Customer opt-in

Before proactively contacting a customer, establish that they gave you their number and agreed to receive the relevant communications from your business. WhatsApp’s Business Messaging Policy requires opt-in; it is not merely a suggestion. You are responsible for the collection method and compliance with applicable law. This page explains messaging consent, not a legal determination for a particular country or industry.

Define what the customer agrees to

Make the business identity and communication purpose clear. Separate order updates, promotional offers, and calling where customers need different choices. Recommended consent design:

Name the business that will contact the customer.
Describe the messages they should expect.
Make the choice clear and voluntary.
Explain how to stop the messages.
Link to relevant privacy information.
Identify WhatsApp as a delivery channel so the contact is expected.

The exact consent wording depends on your use case and applicable requirements. Do not assume a copied form is legally sufficient everywhere.

Choose a collection point

You can collect permission where the customer interacts with your business, such as a website form, checkout, account preferences, a WhatsApp conversation, or an in-person process. For example, a fictional preference form could offer:

Send me delivery updates from Northstar Books on WhatsApp.
Send me book recommendations and offers from Northstar Books on WhatsApp.
I can change my preferences or opt out at any time.

Treat these as distinct choices if your product offers them. The example illustrates clear scope; it is not a legal template.

Keep evidence you can use

A contact record alone does not show what the customer agreed to. Recommended records include:

Record	Why it helps
Customer identifier	Matches the decision to the intended recipient.
Consent source and time	Shows where and when the choice was made.
Wording or form version	Preserves what the customer saw.
Business and message purposes	Defines the scope of permission.
Later preference changes	Prevents an older opt-in from overriding a newer opt-out.

Limit access to these records and retain them according to your privacy obligations. Importing a phone number, buying a contact list, receiving a business card, or having a template approved does not by itself establish permission for a campaign. A customer asking one support question does not automatically subscribe to future promotions. Respond to the current request within the service-message rules, and separately establish permission for later proactive communication. Similarly, permission to receive messages is not the same as WhatsApp’s technical permission for an outbound call. See WhatsApp Calling.

Check permission when sending

Apply consent and opt-out checks to the final audience, including scheduled sends and retries. A segment created last week may include customers who changed their preferences today. If you cannot establish the relevant permission, do not treat missing data as consent. Use an appropriate existing touchpoint to offer a choice. Here is an illustrative evidence record, not a mandatory API schema:

{
  "customer_ref": "CUSTOMER-123",
  "channel": "whatsapp",
  "business": "Example Store",
  "purposes": ["order_updates"],
  "decision": "opted_in",
  "source": "checkout_preferences",
  "wording_version": "order_updates_v2",
  "recorded_at": "2026-09-06T09:00:00Z"
}

Keep the original wording or a retrievable version alongside the record. Do not store an opted_in flag without enough context to know which business, channel, and purpose it covers. This example covers order updates only. It should not select the customer for a promotional campaign or authorize business-initiated WhatsApp calling.

Review real collection scenarios

Scenario	What you can infer
Customer checks a clear order-updates option at checkout	Permission for the described order updates, subject to applicable requirements.
Customer sends “Where is my order?”	Intent to receive help with that request; not an automatic marketing subscription.
Customer clicks an ad but sends no message	Not an inbound WhatsApp conversation and not evidence of ongoing messaging consent.
A salesperson imports a list marked “leads”	Lead status alone does not establish opt-in. Verify the collection evidence.
Customer selects “Stop offers” after a prior opt-in	The newer preference must suppress the affected marketing.
A returning customer buys again after opting out	Do not silently restore promotional permission; collect a new choice where needed.

Acceptance tests before launch

Use a test contact to confirm that declining the option does not create consent, choosing one purpose does not enable every purpose, and a later opt-out wins over a stale imported record. Where several systems exchange preferences, define which event is newer and preserve its scope. A nightly CRM import must not reactivate customers who opted out that afternoon. These are implementation recommendations; your legal team should confirm the consent design for the markets you serve.

Put the process into YCloud

Connect your consent source to your customer records and suppression process. Use Customer opt-out for withdrawal and Manage unsubscribers for API-based synchronization. Also review Business and commerce policies: customer permission does not make prohibited content acceptable.

Frequently asked questions

A customer placed an order and gave us a phone number. Can we add them to promotions?

Do not infer promotional permission from a checkout phone field alone. Separate necessary order communication from optional offers, and retain what the customer was told and chose. If your records do not establish the intended promotional purpose, collect an appropriate opt-in before adding that person to the audience.

Can a returning purchase restore a customer's earlier marketing subscription?

Not by itself. A new purchase is not a reversal of an opt-out. Preserve the withdrawal until there is a new, recorded choice covering the relevant purpose. Ensure CRM imports and checkout updates do not overwrite a newer unsubscribe event.

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Define what the customer agrees to

Choose a collection point

Keep evidence you can use

Check permission when sending

Review real collection scenarios

Acceptance tests before launch

Put the process into YCloud

Frequently asked questions

​Define what the customer agrees to

​Choose a collection point

​Keep evidence you can use

​Do not mistake other events for consent

​Check permission when sending

​Design consent your team can actually enforce

​Review real collection scenarios

​Acceptance tests before launch

​Put the process into YCloud

​Frequently asked questions

Define what the customer agrees to

Choose a collection point

Keep evidence you can use

Do not mistake other events for consent

Check permission when sending

Design consent your team can actually enforce

Review real collection scenarios

Acceptance tests before launch

Put the process into YCloud

Frequently asked questions