Opt-in and opt-out — WhatsApp consent done right

👥 Contacts & audienceLevel: Beginner⏱ 6 min

🎯 Goal

Message people who want to hear from you. Prove they agreed, and let them leave in one word.

🧰 What you need

Nothing. This is about how you collect numbers

What WhatsApp requires

Before you send a business-initiated message (a template), the person must have agreed to receive WhatsApp messages from your business. The opt-in must:

clearly say they will get messages on WhatsApp,
name your business,
be active: a tick box they check or a message they send, not a pre-ticked box.

Customers who message you first have started the conversation themselves, so you may reply within 24 hours.

Good ways to collect opt-in

Where	How	Record as
Website / landing page	A checkbox: “Send me order updates and offers on WhatsApp”	Website form
Checkout	The same checkbox at checkout, or the Shopify/Woo phone field with consent text	Checkout / order
Shop counter, events	A QR code that opens WhatsApp with a message ready (Growth tools)	QR code / click-to-chat
Ads	Click-to-WhatsApp ads: the customer writes first	Messaged you first (automatic)
Phone call / in person	Ask, then note it	In store / Added by hand

MeAPI records the source and date on each contact. When you import a list, you must confirm the source.

Opt-out is automatic

When a contact sends STOP, stopall, unsubscribe, cancel, end, quit, opt out (or Hindi बंद, बंद करो, रोको, रुको), MeAPI:

marks them Opted out,
replies: You have been unsubscribed and will no longer receive messages from us. Reply START to opt back in.,
leaves them out of every future campaign.

Sending START, subscribe, resume (or चालू, शुरू) subscribes them again. Their opt-in source then shows as Replied START. The customer gets the confirmation first. No keyword bot starts, even if a bot uses the same word. Only a published flow with the Opt-in trigger may run, after the confirmation.

Other ways to record consent: the Ask for consent box on your website widget, an Opt-in link or QR code (Growth tools), the first message from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, or opted_in: true through the Developer API. Each one sets the contact’s opt-in source (widget, link:your_ref, ctwa_ad, api) and can start an Opt-in flow.

SSharma Sweets✓

Diwali sale! 20% off all sweet boxes this week 🪔10:00

STOP10:05

You have been unsubscribed and will no longer receive messages from us. Reply START to opt back in.10:05

Message

Opting out and back in.

Common mistakes

“They gave us their number, so they opted in.” A phone number on an invoice is not WhatsApp consent.
Pre-ticked boxes. They don’t count as consent.
Restarting marketing to opted-out people with a new list import. MeAPI still skips them, but don’t try to work around it.

What’s next

Growth tools →Widget, links and QR codes that collect opt-in.Number health →Why consent keeps your quality High.

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