WhatsApp setup
Connect WhatsApp to your store, collect opt-in properly, and get your first message templates approved by Meta.
WhatsApp is the channel most of Enscale is built around — the inbox, automations, review requests and campaigns all assume you have it.
It also takes the longest to set up, because you're waiting on Meta twice: once to verify your business, once to approve your first templates. Start this early, even if you're not ready to use it yet. The waiting happens whether you're watching or not.
Before you start
You need three things:
- A Meta Business account (free to create if you don't have one — Meta's flow will make one).
- Admin access to that Meta Business account.
- A phone number that isn't currently in use on WhatsApp.
The number is the thing that trips everyone up
Your number must not be registered to a regular WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app account. If you've been using it to message customers from your phone, you have to delete that account from the WhatsApp app first — and doing so deletes that chat history.
Many stores buy a fresh SIM for this. It's cheaper than losing your existing chats, and it cleanly separates business from personal.
You're connecting your own Meta Business account, not renting one from Enscale. That means Meta bills you directly for messaging, and your number and reputation stay yours.
Connect it
Open Integrations in Enscale
Go to Integrations and choose WhatsApp.
Sign in to Meta
Meta's own window opens. Sign in and pick the WhatsApp Business Account you want to use — or let Meta's flow create one for you.
You're granting access on Meta's screen, not Enscale's. Nothing about your Meta account is visible to Enscale beyond what you approve here.
Add and verify your number
Enter the number, and Meta sends a verification code by SMS or voice call. Enter the code.
If Meta rejects the number here, it's almost always because it's still registered on the WhatsApp app — see the warning above.
Message yourself
From your personal phone, send a message to your business number. It should appear in your inbox within a few seconds.
Reply from Enscale
Reply to that conversation from the inbox and check it arrives on your phone.
If both directions work, you're connected properly. Don't skip this — a channel can look connected in settings and still not deliver.
Submit your first templates
Submit the templates you'll need before you need them, because approval takes anywhere from a few minutes to a day.
The usual starter set: an order confirmation, a shipping update, and a review request. See Message templates.
Sort out opt-in before you build anything
WhatsApp outbound requires the customer's explicit agreement, and Enscale enforces it — contacts without opt-in get skipped, silently, in both campaigns and automations.
So decide how you'll collect it before you build your first outbound message. Otherwise you'll build a beautiful campaign and watch it reach eleven people.
| How to collect it | How well it works |
|---|---|
| Coupon popup on your storefront — a discount in exchange for their number | Best converting by a distance. Start here. |
| Checkout consent checkbox | Good volume, and the intent is high. |
Customer messages you first, or replies START | Highest quality opt-in, lowest volume. |
| Back-in-stock signup | Good, but only covers that one product. |
| Captured by staff or AI during a conversation | Useful top-up. |
| CSV import of a list you already have | Only if they genuinely agreed. See below. |
Enscale records the source and timestamp of every opt-in, so you can evidence it if Meta ever asks. See Contacts.
Do not import a list of people who never agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp. It is the fastest route to a restricted number — and a restriction stops every customer reaching you, not just the ones you messaged.
Opting out is automatic and instant. STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT and OPT OUT all remove the contact from everything outbound, with no action needed from you.
The 24-hour rule
You can send a free-typed message only within 24 hours of the customer's last message to you. Outside that window, you need a Meta-approved template.
This shapes every automation you build. An automation triggered by a Shopify order cannot open with a free-typed message, because the customer hasn't messaged you — no window is open. It has to open with a template.
Full explanation: the 24-hour rule.
Your quality rating
Meta scores each number on how customers react to your messages. Blocks and "report" taps push it down. A low rating means Meta reduces how many people you can message per day, and makes it likelier your templates get paused.
Four things protect it:
- Only message people who actually opted in.
- Categorise your templates honestly — don't label a promotion as a utility message.
- Keep marketing frequency sane. One good message beats four ignored ones.
- Make opting out easy. A customer who opts out cleanly is much better for you than one who taps "block".
Using more than one number
You can connect several — support and marketing separately, or one per region. Each counts toward your plan's channel limit, and campaigns let you pick which number sends.
Worth doing if marketing volume risks dragging down the quality rating of the number your support conversations depend on.
Check it all works
Before you rely on it:
- An inbound message creates or matches the right contact.
- The conversation shows in your inbox.
- Your manual reply arrives.
- A test automation checks opt-in before it sends.
- A test campaign correctly skips someone you've opted out.
Common questions
Next steps
- Message templates — getting approved by Meta.
- Coupon popups — the fastest way to build an opted-in list.
- Broadcasts — sending your first campaign.