WhatsApp Business
Connect a WhatsApp Business number through Meta Embedded Signup, then send campaigns, automations and support replies.
Slide connects to the WhatsApp Business Platform. You keep ownership of your WhatsApp Business account and phone number, and Slide sends and receives on your behalf.
- A Meta business portfolio. See the Meta Business Manager guide if you do not have one.
- A phone number that can receive an SMS or voice call for verification, and that is not currently registered to the WhatsApp consumer or Business app. If it is, delete that account first and wait for it to clear.
- A display name for the number that reflects your business.
Slide uses Meta Embedded Signup, so the whole flow happens in a Meta hosted window and your credentials are never entered into Slide.
- 1Open Dashboard, then Integrations, and select WhatsApp.
- 2Select Connect WhatsApp. A Meta window opens.
- 3Sign in with the Facebook account that administers your business portfolio.
- 4Select the business portfolio to use, or create one in the flow.
- 5Select an existing WhatsApp Business account, or create one.
- 6Add the phone number and complete the SMS or voice verification.
- 7Review the permissions and finish. The window closes and Slide shows the number as connected.
The connection is scoped to the number you select. Adding a second number is the same flow again, it does not replace the first.
WhatsApp requires a pre approved template to start a conversation, or to reply more than 24 hours after the customer's last message. Inside the 24 hour window you can reply freely.
| Category | Use it for | Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Utility | Order updates, delivery notifications, appointment reminders | Usually fast |
| Marketing | Promotions, offers, re engagement, abandoned cart recovery | Stricter review |
| Authentication | One time passcodes | Fixed format |
Templates are approved by Meta, not by Slide. A rejected template must be edited and resubmitted in the template editor. Sending is blocked until at least one template in the category you need is approved.
Meta assigns your number a quality rating based on how recipients react. Blocks and reports lower it. A lower rating reduces how many unique customers you can message in a rolling 24 hour period, and a sustained drop can suspend the number.
- Only message people who opted in, and record where the opt in came from.
- Make it obvious who you are in the first message.
- Honour opt outs immediately. Slide blocks a contact automatically when they opt out.
- Keep marketing sends relevant and infrequent rather than broad and repeated.
- Campaigns to a segment, using an approved template.
- Automations triggered by store events, form submissions or keywords.
- Keyword bots with menus and branching, handled in the automation builder.
- Two way conversations in the shared Inbox, with handover to a human.