Staying within Meta’s messaging policies is essential for maintaining compliance and delivering a positive customer experience. Meta’s 24-hour and 7-day messaging windows form the core guidelines for when businesses can engage with users after their initial interaction. Still, there are moments when you may need to contact customers outside these timeframes, while fully respecting Meta’s rules.
In this article, we’ll guide you through simple and effective ways to send messages beyond the standard windows while following Meta’s policies. Whether you want to re-engage customers, share important updates, or deliver time-sensitive information, this guide will show you how to do it safely and confidently using Manychat.
The 7-day messaging window and Human Agent tag
The 7-day messaging window allows you to continue conversations with a contact after the standard 24-hour window has closed, as long as the message is sent manually by a human agent. This window starts immediately after the user’s most recent interaction with your business and is designed to support situations where an issue can’t be resolved within 24 hours.
This extended window is helpful in cases such as:
- Your business is closed (e.g., weekends or holidays)
- The customer’s issue requires more time to investigate or resolve
- A support interaction naturally continues over several days
The Human Agent tag is what makes this possible. Here’s what you need to know:
- It works on both Instagram and Messenger.
- It is automatically applied to messages you send manually through Manychat’s Live Chat, so you don’t need to choose or add the tag yourself.
- It only applies to human-sent messages. Automated messages are not allowed during the 7-day window.
- You can use the Human Agent tag for up to 7 days after the contact’s last interaction with your business.
Once those 7 days have passed, you’ll no longer be able to message the contact using the Human Agent tag. At that point, you can reach out using other permitted methods, such as Message Tags, Messenger Lists, or DM Lists, depending on your channel and communication goals.
Using Message tags for compliance and efficiency
Message tags are predefined reasons provided by Facebook Messenger that allow businesses to send non-promotional messages to contacts outside the standard 24-hour messaging window. These tags are essential for staying compliant with Meta’s messaging policies.
They are designed for specific use cases where a business may need to provide important updates or assist users with relevant information. It’s important to make sure that the content you send aligns clearly with the purpose of the selected Message tag.
Message tags cannot be used for promotional content. This includes product announcements, event invitations for users who haven’t registered, cart abandonment reminders, or notifications about new blog posts.
Inside Flow Builder, you can choose the Message tag that matches the reason for sending a message outside the 24-hour window. Carefully selecting the correct tag helps ensure compliance with Meta’s policies.
Next, we’ll go through each Message tag in detail to explore what types of messages are allowed and what types are not.
Post-Purchase Update tag
The Post-Purchase Update tag allows you to send users important updates related to their recent purchases, such as receipts, shipping notifications, refunds, or returnsinformation. You can also use this tag to request essential information needed to complete an order, like a delivery address or order confirmation.
However, it’s important to note that cross-sell and upsell promotions are not allowed in any message that uses this tag. The communication must remain strictly transactional.
You may include links in these messages to direct users to external resources or other automations, as long as the content does not promote or highlight specific products. Examples of compliant messages include:
- “Your refund has been processed. For more details, click here or visit our website.”
- “Your return request has been approved. Please follow this link for instructions on sending the item back.”
- “We’ve updated your subscription. Here’s the invoice for your records. For further assistance, click here.”
- “Your order has shipped! Track your package using this code: 4789XYZ. Click here for detailed tracking updates.”
A valuable benefit of linking to another Manychat automation is that any action the user takes within that flow will reopen the 24-hour messaging window. This gives you the flexibility to build more engaging follow-up sequences, including opportunities for cross-sell or upsell, without violating policy.
Confirmed Event Update tag
The Confirmed Event Update tag is intended for sending reminders or updates about events that users have explicitly signed up for, such as by purchasing tickets or completing a registration form. This tag can only be used for upcoming or ongoing events, not past ones.
It’s important that the user has clearly registered for the event. If they haven’t taken an explicit action to sign up, you cannot send them reminders or updates using this tag. Accepting a calendar invitation or completing a registration flow are examples of clear confirmation.
To help ensure your use of this tag complies with Meta’s policies and passes automated checks, consider the following best practices:
Engage users during the registration process
Create a clear opt-in that appears in the Messenger thread. For example, if someone registers via email, include a link to Messenger in the confirmation email, such as: “You’re confirmed for this event! Would you like to receive reminders on Messenger?”
If your event uses a landing page, build the sign-up flow directly in Messenger. You might say: “You’re registered! We’ll notify you before the event starts.”
This creates visible proof inside Messenger that the user opted in to receive event-related updates.
Be specific and explicit in your reminders
Clearly reference the event and the user’s registration. For example:
- “Hi [First Name], this is your reminder for the event you signed up for on [registration date]. It starts in 30 minutes!”
- “This is a follow-up for the event you registered for. Don’t forget—it's happening on [event date] at [time]!”
If possible, include additional context, such as an order or confirmation number, to further validate the user’s registration.
Focus only on upcoming or ongoing events
This tag cannot be used for promotional messages or for any communication about past events. Avoid messages like:
- “Hi [First Name], you attended our concert yesterday. Buy tickets for next week’s concert!”
- “Get your merch from the conference you attended!”
These examples are non-compliant because they reference completed events and include promotional content.
By following these practices, you’ll ensure your use of the Confirmed Event Update tag remains both compliant and effective. Always make it clear that the user registered for the event, and include specific details whenever possible.
Account Update tag
The Account Update tag is used to notify users about a non-recurring change to their account or application.
The key term here is non-recurring. You can use this tag to inform a user about a one-time change, such as a password update or a modification to their account settings. However, this tag cannot be used for recurring or activity-based notifications—for example, informing users each time their loyalty points increase after a purchase.
These notifications must relate directly to the account itself, not to actions associated with it. For instance, if you run a Shopify store and customers can save items to a “favorites” list, you cannot use the Account Update tag to alert users when a favorited item goes out of stock. That update relates to product activity, not an account-level change.
Valid uses for this tag include updates such as:
- A declined credit card
- A password change
- Adjustments to account preferences or settings
To ensure both effectiveness and compliance, your messages should provide clear context. Meta discourages vague notifications like:
- “Jim, your password has changed. Click here for more information.”
Instead, provide helpful details—what changed, when it happened, why the user is being notified, and what they should do next.
A more effective example would be:
-
“Hi Jim, this is Acme Inc. We’re letting you know that your password was updated yesterday. If you didn’t make this change, please contact us right away. You can also reset your password using the link below.”
Providing clear, actionable information ensures users understand the update and know exactly how to respond if needed.
Best practices for proper use of Message tags
Avoid surveys or polls unrelated to previous interactions
You cannot use Message tags to send users surveys, polls, ratings, or reviews that aren’t tied to a prior interaction in Messenger. For example, you can ask for a review after a purchase, but you cannot randomly ask someone about their shoe preferences if there was no earlier conversation about it.
If you previously helped a customer choose a product and they completed a purchase, you may use the Post-Purchase Update tag to follow up and request a review, because a documented interaction already exists.
Do not include promotional content
Message tags cannot be used for any type of promotion. This includes deals, discounts, coupons, product announcements, or sales-related messaging. Even if the message seems neutral, if it introduces anything promotional or falls outside the specific, allowed use cases for that tag, it may get flagged.
For example, if you use the Account Update tag to inform someone about a declined credit card but also mention a limited-time sale, the message becomes non-compliant.
Always provide clear context
To avoid policy issues, include enough context in your messages to clearly explain who is contacting the user, why you're reaching out, when the event or update occurred, and what action (if any) the user needs to take. While this may make your messages longer, it significantly reduces the risk of being flagged for insufficient clarity.
If you receive a warning
If Meta issues a warning, pause all active Automations that use Message tags (or any other tag). Review each flow and update the content to ensure full compliance before reactivating them.
For detailed guidance on which use cases are allowed or restricted, check Meta’s official documentation: Send API – Message Tags.
If necessary, consider alternative communication channels like SMS, Email, or Messenger Lists to continue engaging users without violating policy.
Messenger and DM Lists
The Messenger List allows your business to re-engage customers on a daily basis, with their prior consent, even after the 24-hour messaging window has passed. You can find more details about Messenger lists here.
As of January 31, 2023, Meta deprecated the notification_messages_frequency setting. This means message frequency is no longer required when sending opt-in requests for marketing messages.
Notification tokens created before January 31, 2023, whether weekly or monthly, will continue to be supported. Their message frequency will remain unchanged, and the notification_messages_frequency field will still appear in the messaging opt-in webhook notification.
Additionally, starting August 10, 2023, notification tokens no longer expire. As a result, users will no longer receive re-opt-in requests or opt-out reminders.
⚠️ Note: Instagram DM Lists previously worked the same way as Messenger Lists. However, in February 2024, Meta paused allowlisting for the Instagram DM List Beta. Only accounts that were already approved before the pause will retain access to this feature and will still see it in their Manychat accounts.
One-Time Notifications (OTNs)
One-Time Notifications (OTNs) function similarly to Messenger Lists but are designed for sending a single message to a subscriber after obtaining their explicit consent. OTNs are useful for sending messages outside the 24-hour window, but they can only be used once and must relate specifically to the topic the customer opted in for.
Because Meta has deprecated the frequency feature of Messenger Lists, OTNs have largely become obsolete and may no longer be available in most Manychat accounts.
To remain compliant, the message you send via an OTN must be directly connected to the topic the subscriber originally opted into. For example:
- If a customer subscribes to an OTN for a product drop, you cannot use that same OTN to send a webinar update.
- If a customer opts in for a T-shirt sale notification, you cannot include promotions for shoes, sweaters, or other unrelated items in the same message.
Sending unrelated or promotional content using an OTN may result in your account being blocked by Meta.
To use an OTN properly, you must first request and obtain the user’s consent. This is done through the Messenger List setup, since OTNs are available only for Messenger. When creating a new Messenger List, you can select One-Time Notification as the frequency option, which enables you to send the message once the subscriber has opted in.
Be sure to review Meta’s rules on OTNs carefully to ensure your messages remain compliant and avoid any risk of account suspension.
In all cases, success with OTNs comes down to three principles:
- Obtaining clear consent from your subscribers
- Providing relevant, topic-specific content
- Following Meta’s guidelines to avoid penalties
By understanding and using these tools correctly, you can continue building meaningful relationships with your audience while respecting the boundaries that keep messaging helpful and non-intrusive.
Stay up to date with Meta’s policy changes so your strategies remain compliant and effective. If you’re experiencing issues with any of these features, please contact our Support Team.