues that cannot be resolved within the standard messaging window (e.g., business is closed for the weekend, issue requires >24 hours to resolve)
- Disallowed
- Automated messages
- Content unrelated to user inquiry
- Allowed