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If a marketing template fails with error 131049 and Meta’s message “This message was not delivered to maintain healthy ecosystem engagement”, WhatsApp has limited the marketing messages this contact receives. This page explains why and how to reach them.
This error only affects Marketing templates. It’s a limit WhatsApp sets for each person, not a problem with your account or your number.

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What the error means

131049 is WhatsApp’s per-user marketing limit. WhatsApp limits how many marketing templates a person receives from all businesses in a given period, when they’re less likely to engage with them. It bases this on how the person reads marketing messages and how full their inbox is. When someone reaches the limit, your next marketing template isn’t delivered and Meta returns 131049. Two things often surprise people:
  • It can happen on your very first message. The limit belongs to the contact, so they can reach it through marketing from other businesses.
  • You can’t check it in advance. WhatsApp doesn’t show how close a contact is to their limit.
Marketing templates you send while the contact’s 24-hour window is open don’t count towards the limit. The 24-hour window opens each time the contact messages you. Meta doesn’t currently apply the limit to messages sent from or to phone numbers in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Japan or South Korea. See Meta’s per-user marketing template message limits.
WhatsApp doesn’t currently deliver marketing templates to people with United States phone numbers (a +1 number with a US area code), whatever their engagement. Marketing sends to these numbers fail.

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Where you see it in Flowella

  • Inbox. The failed message has a red alert icon and the reason underneath. It starts: “WhatsApp did not deliver this marketing message because the recipient is currently receiving fewer promotional messages.”
  • Send log. For test sends and bulk sends, the template’s Send log on the Statistics tab shows the same reason in Details.
  • HubSpot. The failed step’s Error code output is FLOWELLA_META:marketing_limit.
  • Results. These failures count towards the Failure rate. See Results.

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How to reach the contact

1

Wait at least 24 hours before you resend

Don’t resend the same marketing template straight away. Meta says a resend within 24 hours will probably fail again. Repeated attempts can stop delivery to that person for up to 24 hours and make your delivery figures less accurate.
2

Ask the contact to message you first

When the contact sends you any message, their 24-hour window opens. Marketing templates you send inside the window don’t count towards their limit, and you can reply with free-form messages too. A click-to-chat link or QR code makes that first message a single tap.
3

Send fewer marketing messages

Send marketing templates to contacts who read and reply to them, and space your campaigns out. Don’t plan a campaign around reaching every contact on the first attempt.
Don’t switch a marketing template to Utility to get round this limit. Meta decides the category from the template’s content: it approves promotional templates as Marketing, and can restrict accounts that keep miscategorising them. See Meta’s template categorisation guidelines.

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Is it my number or the contact?

It’s the contact. WhatsApp decides 131049 from the contact’s engagement with marketing, not from your number’s quality rating. The same template usually reaches other contacts. Meta business verification doesn’t change this error. The app-wide banner “Verify your business to send WhatsApp Flows” is about sending WhatsApp Flows. See Business verification.
If you hit this error while you demo Flowella, ask the person you’re messaging to send any message to your WhatsApp number first. That opens their 24-hour window, so the marketing template no longer counts towards their limit.

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Errors that look similar

For every code, see WhatsApp error codes. For delivery problems without a code, see Messages not delivered.
Still stuck? Contact Flowella support with the contact’s phone number, the time of the failed send and the text under the failed message.
Last modified on October 24, 2026