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Create Ads that Click to WhatsApp in Ads Manager

Create Ads that Click to WhatsApp in Ads Manager

We are rolling out a new recommended setup experience to the Traffic, Awareness and Engagement objectives which is similar to the Advantage+ campaign setup for the Sales, App promotion and Leads objectives.

You may see a campaign score of 100 and Advantage+ on for some options. Manual options are still available.

This means you may see slightly different steps to those described here for some objectives. Learn more.

Special ad category campaigns and pharmaceuticals campaigns may not have access to all Advantage+ features, or may see a different experience.

Certain messaging-related metrics, ad campaigns and organic messaging features for businesses and ads delivered to and from Europe, Japan and South Korea will be unavailable.

Ads that click to WhatsApp send people that click on your ads directly into conversations with your business on WhatsApp. If you have a WhatsApp number that's either connected to your Facebook Page or your business portfolio, you can create ads that click to WhatsApp from Meta Ads Manager.

With click to WhatsApp campaigns, you can build awareness, drive traffic or engagement or generate leads and sales. The steps may vary, depending on which ad objective you select. Learn how to choose the right ad objective in Ads Manager.

Before you begin

Create an ad that clicks to WhatsApp using the traffic or engagement objective

  1. Go to Ads Manager.
  2. Click + Create.
  3. Select either Traffic or Engagement as your ad objective. Then, click Continue.

After you select an objective, you may see a campaign score on the right side of the page. Campaign score predicts how optimized your campaign is before publishing. You can review your campaign score and apply recommendations while drafting your campaign. Learn more about campaign score.

  1. Provide a campaign name and review your campaign details. Click Next.
  2. In the Conversion section, select Message destinations as your conversion location.
  3. Under Facebook Page, choose the relevant Facebook page. The WhatsApp number connected to your Facebook page will be the one connected with the campaign.
  4. Under Message destinations, check the box next to WhatsApp.
    • Note: If the WhatsApp option is grayed out, click Connect account. Use the dropdown menu to select your country code, enter your phone number and click Continue. You’ll then see a message about WhatsApp Business. Click Continue again.
  5. Under Performance goal, depending on the ad objective you selected in step 2, a performance goal will be selected by default. You may not be able to change your performance goal. If you selected Engagement, use the dropdown menu to select your performance goal.
  6. Review the remaining ad set details, like your budget, schedule and audience. Click Next.
  7. Complete the ad creation steps until you reach the Message template section.
  8. In the Message template section, you can choose Create new or Use existing. Depending on your objective, you may be able to select the following template:
    • Start conversation: Suggest prompts for people to tap and to encourage them to start conversations with your business. You can set up a greeting or suggest questions or messages that people can send.
    • Collect info with a form in WhatsApp: Use WhatsApp Flows to build customized forms where you can engage with potential customers and collect information in WhatsApp chats. People can book appointments, sign-up for your services or provide their contact information. Note: This feature may not be available to you yet.
  9. Click Edit and fill in the details for your message template. When you’re done, click Save.
  10. Complete the rest of your ad and click Publish when you’re ready.

Create an ad that clicks to WhatsApp using the leads objective

  1. Go to Ads Manager.
  2. Click + Create.
  3. Select Leads as your ad objective. Then, click Continue.

After you select an objective, you may see a campaign score on the right side of the page. Campaign score predicts how optimized your campaign is before publishing. You can review your campaign score and apply recommendations while drafting your campaign. Learn more about campaign score.

  1. Provide a campaign name and review your campaign details. Click Next.
  2. In the Conversion section, select WhatsApp.
  3. Under Performance goal, Maximize number of conversations is selected by default.
  4. Under Facebook Page, choose the relevant Facebook page. The WhatsApp number connected to your Facebook page will be the one connected with the campaign.
  5. Review the remaining ad set details, then click Next.

Note: Under the Audience and Placements sections, you may see that Advantage+ in the top right is On. Advantage+ campaign setup is a new feature that helps more businesses maximize performance with AI. Learn more about Advantage+ campaign setup.

  1. Complete the ad creation steps until you reach the Message template section at the ad level.
  2. In the Message template section, select either Create new to create a new template or Use existing to use, edit or duplicate an existing template.
  3. Click Edit and fill in the details for your message template. When you’re done, click Save.
  4. Complete the rest of your ad and click Publish when you’re ready.

Create an ad that clicks to WhatsApp using the sales objective

  1. Go to Ads Manager.
  2. Click + Create.
  3. Select Sales as your ad objective. Then, click Continue.

After you select an objective, you may see a campaign score on the right side of the page. Campaign score predicts how optimized your campaign is before publishing. You can review your campaign score and apply recommendations while drafting your campaign. Learn more about campaign score.

  1. Provide a campaign name and review your campaign details. Click Next.
  2. In the Conversion section, select Message destinations as your conversion location.
  3. Under Facebook Page, choose the relevant Facebook page. The WhatsApp number connected to your Facebook page will be the one connected with the campaign.
  4. Under Message destinations, check the box next to WhatsApp.
    • Note: If the WhatsApp option is grayed out, click Connect account. Use the dropdown menu to select your country code, enter your phone number and click Continue. You’ll then see a message about WhatsApp Business. Click Continue again.
  5. Under Performance goal, depending on the ad objective you selected in step 2, a performance goal will be selected by default. You may not be able to change your performance goal. If you selected Engagement, use the dropdown menu to select your performance goal.
  6. Review the remaining ad set details, then click Next.

Note: Under the Audience and Placements sections, you may see that Advantage+ in the top right is On. Advantage+ campaign setup is a new feature that helps more businesses maximize performance with AI. Learn more about Advantage+ campaign setup.

  1. Complete the ad creation steps until you reach the Message template section.
  2. In the Message template section, you can choose Create new or Use existing. Depending on your objective, you may be able to select the following template:
    • Start conversation: Suggest prompts for people to tap and to encourage them to start conversations with your business. You can set up a greeting or suggest questions or messages that people can send.
    • Collect info with a form in WhatsApp: Use WhatsApp Flows to build customized forms where you can engage with potential customers and collect information in WhatsApp chats. People can book appointments, sign-up for your services or provide their contact information. Note: This feature may not be available to you yet.
  3. Click Edit and fill in the details for your message template. When you’re done, click Save.
  4. Complete the rest of your ad and click Publish when you’re ready.

Create an ad that clicks to WhatsApp using the awareness objective

  1. Go to Ads Manager.
  2. Click + Create
  3. Select Awareness as your ad objective. Then, click Continue.

After you select an objective, you may see a campaign score on the right side of the page. Campaign score predicts how optimized your campaign is before publishing. You can review your campaign score and apply recommendations while drafting your campaign. Learn more about campaign score.

  1. Provide a campaign name and review your campaign details. Click Next.
  2. Review ad set details, like your performance goal, budget, schedule and audience. Click Next.
  3. Complete the ad creation steps until you reach the Destination section at the ad level.
  4. In the Destination section, select Messaging apps and then choose WhatsApp.
    • If the WhatsApp option is grayed out, click Connect account. Use the dropdown menu to select your country code, enter your phone number and click Continue. You’ll then see a message about WhatsApp Business. Click Continue again. Note: The WhatsApp number will be the one connected to the selected Facebook page for the campaign. If not, you can connect it to another WhatsApp business number.
  5. In the Message template section, you can choose Create new or Use existing. Depending on your objective, you may be able to select the following template:
    • Start conversation: Suggest prompts for people to tap and to encourage them to start conversations with your business. You can set up a greeting or suggest questions or messages that people can send.
    • Collect info with a form in WhatsApp: Use WhatsApp Flows to build customized forms where you can engage with potential customers and collect information in WhatsApp chats. People can book appointments, sign-up for your services or provide their contact information. Note: This feature may not be available to you yet.
  6. Click Edit and fill in the details for your message template. When you’re done, click Save.
  7. Complete the rest of your ad and click Publish when you’re ready.

Learn more

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