Click-to-WhatsApp ads: the free 72-hour window explained

Meta charges for each template message it delivers, and nothing for free-form replies within 24 hours of a customer’s message. Click-to-WhatsApp ads add a longer free period, which Meta calls a free entry point window. The rules are on Meta’s pricing page.

• A customer taps your click-to-WhatsApp ad, or the WhatsApp button on your Facebook Page, and messages you from the WhatsApp app on an Android phone or iPhone.
• That opens the usual 24-hour service window.
• If you reply within those 24 hours, with any kind of message, the reply is free and a 72-hour free entry point window opens.
• While it is open, every message you send that customer is free: replies, utility templates and marketing templates.
• If you do not reply within 24 hours, no free window opens.

The 72-hour window does not replace the 24-hour service window; the two run side by side. Free-form replies still need the customer to have written within the last 24 hours. Once that has passed you can send only templates, and while the 72 hours last, those templates are free.

• Plan your follow-ups inside the window. A customer who asked about a product on Monday can get the price list, a reminder and an offer by Thursday at no message cost. After that, the same messages are billed at Meta’s normal rates.

The ad is created in Meta Ads Manager. Pulse does not create or manage ads; it is where the chats arrive and where your team answers them.

You need a Meta ad account and a Facebook Page linked to your WhatsApp Business number. Meta’s click-to-WhatsApp ads documentation lists these requirements, and its Help Centre walks through creating the ad in Ads Manager.

• Create a campaign with the Engagement, Traffic, Leads or Sales objective.
• Choose WhatsApp as the messaging destination, and select the Facebook Page linked to your WhatsApp number.
• Set the audience, budget and schedule as for any other ad.
• Add the image or video, and set the message the customer’s chat starts with. Meta’s default is “Hello! Can I get more info on this?”; you can write your own or add suggested questions.
• Publish, and make sure someone is ready to reply within 24 hours of every new chat, or the free window never opens.

Ads Manager reports results for each ad, such as messaging conversations started. That tells you which ads bring chats, not which chats became sales.

Meta also sends the ad’s details with the customer’s first message: the ad’s ID, headline and text, and a click ID. Software that reads these from the WhatsApp Business Platform’s message webhooks can tie each chat to its ad. Chats from ads shown in WhatsApp Status do not carry the click ID.

Pulse does not yet show which ad a chat came from. Two simple ways to track it anyway:

• Give each ad its own first message, such as “Hi, I saw the Diwali offer”, so the inbox shows which ad started each chat.
• Tag each customer in Pulse’s inbox when the chat turns into a booking or a sale, and compare the count with the ad spend at the end of each week.

• Replying late. After 24 hours no free window opens, and the customer has usually moved on. Pulse’s keyword auto-replies can answer common questions at night.
• Testing from a computer. The window opens for messages sent from the WhatsApp app on Android or iPhone.
• Saving the offer for day four. After 72 hours a marketing template costs ₹0.8631 again in India.
• Sending too many messages because they are free. Marketing templates still count towards WhatsApp’s per-person marketing limit, and blocks still lower your quality rating.