Messaging automation for businesses in Qatar

Article 22 of the Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law No. 13 of 2016) says electronic direct marketing needs the person's prior consent, and that each message shows who sent it, says that it is marketing, and gives a valid address for unsubscribing. The NCSA's guideline for regulated entities requires opt-in and names email, text messaging and social media.

Slide supports the mechanics but does not decide whether a message is marketing or whether consent was given; that judgement and the consent evidence stay with you. Record where and when each contact agreed in a contact field or tag, so a segment of consenting contacts can be built before any promotion goes out.

Meta has priced messages to +974 numbers on a standalone Qatar line since 1 July 2026; before that they were in Rest of Middle East. Meta publishes no QAR rate card, and Slide bills the plan in US dollars with per-message charges taken from the wallet.

To meet the Article 22 mechanics in a WhatsApp marketing template, name your business in the template and in the WhatsApp display name, make clear the message is promotional, and add a line telling the person how to stop. Then add those stop words, in Arabic and English, to Slide's opt-out keyword list, which starts empty. A contact who sends one is blocked and skipped on every channel, and campaigns skip blocked and unsubscribed contacts. Whether a reply keyword counts as a "valid address" for unsubscribing is a question for your adviser; also giving an email address for unsubscribing is the more cautious route.

Meta's template category is not a legal classification: whether a message is direct marketing under Article 22 depends on what it says, so keep promotions out of order and booking updates. Slide includes WhatsApp business calling, but its behaviour for Qatari consumers has not been verified, so it is not offered on this page. Market detail is on WhatsApp automation in Qatar.

The NCSA guideline names social media among the channels for electronic direct marketing, so treat a promotional Instagram DM to someone in Qatar as within Article 22. Slide only replies to people who wrote first, through a comment, DM, story reply or live comment, and cannot send broadcasts or anything after the 24-hour window.

Whether a DM sent in reply to someone who commented "price" counts as consented marketing is a judgement for you and your adviser. If the DM promotes a product, include your business name, say it is promotional and tell the person how to opt out. Slide's opt-out keyword list is a WhatsApp setting, so plan how your team handles a "stop" received on Instagram. Setup is on Instagram automation.

Email is where Article 22 maps most directly onto Slide features. Campaigns add a one-click unsubscribe and suppress hard bounces and complaints, and sequences carry an unsubscribe line by default and skip unsubscribed, suppressed and bounced addresses. Send from your own authenticated domain with a sender name customers recognise, and say in the subject or the opening line that the email is promotional.

The automation "send email" step is different: it adds no unsubscribe link or header and does not check the unsubscribe or suppression lists. Use it for receipts and booking confirmations, and send anything promotional to Qatar addresses as a campaign or a sequence. Slide forms have no double opt-in, so word a signup popup or landing page so the consent is explicit, and store its source on the contact. See email automation for setup.

There is no riyal option in Slide or in Meta's rate cards. A workspace created with a Qatari number is billed in US dollars for the plan; the pricing page has the plans, paid plans start with a 14-day trial, and the payment method should be confirmed with the Slide team first.

Each WhatsApp message to a +974 number is charged by Meta at the Qatar line's rate for its category and drawn from the Slide wallet. The line is new since 1 July 2026, so recheck any estimate made before then, and since 1 October 2026 service replies are charged once a number passes 1,000 in a month. Email uses the plan's email credits, and a sequence pauses rather than fails when they run out.