Sendbird Business Messaging supports messaging in WhatsApp as a channel type. Just like any other channels, you can incorporate WhatsApp channels into a template and sequence messaging and track the notification's performance on the Sendbird Dashboard.
Note: To enable this channel, contact our Sales team first.
Prerequisites
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- A personal Facebook account to create or link a Meta Business Manager account
- If you are linking an existing Meta Business Account, your personal account must be an admin on the Meta Business Account.
- Your company’s legal name
- Your WhatsApp Business display name which will face customers
- Your company’s business website URL
- Your business email address
- A personal Facebook account to create or link a Meta Business Manager account
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Access to a phone number for verification during the sign-up process of Meta Business Account
- If you need to purchase a new number, reach out to our Sales representative.
- If you have a number that is already associated to a WhatsApp Business Account, reach out to our Sales representative.
How to connect
Follow the steps below to connect your WhatsApp Business Account to Sendbird Business Messaging.
Step 1 Create a channel
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On the Business Messaging > Channels page, click Create channel+ button at the top-right corner of your screen.
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Select WhatsApp under Channel type.
- Depending on the use, fill in the following fields:
- Name: Specify a name of the channel.
- Key: Specify a unique identifier of the channel.
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After specifying the fields, click Connect my account at the bottom.
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Then click Connect with Meta after reading through the requirements for connecting with Meta.
Step 2 Connect to Meta and WhatsApp Business Accounts
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Log in to your Meta account and create or connect your Meta Business Portfolio. For more information, see WhatsApp Business API.
- If you already have a Meta Business Portfolio, select it and then choose the associated WhatsApp Business account.
- If not, click on Create a Business Portfolio and fill in your business details.
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Then, create or connect a WhatsApp Business account with your Meta Business Portfolio.
- If you already have a WhatsApp Business profile, reach out to one of our sales representatives to connect your existing account to Sendbird.
- If not, proceed with Create a WhatsApp Business Account and fill in your WhatsApp Business Account Name, WhatsApp Business display name and business category
Step 3 Add a phone number for Whatsapp
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To connect a phone number with your WhatsApp Business Account, you must have access to a company phone number that you want to send WhatsApp messages with. To purchase a number, reach out to one of our Sales representatives.
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Once you've connected your WhatsApp Business account, click Create on the dashboard popup.
Note: You can create multiple channels of the same type except Push notification channel.
Webhook
Unlike other channels, your customers can reply to your notifications in WhatsApp. In such case, set up a webhook to subscribe to message events. To set up a webhook, follow these steps:
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Go to Settings > Business Messaging > Webhooks.
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Enable the functionality.
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Under Events, check the box next to notification:whatsapp_inbound. This will let you know when a user replies to your WhatsApp message.