Click-to-WhatsApp ads: a practical guide for Bangladesh sellers

A shoe seller in Bashundhara boosts a Reels video at 8 pm with a WhatsApp button. By 10 pm, 90 people have sent "Is this available?". One person is answering on one phone. She gets through 30 chats before midnight. The next morning, the rest have stopped replying. The ad worked. The inbox did not.

Click-to-WhatsApp ads are popular with Bangladeshi sellers for good reason: people want to ask before they buy, and WhatsApp is where they ask. This guide covers the setup, the first message, the reply plan, tracking, and Meta's free messaging window for ad chats.

What are Click-to-WhatsApp ads?

Click-to-WhatsApp ads are Facebook and Instagram ads with a "Send WhatsApp message" button that opens a chat with your business. The customer lands in WhatsApp, usually with a short pre-filled message ready to send.

Compared with sending people to a website:

How do I set up a Click-to-WhatsApp ad?

Link your WhatsApp number to your Facebook Page, then create a campaign in Meta Ads Manager with an objective that supports messaging and WhatsApp as the destination.

Step 1: Link your number to the Page

In your Facebook Page settings, find linked accounts and connect WhatsApp. Meta sends a code to the number to confirm. This works for numbers on the WhatsApp Business app and on the WhatsApp Business API.

Step 2: Choose the objective

In Ads Manager, pick an objective that allows a messaging destination. Engagement and Sales are the common choices for shops. Set the conversion location to messaging apps and select WhatsApp.

Step 3: Write the message setup

Meta lets you set a greeting and a pre-filled message or suggested questions. This is the most underused part of the ad. "Hi, is this available?" tells you nothing. "BG-104 er dam koto?" tells you the product, and you can answer in one line.

Step 4: Pay and launch

Ads Manager bills in the currency set on your ad account. Many Bangladeshi advertisers pay with an international or dual-currency card; check your bank's rules for online payments to Meta.

What should the first message say?

The first message should name the product and invite a specific question, so the first reply can be useful. A few pre-filled messages that work well:

The customer can edit the text, but most send it as it is. That is why the product code works for tracking.

How fast do I need to reply to ad chats?

Reply within minutes, not hours. An ad chat is a customer at their most interested. If they wait, they open the next seller's ad. Plan your replies before you plan your budget.

A simple capacity check: if one person can handle about 20 to 30 chats an hour properly, and your ad brings 80 chats in the first evening, you need three people, an AI chatbot for the repeat questions, or a smaller budget.

The first reply should answer, not greet:

BG-104 bag ta ৳1,850. Black, brown ar maroon ache. Dhakar moddhe delivery ৳60, baire ৳120. Order korte chaile color ta bolun.

The prices are examples. The structure is the point: price, options, delivery, next step.

For the price-question flood specifically, read how to auto-answer 'price koto?' messages from your catalog. For sale nights, our Eid inbox rush plan covers staffing.

Are Click-to-WhatsApp ad chats free to message?

Yes, for a time. When a customer messages you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad on the WhatsApp phone app, and you reply within the 24-hour customer service window, Meta opens a free entry point window. During it, the messages you send that customer are not charged, including templates. You still pay for the ad.

The length of this window has changed in 2026:

Meta's own pricing page is the source to check before you plan follow-ups. It also notes that chats started on WhatsApp desktop or web do not qualify.

Two practical uses of the window:

• Follow up on undecided buyers a day or two later, at no message cost, while they still remember the ad.
• Send order confirmation and delivery updates for orders taken from the ad chat.

Outside this window, normal WhatsApp per-message pricing applies.

Update, October 2026: Meta changed pricing again on 1 October 2026. Each business number now gets 1,000 free service messages (normal replies inside the 24-hour window) a month, after which service messages are charged. Utility templates sent inside an open window are charged again, after being free from July 2025. Bangladesh now has its own rate on Meta's rate card instead of the "Rest of Asia Pacific" rate. The free entry point window still makes messages to ad customers free while it is open, which makes it more valuable than before. Check Meta's pricing page for current rates.

How do I know which ad brought each order?

Put a different product code or short phrase in each ad's pre-filled message, then count orders by that code. Your software may or may not show Meta's ad referral data, so do not rely on it.

A simple tracking sheet for one week:

These numbers are made up to show the maths. In this example, the carousel brought fewer chats but nearly as many orders, so "cost per chat" alone would have picked the wrong ad.

What mistakes waste Click-to-WhatsApp budget?

The usual mistakes are slow replies, vague first messages and an out-of-date product list.

• Launching at night with nobody on shift. Schedule ads for hours someone, or something, is answering.
• "Hi" as the pre-filled message. It costs you one extra round of questions per customer.
• Prices in the ad that differ from the reply. Customers screenshot both.
• No delivery charge in the first reply. "Dhakar baire koto?" is the second question every time. Answer it first.
• Treating chats as leads only. Close the sale in the chat with an order form, instead of asking customers to visit a website.

How does SaleMag help with Click-to-WhatsApp ads?

Chats from Click-to-WhatsApp ads arrive in SaleMag's shared inbox like any other WhatsApp message, on a number connected through Meta's official WhatsApp Cloud API. The AI sales agent answers price, stock and size questions from your own product list in Bangla, Banglish or English, and with order taking on it sends an in-WhatsApp order form for a cash-on-delivery order. Your team takes over for bargaining, bulk orders and complaints.

SaleMag does not read Meta's ad referral data, so it cannot tell you which ad a chat came from. The workaround above works well with SaleMag's automation flow builder: a keyword trigger on "BG-104" can add a tag such as "ad-bg104-june", and you can filter or export contacts by that tag.

Next steps

Before your next ad, link your number to the Page, write a product-specific pre-filled message, update your product list and delivery charges, and decide who answers between 8 pm and midnight. To let an AI handle the first reply and take COD orders in the chat, start free or see pricing.