WhatsApp onboarding

Setting up WhatsApp messaging in Bloomreach Engagement takes coordination between you, your team, and Meta. This onboarding guide walks you through each step, from signing your contract to launching campaigns. The process typically takes 3-4 weeks and involves Meta approval, provider setup, and template configuration.

Before you start

Make sure you have these requirements ready:

• Access to a Bloomreach Engagement project with Scenarios and Integrations.
• A WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) linked to a Meta Business Portfolio.
• A provider account with Infobip or Sinch. Your CSM helps create this account.
• A dedicated phone number that isn't linked to any other WhatsApp account. Contact your CSM if you need one.
• Valid customer phone numbers in standard MSISDN format (+441234556789 or 0044123456789).
  • If you are using a different phone number format (for example, without leading zeros), modify the format using Jinja.
• phone set up as a customer attribute for two-way messaging.

Set up phone as a soft ID

Setting phone as a soft_id prevents duplicate customer profiles. You can do this 2 ways:

• Import method: Export your customer list, clean the data, and re-import with phone set as a soft_id. Use "+44" or "0044" formatting.
• Scenario method: Use a scenario to convert all existing phone attributes into soft_id. Contact a technical consultant for help with this approach.

Read more about External IDs.

Connect your provider

You need to connect either Infobip Mobile Messaging or Sinch Mobile Messaging to send WhatsApp messages.

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Note

Your CSM or CS team must initiate the provider setup and will share the required credentials.

Complete the onboarding steps

Sign your contract

This starts the onboarding process and triggers the next steps.

Fill out the WhatsApp questionnaire

Your CSM sends you a form that collects your business information. The Mobile Specialist reviews it and submits your application to Meta.

Get your phone number

This takes 3-5 business days. A dedicated phone number gets set up for your WhatsApp Business Account. The timeline varies by country due to different regulations.

Validate your Facebook Business Manager

This takes 1 business day. The Facebook Business Account Admin at your company must approve the third-party vendor (Sinch or Infobip) to send messages for you. This validates your WhatsApp Business Account.

Wait for Meta approval

This takes 10-15 business days. The Mobile Specialist submits your completed application to Meta. Meta's team reviews and approves your account based on their business messaging policies.

Prepare while you wait

You can set up key campaign components while waiting for Meta's approval:

• Draft your templates: Write the message templates you plan to use and fill them out in the form your Mobile Specialist provides.
• Build opt-in and opt-out flows: Create your consent capture workflows and set up keyword-based opt-out options. Update your preference center to include WhatsApp options.
• Define your use cases: Plan your messaging scenarios and start building templates for both one-way messages and two-way conversations.

Get Meta approval for your WABA

Meta approves your WABA first based on your business application.

Submit templates for approval

Once Meta approves your WABA, your Mobile Specialist submits your message templates to Meta for review and approval. Template approval takes up to 3 business days.

Test and launch

After Meta approves your templates, test your messages across different scenarios. Then launch your WhatsApp campaigns to your audiences.

Timeline overview

The complete process takes 3-4 weeks:

1. Contract and questionnaire: 1-2 days to sign contract and complete business information.
2. Phone number setup: 3-5 business days (varies by country).
3. Business Manager validation: 1 business day for Facebook admin approval.
4. Meta account approval: 10-15 business days for Meta to review and approve.
5. Template submission and approval: Up to 3 business days to submit and approve message templates after WABA approval.

What happens next

Once your WhatsApp onboarding is complete, you can:

• Create and test WhatsApp campaigns in Bloomreach Engagement.
• Set up automated messaging scenarios.
• Configure two-way messaging and keyword responses.
• Start collecting customer consent and building your WhatsApp audience.