In this article, you will learn how to choose a number for WhatsApp.
Take note
Images in this article are from Hilos, a company we recently acquired to bring native WhatsApp automation and richer conversational experiences, expanding our marketing automation platform. We’ll provide updated screenshots as soon as they are ready; however, the experience is similar. For more product documentation, visit the Hilos help center.
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Requisites
To use WhatsApp in ActiveCampaign, you need to connect the phone number you want to use. For this, you’ll need access to:
- A phone number that can receive SMS or calls.
- Access to your company’s Facebook (Meta) Business Manager Account.
To verify if you have access to your company’s Facebook Business Manager, try opening this link. If you see your company’s account and info, you’re ready to go. If you don’t see your company’s account, either you need to ask your team for access if they already have a Business Manager Account (if you’re running ads on Facebook, likely there’s already an account), or you can create a new one.
Choosing a phone number
To use WhatsApp you’ll need to have a phone number for your business that will be linked to your WhatsApp Business API account. This number will be used to send and receive messages from your customers.
There are three ways to get a phone number to use with WhatsApp.
Use a new number
Buying a new number is the easiest way to get started, as this number is not yet associated with a WhatsApp account. This means you can use it right away.
There are many ways to get a new number. Here are some of the most popular ones:
- Buy a new SIM card from a local carrier (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, etc.)
- Buying a Digital number from a VoIP provider (e.g. Twilio, Vonage, DIDWW, Google Voice, Skype, etc.)
Please ensure that the number you purchase is capable of receiving voice calls and SMS, as this is required for the verification process.
If you want to see how to buy a digital number, check out this guide.
Migrate a number in use on the WhatsApp Business App
You may want to use an existing number that you are already using on your phone with WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business, however, there are a few caveats to this approach:
- The WhatsApp account needs to be deleted before you can link it to your WhatsApp Business API account
- Facebook hasn’t yet provided an official way to migrate your chat history from WhatsApp to WhatsApp Business API, so you’ll lose all of your chat history
- There is no way back, once you delete your WhatsApp account, you can’t use it again on any of the WhatsApp apps
Use this method if you wish to use a number that your customers are familiar with already, but don’t care about losing your chat history. If you choose this approach, make sure to export your important chat history or make a backup on Google Drive or iCloud before deleting your WhatsApp account. Be mindful that this action cannot be undone, and there is no way to recover your chat history.
Why do I need to delete my WhatsApp Account?
Although from an outside perspective, WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp API may appear to be the same, the reality is that they are two distinct products. On the one hand, we have the WhatsApp Business app, a standalone app that allows you to manage your business account. However, when it comes to Business Functionality, it might be limited. For example, you cannot use the same number on two different WhatsApp apps, and you cannot run automations.
On the other hand, we have WhatsApp Business API, which is the official set of APIs offered by WhatsApp to bigger businesses, which you can use to integrate WhatsApp into an existing app or system (like ActiveCampaign).
The reason you need to delete your WhatsApp account is that a phone number can only be associated with one WhatsApp product at a time (either WhatsApp App, WhatsApp Business App, or WhatsApp API); therefore, the WhatsApp Account needs to be deleted before attempting to migrate to WhatsApp API.
Another approach is to use the number that you use for inbound or outbound calls in your business. However, keep in mind that if you’re using an IVR menu, it might need to be temporarily disabled during verification to receive the verification code.
Migrate a number already connected to the WhatsApp API with another provider
If you are already using WhatsApp Business API with another Business Service Provider, you can migrate your number to WhatsApp. If you choose this method, contact us and we’ll help you migrate your number.
Any existing chat history will be lost in the migration.