Most WhatsApp launches fail in the first fortnight, and almost always for the same reasons: the number was not ready, consent was assumed, or the first campaign went to everybody at once.
Work through this before you send anything.
Before you connect a number
- [ ] The number is not currently active on the WhatsApp Business app, or you accept that migrating ends it there
- [ ] You accept that chat history does not transfer
- [ ] The number can receive an SMS or call to verify
- [ ] It is a business number you will keep — changing it later means starting the reputation over
- [ ] Someone owns the inbox. A monitored number is the whole point
Setup and verification
- [ ] Meta Business Manager account created and business details match your trade licence
- [ ] Display name follows Meta's rules (it must relate to the business)
- [ ] Profile filled in: description, address, email, website
- [ ] Green tick applied for if eligible — it is Meta's decision and not required to send
- [ ] Payment method added, or you will stop sending mid-campaign
Consent and opt-out
- [ ] Every contact has opted in to WhatsApp specifically
- [ ] The opt-in source and date are recorded per contact
- [ ] Opt-out instructions appear in marketing messages
- [ ] Opt-out is honoured automatically, not by hand
- [ ] Someone can answer "where did this consent come from?" for any contact
Templates and routing
- [ ] Launch templates submitted days early, not the night before
- [ ] Each template is in its honest category — miscategorising to save money gets accounts reviewed
- [ ] Arabic versions written, not machine-translated
- [ ] Every template has a reply path and a person who answers it
- [ ] Conversations route to the right team, and there is a rule for out-of-hours
- [ ] A human handover exists from every bot flow
Week one: what to watch
- [ ] Quality rating in Business Manager, daily. It is the earliest warning you get
- [ ] Opt-out rate per campaign. Rising means your targeting is wrong
- [ ] Reply rate, not delivery rate
- [ ] First response time — a channel people reply to is a channel you must answer
- [ ] Completed actions: bookings, payments, recovered carts
The one rule
Start with your most transactional message — a confirmation or a reminder — to your most engaged customers. It is cheap, it is welcome, and it builds the sending reputation that everything else depends on. Save the promotional broadcast until your quality rating has held green for a fortnight.