Similar to how certain rules govern how you grow your email and SMS subscribers, WhatsApp also has specific opt-in rules. The rules give you the requirements and boundaries within which you can build your strategy. In this guide, we'll start with the WhatsApp opt-in rules, and then follow with WhatsApp opt-in strategies.
Conversation: A back-and-forth dialogue between a business and a customer. WhatsApp's main intention is to be a conversation platform versus solely a message-sending platform.
Business-initiated conversation: A conversation started by a business, and the message is sent to a subscriber proactively. These can be marketing, authentication, or utility conversation types.
User-initiated conversation: A conversation started by a user, and the business responds. These often begin when a user opts in to receive messages or starts a service inquiry.
Trigger phrase: Similar to a keyword in SMS, the trigger phrase is a word or phrase a customer sends (whether they type it themselves or it's auto-populated after clicking a specific link) that kicks off a predefined automated conversation.
Businesses must receive opt-in permission confirming a customer's wish to receive future messages before the business can initiate a WhatsApp conversation. Business-initiated marketing messages require template approval before the message can be sent.
User-initiated conversations follow different rules. If the customer actively messages your brand, you have 24 hours to respond to them. No official opt-in is required. Outside of the 24-hour reply window, you are required to follow the rules of a business-initiated conversation.
WhatsApp provides unique methods for customers to begin conversations with brands. Through QR codes and URL links, the moment the customer scans the code or clicks the link, a conversation with a brand has begun. This is unlike other marketing channels — in email and SMS, the customer is required to share their contact info, submit it, and then wait for a message.
With WhatsApp, when they click a link or scan a QR code, the customer no longer has to wait. This approach allows them to take the lead, send the message, and begin the conversation. The QR code or URL can pre-populate the message on behalf of the customer, which acts as a trigger phrase that launches an automated conversation.
To ensure the customer fully understands they are opting in for future messages, it's best to include a double opt-in experience and confirm their opt-in early on in the conversation.
You can receive opt-in in any method as long as it follows these main requirements:
Examples of places you might gain opt-in: in-store, on your website, on your packaging, through a voice call interaction, in another digital channel, through a button on Facebook or Instagram Ad, through a user-initiated WhatsApp conversation.