Buttons and lists: when they help and when they get in the way
WhatsApp offers three reply buttons, a list of up to ten rows, and call-to-action buttons that open a URL or dial a number. They are excellent for a small closed choice and actively harmful when used to build a phone menu.
The three kinds, and their limits
| Kind | Limit | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Reply buttons | 3, short labels | Yes / No / Something else |
| List message | 10 rows, grouped in sections | Pick a branch, a time, a product |
| Call to action | Open a URL or call a number | Track my order, call the shop |
Where they help
A closed question with few answers, where typing is the friction. Confirming an appointment. Choosing a delivery slot. Picking which of your branches. The button removes spelling, ambiguity and language from the exchange, and the reply comes back as a structured id rather than as text you have to interpret.
Where they get in the way
The moment they become navigation. Three buttons leading to three more buttons is an IVR in a chat window, and the customer's actual question - which was never on the menu - now has nowhere to go.
The test: would the next thing that happens be useful if the customer ignored every button and typed a sentence? If the answer is no, the buttons are a trap rather than a shortcut. See auto-replies that do not annoy people.
Handling the reply
An interactive reply arrives with the id you set, not the label the customer saw. Set ids that mean something on their own:
{
"type": "interactive",
"interactive": {
"type": "button_reply",
"button_reply": { "id": "slot_thu_am", "title": "Thursday morning" }
}
}slot_thu_am is readable in a log two months later. btn_1 is not, and the label it came from will have changed by then.
Always accept the typed version too
People reply "thursday morning please" to a button. Handle it. A flow that only understands its own buttons breaks on the most engaged customers - the ones who answered in words.
Questions people actually ask
How many buttons can a WhatsApp message have?
Up to three reply buttons on an interactive message. For more options you need a list message, which holds up to ten rows.
Do buttons work on every WhatsApp client?
Recipients on very old clients may see a text fallback rather than the interactive element, so the message has to still make sense read as words.
Njiwa
One inbox for WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, and an API that sends over either WhatsApp rail. 7 days free, no card.