Table of Contents

How to get Opt-ins (Subscribers) for your WhatsApp ๐Ÿš€

Alessandro Pinelli Updated by Alessandro Pinelli

What is the Opt-in process?

Users need to give you their consent before you are able to reach out to them proactively via WhatsApp. This is part of WhatsApp's policies to avoid SPAM to users.

The process to obtain the consent of the user is what we call the Opt-in process.

That means, that users must confirm they would like to receive outbound messages from you on WhatsApp.

Get Opt-Ins Section

Get Opt-ins is a subsection of the WhatsApp section of the app, and it will be active only if you have a PRO or Business plan and an approved business phone number!

Once you have an active Official WhatsApp channel, you'll be able to enter the Get Opt-ins section.

Within that section you will find the options to:

  1. Get Opt-ins through your Website (Snippet option), adding an Opt-in Form to your Web.
  2. Get Opt-ins with a Web bot, with direct access to a template to help you achieve that.

... or if you prefer, even if it is not in this section, you can:

  1. Obtain the Opt-in directly through a WhatsApp bot.

We will explain each one of those methods in this article, so that you can choose the Opt-In option that works best for your case ๐Ÿ˜‰

Website embed (Snippet Option)

The Opt-in Process can happen via Snippet, a sort of "Form to give consent" that you can embed into your website.

The snippet has to be contextual and explicit about its purpose, as defined by WhatsApp's Terms of Use.

โ€œIn order to send a WhatsApp message to a person, you must receive opt-in permission in-line and contextually during the relevant user flows. For example, to receive a receipt via WhatsApp, a person must opt-in during a purchase flow.

Opt-in obtained without context and in any manner not related to an action the user is already taking, does not comply with this policy.โ€œย 

Setting up a Snippet

In the "Get Opt-Ins Section", we provide you with a snippet (code) you can easily embed into your website for your visitors to tick and become subscribers.

  1. Configure a Snippet: By clicking on "Configure a new snippet" you can create and customize a Snippet to integrate into your website.

  1. Set up the Snippet: Once you click to configure a new snippet, you will find many options to customize it:

  1. Add a name to the Snippet: Choose a name to identify your Snippet in the Get Opt-Ins section.
  2. Choose the Message Template (HSM): Choose a proactive message that the user is going to receive on WhatsApp.
    Once your user accepts to be contacted, they can receive an automatic message greeting them on their Whatsapp. You must choose one of your approved HSM Templates in order to do that!
    Read this article to know more about HSM templates and how to use them!

If you click on Choose message template you'll see the template messages available for you to choose one:

When you choose a message, all you need to do is assign a value to the variables that appear on it.

The variables are going to be displayed as numbers surrounded by double brackets:

  1. Choose the Bot: You can also choose a bot that will be triggered when the user accepts to be contacted. So once the users Opt-in, they will receive a message in their Whatsapp starting the bot of your choice.

When you click on Choose the bot, this is what you'll see:

You can choose a bot from your list, or decide to not link a bot to this Template and just have Human Chat.

If you choose a bot, after receiving the template message the users will chat with the Bot. ๐Ÿค–

If you don't link a bot, nothing will happen, unless there is a human that can take part in the conversation from Landbot's Chat section. ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ’ป

  1. Customize the Text of the Opt-In form: You will find an input field where you can add the text you want to display to your users.

Once you add the text, it will be automatically added to the Snippet, as you can see in the image below:

Once you're done with customization, embed the snippet into your website so visitors can tick it when performing other actions like buying something or subscribing to your newsletter.

  1. Save and Preview: After you have saved the Snippet, the Preview (small eye) button will be active, so by clicking on it you will be able to see how the Opt-In Form will appear to your users on your Website:
  2. Edit or Delete a Snippet: You can edit or delete a Snippet you have already created at any time! Just search the Snippet by its name in the Get Opt-Ins section, and click on "Edit" to change it, or click on. the Trash icon to delete it!

Quick guide to get subscribers through your Website (Snippet)

To sum it all up, here's a quick guide on how to get subscribers: ๐Ÿ’ช

  1. Customize the snippet with the message you want, and preview it using the Preview button.
  2. Once happy with it, copy it and paste it into your website.
  3. Now, choose if you want to send an auto-message to your users once they subscribe.
  4. If you do, choose between your templates and customize the variable's names.
  5. Choose if you want to link a bot to this template.
  6. Click Save to save all the changes and start getting subscribers!
  7. Click on Edit or Delete to manage the Snippets you have already created.

Still not sure if WhatsApp is for you? You can still use a WhatsApp Testing channel to get a feel of what an official WhatsApp integration feels like!
Read this article dedicated to WhatsApp Testing channel to know how it works!

Opt-in Using a Web bot

First of all, we must ask for the User's consent to be contacted proactively by you.

So you can allow users to Opt-In using a Web bot.

To do that, all you need is theย user'sย consentย and theirย phone numberย to be able to send them messages on WhatsApp.

Once you have that information, you can send aย proactive message or HSM Templateย to the user's WhatsApp.

If you want,ย this proactive message can trigger a WhatsApp bot.

Read this article to know more about HSM templates and how to use them!

There are two easy ways to create an Opt-in Bot for web.

Using the Opt-in bot Template, or using the Opt-in Brick Workaround.

We recommend using this option if you want to allow users from just one specific country (a pre-defined country code) to Opt-in.

In the Get Opt-Ins section you will see the option "Go to the Opt In bot".

Once you click on it, another page will be opened, where you can choose the template of a Web Opt-In bot:

You can click on the different options to see how the bot would be displayed across different device types.

Let's have a look at our example of an Opt-in bot from the inside:

Set a Country Code

If you take a closer look at the Javascript block in the template you'll find that it is actually a list of every country in the world and its country code, which makes this template is especially useful if you are targeting one country at a time.

  1. Open the Javascript block
  2. Copy the country and country code you want to use. For example, if your users are all in Australia, you should copy "Australia (+61)"
  3. Open the Webhook block above the Javascript
  4. Replace the predetermined option which in this case is "Spain (+34)" with your country code of choice and click on save.
  5. The Conditions Block that comes after the Webhook basically validates the phone number inserted by your users.

If the phone number it is INCORRECT, the flow will be redirected to the Phone question, so users will get another chance to type in their phone number correctly.

If the phone number is CORRECT, the flow continues towards the the Opt-in Webhook block.

Want to learn more about Bricks? Read this article!

We recommend using this option if you want to allow users from different countries (different country codes) to Opt-in.

You can build a Whatsapp bot from scratch, and use our Opt-In Brick Workaround to validate the phone number and send it to Whatsapp.

In the bot builder, after the Welcome Message, we ask for the user's name and company name, then we have a Phone Code Validation brick, which we use to validate the phone code and the phone numbers.

Then we have the most important block for the Opt-in: the Webhook block.

We need to set up the Webhook with:

  • URL: You can find the extended explanation of the URL in the next step (below ๐Ÿ‘‡)
  • Method: POST.
  • Send param: Yes (enabled)
  • Variables: include @phonevalidated and all other variables you want to send to the WhatsApp channel.

Set up the Webhook block for the Opt -in

How to write the correct URL

We need a URL like this one, but you must customize it with your own Whatsapp channel's details:

https://messages.landbot.io/wa/W-2-BT7U5A00PX42W8HT/opt_in?phone=@{phone}&name_user=@{name_user}&demo=@{demo}&country=@{country}

W-2-BT7U5A00PX42W8HT is an example of a Whatsapp Snippet ID, that belongs to the WhatsApp channel.

Each Snippet has its own ID, so make sure to choose the correct one, according to the context of the bot you allow users to Opt-in to!

To find your own Whatsapp ID:

  1. Go to the Channels Section of your account, and select the WhatsApp Business or Whatsapp Pro Channel.
  2. Click on the specific WhatsApp number you need to access:
  3. Go to the Get Opt-Ins section of that channel:
  4. Click on Edit from a Snippet you have already created.
    If you haven't created a Snippet yet, you must do it first. You can find here the simple instructions on how to do it.
  5. In the Snippet, you will find the Whatsapp ID for your Snippet, as you can see in the image below:
Each Snippet has its own ID, so make sure to choose the correct one, according to the context of the bot you allow users to Opt-in to!
  1. Copy the Whatsapp Snippet ID.
  2. Go back to the Bot builder. Find the Webhook that does the Opt-in, and click on the URL. If you scroll to the side, you will find the Whatsapp Snippet ID that was provided in the template (which you will replace).
  3. Paste the Whatsapp Snippet ID into the Webhook's URL & Method field, replacing the one that was there for your own:

Select the Variables you will send to Whatsapp

Once you pasted the ID into the URL & Method Field, you must also add to the URL the variables that you want to send to the Whatsapp channel.

  1. To do that, you will use the Send Params section of the Webhook block:

Phone and name the basics variables that you need to have in the URL to make the Opt-in, but you can send more if you prefer.

  1. Once you have added the Params, you will see that the Preview URL will add these variables automatically, appearing right under the Webhook's URL & Method Field we have previously set up:
opt_in?phone=@{phonevalidated}&name=@{name}

Save and finish

Don't forget to Apply the changes in the Webhook and save the bot. And there you have it ๐Ÿš€

Opt-in using a WhatsApp bot

it is possible to get Opt-ins directly through a Whatsapp bot. This is the most immediate and easy-to-use option.

By following an initial flow to Opt-in, users will be able to give their consent to receive future notifications through WhatsApp.

From there, you can direct the user to continue the same Bot's path, or Jump to a different Bot.

When using the Opt-in via Whatsapp bot, the Phone number of the user will be automatically saved under the Variable @phone, unlike in the Opt-in for Web, where we have to ask for it ๐Ÿ˜‰

First of all, we must ask for the User's consent to be contacted proactively by you.

To do that, after the first Welcome or simple Message Blocks, just add a simple question asking for the user's consent to receive WhatsApp notifications, using a Keyword Options Block.

Make sure to differentiate the flow, leading the user to a different path if they do not accept to Opt-in.

Please check this article for more information on how to use the Keyword Options block ๐Ÿš€

Create the Opt-in (Webhook block)

Now we have our new user's consent, and before starting our Chatbot flow, it is important to save the information collected into your Subscribers.

We do that using a Webhook block, and you can see how to set it up as set above in the Web Bot Opt-in method.

Here we have to set a few things:

  • URL: You can find the extended explanation of the URL above
  • Method: POST.
  • Send param: Yes (enabled).
  • Variables: include all the variables you want to send to the WhatsApp channel.

Channel's Opt-ins list

You can see the list of users that subscribed to your channel by clicking on the Channel's Opt-ins buttons on the right side of the page.

The list will display the total number and a list of users. You can show/hide columns to this table apply filters.

User Opt-out

In case a user does not want to receive notifications from you anymore, you must make the Opt-out.

By accessing the Users Opt-ins List, you will find a button with the option "Opt Out" at the user's details.

By clicking on it and accepting the Opt out, this user will be removed from your list and you will no longer be able to contact this use proactively.

Warning: The Opt-out button permanently deletes a user from your subscribers list, and can't be restored by the Landbot team.

Please use it ONLY if one of your users asked you to remove his contact from your list.

Why is the Opt-in Mandatory?

Users need to first give you their consent to be reached via WhatsApp, as part of Whatsapp's policies to avoid SPAM.

Users must in any case confirm that they wish to receive future messages on WhatsApp by doing the Opt-In in any of the ways mentioned above.

This condition is mandatory and its violation means the violation of WhatsApp Terms of Service, which can lead toย the banning of your WhatsApp business number.

Whatsapp's Requirements for Opt-in and Banned Accounts

In order to comply with WhatsApp Guidelines, Businesses must follow the below requirements when obtaining opt-in:

  • Businesses must clearly state that a person is Opting-in to receive messages from them over WhatsApp;
  • Businesses must clearly state the Businessโ€™ name that a person is opting in to receive messages from;
  • Businesses must comply with applicable law.
From WhatsApp FAQsย "Staying safe on WhatsApp":

We may ban accounts if we believe the account activity is in violation of our Terms of Service.

Per ourย Terms of Service, we may retain the right to ban you without notification. Please be aware that a user report of conduct in violation of our Terms of Service won't necessarily result in us banning the user or otherwise taking action against the user.

Please review the โ€œAcceptable Use of Our Servicesโ€ section of ourย Terms of Serviceย carefully to learn more about the appropriate uses of WhatsApp and the activities that violate our Terms of Service.

For more information about the WhatsApp Terms of Services and the consequences of its violation, please click on this link!

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