Opt-in is the foundation of everything else on WhatsApp. Get it right and your messages are expected, your quality rating stays healthy and your list grows at a pace you can serve. Get it wrong and nothing downstream matters. This guide covers how to ask, where to ask, what to record and how to handle people who leave.
Read alongside this guide: WhatsApp marketing software and Waki plans and pricing.
Key takeaways
- Opt-in is an explicit, affirmative action that names WhatsApp and says what follows.
- Ask at natural moments: checkout, counter, first reply, website, existing channels.
- Record source, date and scope on the contact; treat unrecorded contacts as not opted in.
- Automate opt-out, confirm it, and keep marketing and transactional consent separate.
What counts as opt-in
A clear, affirmative action by the customer that names WhatsApp and says what they will receive. A ticked box they ticked themselves, a reply of yes to a direct question, a scan of a QR code whose purpose is printed next to it, a message they sent you asking to be kept informed. Not a pre-ticked box, not a line in the terms, not the fact that they bought something once.
Where to ask
Ask at the moments when being contacted is the obvious next step.
- At checkout or on an enquiry form, as an unticked choice that names WhatsApp.
- At the counter, with a QR code and a printed sentence about what the customer will get.
- In the first reply to a customer who messaged you, before any marketing.
- On your website through a click-to-chat link or widget with a clear prefilled message.
- In an email or SMS you already have consent for, with a one-tap yes.
How to word it
Say what you will send, roughly how often, and how to stop, in one or two sentences a customer would actually read. “Get order updates and occasional offers from us on WhatsApp. Reply STOP any time.” is enough. Separate wording for transactional updates and for marketing keeps both promises honest.
Recording it
Store the consent source, the date and the scope as attributes on the contact: where it was given, when, and whether it covers marketing, updates or both. Those attributes are what you segment by later and what you point to if anyone asks. Contacts imported without them should be treated as not opted in until they say otherwise.
Opt-out
Make leaving as easy as joining: a keyword such as STOP, a button in marketing templates, or simply a reply that an agent acts on. Automate the keyword so the contact is marked out immediately, confirm it with one short message and keep a record. A contact who opted out of marketing may still want order updates; ask rather than assume.
Separate consents
Transactional updates and marketing are different promises. Someone who agreed to delivery notices did not agree to festival offers. Record them as separate flags, use utility templates for the first and marketing templates for the second, and never let a campaign segment include contacts whose marketing flag is missing.
Next steps
Conclusion
Ask plainly, at the right moment, and write it down. A list built that way is smaller at first and far more valuable, because every message on it is one the customer expected.