WhatsApp prospecting: what is allowed, what gets you banned and 4 methods that work
On WhatsApp, a business may only message someone first if that person has given it their number and agreed to receive its messages: that is Meta’s rule, and it applies between businesses too, even where the law allows contacting a professional without prior consent. Cold prospecting therefore puts the number at risk of a restriction or a ban. What works: getting the prospect to message you first, or collecting their consent before your first message.
Two rules at once: the law and Meta
The law says when a business may send marketing by message. WhatsApp adds its own rule for anyone using its products for business. You have to follow both, and on WhatsApp it is Meta’s rule that decides in practice.
| Recipient | French law (CNIL) | On WhatsApp, in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Prior consent required, freely given, with no pre-ticked box. | A number the person gave you and consent to receive your messages, before the first message. |
| Customer | Allowed without new consent for products or services similar to those already bought. | A number the person gave you and consent to receive your messages, before the first message. |
| Professional | Allowed without prior consent if the subject relates to their work, they are informed and can object. | A number the person gave you and consent to receive your messages, before the first message. |
WhatsApp’s policy puts it as two conditions: you may only contact people on WhatsApp if they have given you their mobile number and have agreed to receive messages or calls from you. How you collect that consent is up to you, within the law. The policy makes no exception for professionals.
And in Spain?
Spanish law (LSSI, article 21) requires electronic marketing to have been requested or expressly authorised, and does not distinguish individuals from professionals. It keeps an exception for customers and similar products. On WhatsApp, Meta’s rule stays the same.
What gets a number banned
Four practices put a number at risk of a restriction or a ban. They have one thing in common: a message the person was not expecting.
1. Messaging people who are not expecting you
This is the basic rule of the policy: no number given and no consent, no message. WhatsApp may limit or remove access for a business that messages people at scale without authorisation. People who were not expecting you block or report you, and that weighs on the number’s quality rating.
2. Prospecting from your personal number
A restriction hits the number that sent the messages. While restricted, the app will not let you start a chat with a new contact. If the account is banned, its history and backups stay out of reach for as long as the ban lasts. With your personal number, it is your private WhatsApp at stake.
3. Automating the app
An extension or tool that drives the app or WhatsApp Web to send on your behalf produces exactly what WhatsApp watches for: according to its help centre, activity that looks like spam or automated or bulk messages is the likely cause of a restriction. Bulk sending goes through Meta’s platform (the API), with templates approved by Meta and people who have given consent.
4. Buying a list of numbers
The first condition of the policy is that the person gave you their number themselves. A bought or rented number does not meet it, whatever the list.
What about “warming up” a number?
Raising volumes little by little does not change the rule: no official page presents warming up as protection. The problem is not volume, it is the lack of consent.
The 4 methods that work
Each one follows the law and Meta’s rule, because the prospect makes the first move or their consent is collected before your first message.
1. Get the prospect to message you first
A WhatsApp button or link on your website, a QR code on your quotes, shop window or stand, or a Click to WhatsApp ad. When the person messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens: you can reply freely, and Meta does not charge for those replies. After a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button, if you reply within 24 hours, all your messages stay free for 72 hours (for someone on the mobile app).
2. Ask for consent where you meet the prospect
On the phone, at a meeting, at a trade show, on a form on your website, on paper. Meta accepts all these methods on two conditions: state clearly that the person agrees to receive messages, and name the business. Note their answer, the wording and the date: that is your proof.
A few ways to do it, depending on your business:
- a checkbox at checkout, unticked by default, that names WhatsApp and your business;
- an email to people who already agreed to your emails, inviting them to join you on WhatsApp through a link;
- the question asked at the till, in store, with the answer noted on the customer record;
- a QR code on your packaging and receipts that opens WhatsApp with a sign-up message already written.
I agree that [Your business] may contact me on WhatsApp about my enquiry.
3. Follow up with people who wrote to you
Someone wrote to you: they gave you their number. During the conversation, ask whether they agree to be contacted again on WhatsApp, and keep their answer. After 24 hours without a message from them, the follow-up needs a template approved by Meta.
4. Send campaigns only to those who agreed, with STOP
A campaign goes only to people who agreed to your offers, with a simple way to stop, such as replying STOP. WhatsApp’s policy requires you to respect any request to stop, whether it arrives on WhatsApp or elsewhere.
What WYP.chat does, and what it does not
WYP.chat is our software. It sends no cold messages and cannot lift a block. What it does for the methods above:
- Entry points: a link or a QR code per medium (website, quote, shop window, trade show). The conversation shows where the customer came from, and a sign-up to your offers records consent with its proof.
- A WhatsApp consent form for your website: name, number, choice of channel and a separate offers box, then confirmed in WhatsApp.
- Campaigns: people who replied STOP or turned off your offers in WhatsApp are always excluded.
- Contact import: you confirm that you have the consent of the people you import.
How to do it in WYP.chat
Help centre articles that walk through each setting, screen by screen.
Sources
- WhatsApp, Business Messaging Policy: business.whatsapp.com/policy
- Meta, Get opt-in for WhatsApp: developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/getting-opt-in
- Meta, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform: developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing
- CNIL, La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique, SMS-MMS et automate d’appel: www.cnil.fr/fr/la-prospection-commerciale-par-courrier-electronique-sms-mms-et-automate-dappel
- BOE, Law 34/2002 (LSSI), article 21: www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2002-13758#a21
- WhatsApp Help Centre, About restricted accounts: faq.whatsapp.com/717472490411581
- WhatsApp Help Centre, About account bans: faq.whatsapp.com/465883178708358
Pages accessed on 10 November 2026, except WhatsApp’s help articles, accessed on 16 October 2026. This guide is not legal advice.