Short answer
Click-to-WhatsApp campaigns are Facebook and Instagram ads that, instead of sending people to a web page, open a conversation with your business on WhatsApp. You need a WhatsApp Business number connected to your Facebook Page, a campaign with messaging apps as the destination and, above all, someone who replies fast. They work very well for businesses that sell through conversation: services, appointments, quotes and catalog sales.
In Latin America, and among many Spanish-speaking customers in the US, people often prefer to send a WhatsApp message rather than fill out a form. That's why these ads are so popular: the customer goes from the ad to the chat with one tap and arrives with a specific question.
When they fit and when they don't
- Yes: services that need a quote, appointment booking, products with frequent questions, catalog sales and local businesses.
- Better another option: online stores where customers can buy on the website by themselves, or businesses that can't reply to chats quickly.
What you need before you start
- WhatsApp Business on the number that will handle the chats, either the app or the WhatsApp Business Platform (API) if you handle a lot of volume.
- That number connected to your Facebook Page, from the Page settings.
- A Meta business portfolio (Business Manager) that holds your Page, your ad account and your WhatsApp.
How to set up the campaign
The names in Ads Manager change from time to time, but the general path is this:
- Objective: usually Engagement. Depending on your account, the Leads and Sales objectives can also send people to messaging apps.
- Conversion location: messaging apps, and within them, WhatsApp.
- Welcome message: a short greeting and suggested questions ("What's the price?", "Do you have availability this week?") the customer can tap to start.
- Ad: an image or video that makes clear what you offer and a direct call to action, like "Message us on WhatsApp".
Replying is half the campaign
The ad brings the conversation; the sale closes in the chat. What affects results the most:
- Response time. A customer who waits hours has probably already messaged your competitor.
- Quick replies ready for the usual questions: prices, hours, location, payment methods.
- Clear hours. If you don't reply at night, say so in the automatic message and answer first thing in the morning.
- Labels in WhatsApp Business to mark who asked, who got a quote and who bought.
If you use an automated assistant, it should introduce itself as one. People respond better when they know who they're talking to.
How to measure what matters
Ads Manager shows you conversations started and cost per conversation. That's a good starting point, but it isn't the goal: what matters is how many conversations end in a sale.
- Label each chat by how it ended and count sales every week.
- Calculate the cost per sale: spend for the period ÷ sales that came from the ad.
- If you use the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), you can connect your sales to Meta so the campaign learns to find buyers, not just the curious.
Common mistakes
- Advertising without the capacity to reply. You pay for conversations nobody answers.
- An ad that doesn't say what you sell. You get curiosity chats that go nowhere.
- Measuring only cost per conversation. A cheap conversation that doesn't buy is expensive.
- Changing the ad every day. Every big change restarts the campaign's learning.
How we do it at Typers
We set up the messaging campaigns, prepare the welcome message and quick replies, and measure cost per sale, not just per conversation. You see it all in your Client Cockpit. Learn more about how we run Meta Ads with AI.