Service 06
WhatsApp ads management
Two different ways to reach people through WhatsApp — one that brings new audiences in, one that reaches those already inside the app — and the conversation handling that turns a tap into a customer.
First, how you are billed
You pay Meta directly. We run the account.
Your ad spend and any messaging fees are billed by Meta to your own ad account, under your own payment method. We charge for setting up and managing the campaigns — never a markup on your spend. The full breakdown, including the two separate platform costs, isbelow.
Two placements, two jobs
They are not the same thing.
People often say "WhatsApp ads" to mean one of two very different products. We run both, and we use them for different parts of the funnel.
Top of funnel
Click-to-WhatsApp ads
Ads that run on Facebook and Instagram. Instead of sending people to a landing page, a tap opens a WhatsApp chat with your business. They reach new audiences on Meta's largest surfaces and bring them into a conversation — where a real reply does the selling.
Mid to lower funnel
WhatsApp Status ads
Ads shown in the Updates tab — the part of WhatsApp that holds Status and Channels — as people move through Status updates. They reach an audience already inside WhatsApp and using it daily. Announced by Meta in June 2025 and rolling out by market since.Meta's announcement.
There is also Promoted Channels, which raises a WhatsApp Channel's visibility in the directory — useful if you are building an audience you can broadcast to. We fold it into strategy where it fits.
Not sure which you need? Our guide onClick-to-WhatsApp vs Status adswalks through when each earns its place.
The commercial argument
Why ad-driven chats are cheaper to run.
When someone messages you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad and you reply, it opens a free entry-point conversation: a 72-hour window during which your messages to that person — including template messages — are not charged by Meta.
72-hour free entry point
A tap from an ad buys you three free days of messaging.
Cold outreach means paying Meta per template message to start a conversation. An ad-driven conversation starts inside a free window instead — so the follow-up, the questions, the quote all happen at no messaging cost for 72 hours. After 1 October 2026, when more in-window messages become billable, that free entry point is worth even more: it is the cheapest way to open a conversation on WhatsApp.Meta's pricing page has the current terms.
How ads are priced
An auction, not a rate card.
Both placements are bought through Meta's standard auction in Ads Manager. There is no fixed price per view or per click — what you pay depends on your budget, your audience and who else is bidding. This is separate from WhatsApp messaging fees: ad spend buys the reach, messaging fees cover the conversation afterwards.
We manage the bidding, budgets and targeting to get the most from your spend — but we do not control the auction, and we will never imply we set the price Meta charges.
Targeting, honestly
Status ads use a narrower signal set.
This is worth knowing before you budget. Targeting for ads in the Updates tab uses a limited set of signals — roughly your country or city, your language, the Channels you follow, and how you interact with ads — rather than the deep interest and behaviour targeting available on Facebook and Instagram. Click-to-WhatsApp ads, because they run on Facebook and Instagram, keep that fuller targeting.
In practice we often lead with Click-to-WhatsApp for precise prospecting and use Status ads for broad, in-app reach — matched to what each placement is actually good at.Meta's help page on ads in Status and Channels.
Privacy — what to tell your customers
What these ads do not touch.
Clients ask, and their customers ask, so here are the facts as Meta states them:
- Ads appear only in the Updates tab. They never appear in your personal chats.
- Personal messages, calls and groups stay end-to-end encrypted and are not used to target ads.
- Meta does not sell or share your phone number with advertisers.
Sources:WhatsApp Help Center — ads in Status and ChannelsandMeta's June 2025 announcement.
What we do
The whole loop, not just the ad.
Strategy
Which placement, which audience, which offer — mapped to what you sell and to a budget that makes sense.
Creative
Ad copy and creative built for the placement and produced in variants, tested rather than guessed.
Campaign setup
Structure, audiences, budgets and the Click-to-WhatsApp or Status placement configured in Ads Manager.
Conversation handling
The replies behind the ad — templates, quick answers and routing — so a tap actually turns into a conversation.
Reporting
What you spent, what it returned, and what we changed and why. Ad spend read against qualified conversations, not vanity metrics.
Cost control
Using the free entry-point window and the right message categories so the messaging bill behind the ads stays sensible.
What we need from you
Access, not ownership.
We work through agency access to your Meta Business Manager and ad account. You own both. That means the ad account, the audiences we build, the campaign history and the performance data are all yours — and if we ever part ways, they stay with you. We simply hand back the keys.
Pricing
What you pay, and who you pay.
We charge for implementation and management only. Every platform cost is billed to you directly, on your own Meta and WhatsApp Business accounts, under your own payment method. You see exactly what Meta charges, with no markup hidden in a retainer — and if you ever leave us, those accounts, your number and your data go with you.
What we charge
One-off implementation fee
Account setup, verification support, connecting your systems, creating and submitting message templates, testing, and handover.
Monthly management retainer
Monitoring, template maintenance and re-approval, campaign management, creative and optimisation, and cost reporting so your platform bill stays predictable.
Decision needed: implementation fee
Set the one-off implementation fee here.
Decision needed: monthly retainer
Set the monthly management retainer here.
What you pay Meta directly
Messaging fees
Meta bills per delivered message, priced by your customer's country and the message category, with volume tiers on some categories. It is not a flat fee and not a subscription. Rates vary by more than tenfold between markets, so no honest fixed bundle exists — which is why this is passed straight through.See Meta's current rates.
Ad spend
Set and paid in Meta Ads Manager through Meta's standard auction. A separate cost from messaging fees, with no fixed rate card — what you pay depends on your budget, audience and competition.
Why this way: messaging costs depend on where your customers are, so no honest fixed bundle exists. You keep ownership and you see the real numbers.
Pass-through does not mean you are on your own with the bill.
Estimating and controlling your messaging cost is part of what the retainer buys: getting templates into the right category, using the free entry-point windows, watching volume tiers, and reporting what you spent against what it did.
Ad spend is non-refundable.
Once budget is placed with Meta it cannot be recovered by us, and campaign performance is never guaranteed. You pay Meta directly, you keep control of the budget, and we can cap and pause campaigns quickly — but spend that has already run is final. We state this here, before you start, because it is the thing most likely to cause a dispute later.
Turn taps into conversations.
Tell us what you sell and who you want to reach. We will propose a placement, a budget shape and what the conversations behind it would cost to run.