Get Opt-in for WhatsApp

Businesses are required to obtain opt-in before sending proactive business-initiated messages to customers outside the 24-hour window. Businesses can obtain opt-in in a multitude of ways, both on and off WhatsApp. Ultimately, we want to help people receive useful, expected information from businesses they want to hear from.

Opt-in methods such as via your website, interactive voice response (IVR) flows or in a WhatsApp thread are acceptable.

Requirements

Businesses must follow the below requirements when obtaining opt-in:

• Businesses must clearly state that a person is opting in to receive messages from the business over WhatsApp
• Businesses must clearly state the business’s name that a person is opting in to receive messages from
• Businesses must comply with applicable law

Opt-In Methods

As long as the opt-in method meets the above requirements, it will be policy compliant. The following are examples of supported opt-in methods:

• SMS
• Website
• In a WhatsApp thread
• By phone (using an interactive voice response (IVR) flow)
• In person or on paper (customers can sign a physical document to opt in)

We strongly recommend that businesses continue to optimize for the user experience when designing opt-in flows.

Helpful Tips

Businesses should continue to optimize for the user experience while obtaining opt-in. For example, businesses should:

• Users should expect the messages they receive. Set this expectation by:
• Obtaining an opt-in that encompasses the different categories of messages that you will send (ex: order updates, relevant offers, product recommendations, etc.).
• Obtaining separate opt-in by specific message category. This mitigates the risk that users will block your business because they receive unsolicited messages.
• Provide clear instructions for how people can opt out of receiving specific categories of messages, and honor these requests.
• Ensure your opt-in and opt-out flows are clear and intuitive for users.
• Clearly communicate the value of receiving this information on WhatsApp.
• Monitor your quality rating, especially when rolling out new opt-in methods.

Maintaining High Quality

Driving high quality conversations between people and businesses is still a top priority. People can block or report businesses and our systems will rate limit businesses if the business’s quality is low for a sustained period of time. We may also reactively evaluate a business’s opt-in flows, including user feedback, to flag policy violations and develop additional types of enforcement over time.