Twilio WhatsApp Self Sign-up, or "Embedded Sign-up", provides you with an easy way to register a WhatsApp Sender for your business / brand. This process is self-service and can be started from the Twilio Console.
Registering a WhatsApp Sender will allow you to send and receive WhatsApp messages from your company's brand using the Twilio APIs. Certain restrictions are enforced by Meta (the company that owns WhatsApp) and you will likely need to complete Meta Business Verification before moving your application into production or onboarding additional WhatsApp Senders (see below).
If you are an Independent Software Vendor (ISVs), you may only use WhatsApp Self Sign-up to register WhatsApp Senders for your own business / brand. To allow your clients to register WhatsApp Senders for their businesses / brands to use with your application, review the WhatsApp Tech Provider Program.
Not sure if you are an ISV?
Review Am I a direct customer or an ISV? to understand what an ISV is.
Before you get started with this guide, you'll need:
A Twilio Phone Number. View instructions for purchasing a Twilio Phone Number here.
During this process, you'll have the option to either create a new Meta Business Account or select an existing Meta Business Account. We recommend using an existing Meta Business Account if you know someone in your company has already created and verified it. If so, they will need to invite you as an administrator with full access, so that you can create your WhatsApp Business account. Otherwise, it is allowed to have more than one Meta Business Account, so you can create a new one when registering your first WhatsApp sender using this process.
Do not continue if your number is currently connected to WhatsApp.
Please refer to Can I move my approved WhatsApp Number to Twilio? on how to migrate your number to Twilio to use the Twilio APIs. This process will not work if your number is already connected to WhatsApp.
Let's get started!
To create a WhatsApp Sender:
This step will open a pop-up window leading to Facebook.com. Do not close the pop-up window or navigate to a different page in the Twilio Console. You will need the Twilio Console window for later steps in this guide.
Log into Facebook if you haven't already or click Continue as [your name] if you're already signed in. After logging in, you will be shown an overview of the process to connect your number to WhatsApp.
Facebook will then ask you to allow Twilio to manage your WhatsApp Business Account. Click Continue to proceed.
On the next screen, select your the Meta Business Account for your business from the list. If you don't have one, you may create a new one by selecting the option Create a Business Account.
Next, you will be able to select a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) or create a new one.
There is a 1 to 1 relationship between a Twilio account and a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). When registering the first WhatsApp Sender in a Twilio account, please create a new WABA to be used only with that specific Twilio account. When onboarding additional senders in the same Twilio account, you will need to select the same WABA as you had created during the onboarding process for the first WhatsApp Sender. When a WABA is connected to your Twilio account, the ID will be shown on the WhatsApp Senders page.
Do not select WABAs that have been used with other providers. WABAs can only be used with one Business Solution Provider. If you already have an approved WhatsApp number with another provider, then follow the steps in this article.
On the next screen, you will need to enter in the following information:
WhatsApp Business Account Name - This is only used for internal purposes and is not consumer facing. If you had selected a WABA on the previous screen, you will not be able to change the name here.
WhatsApp Business Profile Display Name - This is what your customers will see. It must meet the requirements set by WhatsApp. See below for more guidance.
Category - Select the category that best describes your business. This is shown to consumers when they view your profile.
Business Description - This is also shown to consumers when viewing your profile in the WhatsApp application.
Website - This is also shown to consumers when viewing your profile in the WhatsApp application. Once you register your WhatsApp Sender, you will have the ability to add an additional website if you wish.
Using a brand name in your WhatsApp Business Profile instead of your company name
We highly recommend using your company name for your display name when registering WhatsApp senders, as WhatsApp will reject anything that does not match the company name in the linked Business Manager.
However, you may have a brand name that you wish to use as the Display Name for your WhatsApp Business Profile that differs from the name of your company. If so, there must be a clear, externally published association between your company and the brand. This association between the brand and your business needs to be displayed on your website and on the Display Name itself.
For example, if your company is Johnny Mobile and your brand is "PizzaApp", then we would recommend using the Display Name "PizzaApp by Johnny Mobile". This association must be published on your website, so WhatsApp can verify it. This means that somewhere on the website, there must be a visible relationship between the two names. If you would like to keep the name "PizzaApp", this will generally require an appeal to WhatsApp and may extend the registration process.
For more information, you can go to the WhatsApp's Display Name rules.
If you are using a Twilio number with SMS capabilities, switch to the Twilio Console window you left open in step 2 and click to copy your Twilio number.
Then, paste the number into the Facebook pop up window. Keep the Text Message verification method selected and then click Send Code.
Alternatively, if you are using a Twilio number with Voice capabilities, you may follow the instructions below in order to receive the code via email. Then, choose Voice Call and click Send Code. If you are not using a Twilio number, enter your number you wish to use and choose your verification method.
Do not continue if you receive a warning message about your number being moved. Instead, please open a support ticket and note you need your number migrated from Meta or the previous company (i.e. Business Solution Provider) that you worked with.
The verification code will then show in the Twilio console under the "Verification code" heading. Click Copy and paste it into the Facebook pop-up window.
You may then click OK on the following screen to close the pop-up window.
If you're using a Twilio phone number with Voice capabilities, you may choose to receive the code via a voice call. However, before having WhatsApp send your code, you first need to configure your webhook so that you can receive the code via your email address.
In the Twilio Console:
http://twimlets.com/voicemail?Email=[your email address]
. For example, your twimlet can look like this:
http://twimlets.com/voicemail?Email=support@example.com
.
Now, any incoming calls will be transcribed and sent to your email. Once you're done registering WhatsApp, simply remove the twimlet from the Webhook field and restore what you had it configured to previously.
Congrats! Your WhatsApp Business Account is now linked to your Twilio account. Twilio will then begin the process to register your number with WhatsApp. This process may take up to 2 minutes.
Upon successful registration, your number will be displayed. You may click Edit Sender to use a messaging service, set your inbound message webhooks and update the rest of your WhatsApp Business profile including your profile picture.
If you haven't yet completed Meta business verification, your access to WhatsApp will be limited at first (see below). If you've already completed business verification, then you will have full access to WhatsApp.
To onboard additional numbers, you need to repeat this process, while taking care to select the same Meta Business Manager account and WhatsApp Business Account. The Meta Business Manager and WhatsApp Business Account currently linked to your Twilio account are shown in the Twilio Console.
Please note that until you complete Meta business verification, some numbers may stay in a pending status and cannot be used to send messages. After completing Meta business verification, you may need to delete the WhatsApp senders and go through the process again to onboard them completely.
Now that you've completed the Self Sign-Up process, you're ready to dive into other WhatsApp topics!