Official WhatsApp from Meta Explained
Official WhatsApp from Meta Explained
What Is This?
Most businesses start by linking their own WhatsApp number to Pixalink with a QR code. Messages then go out from that number, the same way you send them by hand. It works, but WhatsApp watches those numbers closely. A big blast can get one blocked.
Official WhatsApp is the other choice. Meta hosts your business number on its own servers, and Pixalink sends every message straight through Meta. Nothing runs from a phone in your shop. In your campaign form it appears as the Use Official WhatsApp toggle.
How It Works
Meta wants to know who you are before it carries your marketing. So the flow has one extra step: approval.
- You register your business and your number with Meta. Pixalink then connects it for you.
- You write your campaign as usual and turn on Use Official WhatsApp.
- Meta reviews the wording once. Approval usually takes minutes, sometimes a day.
- After approval the campaign sends. Meta reports back who received and read it.
Here is how the two choices compare.
| Own number (QR) | Official WhatsApp | |
|---|---|---|
| Risk of being blocked | Real, and it grows with volume | None |
| Sending speed | Slow, spaced out to stay safe | Fast, with much higher daily limits |
| Message approval | Not needed | Needed before the first send |
| Delivered and read reports | Limited | Full |
| Buttons, photo, video, PDF header | No | Yes |
| Name your customer sees | Your saved contact name | Your approved business name |
| Cost | Included | Meta charges per conversation |
| Replies on your phone | Yes | No, replies come into Pixalink |
The trade is simple. You give up last minute freedom and you pay Meta per conversation. In return your number stops being at risk, and your messages look like they come from a real business.
Real-Life Example
Aishah runs a bakery with 900 customers. Last Raya she sent a promotion from her own linked number, and WhatsApp blocked it on day two. Orders stopped, and she spent a week getting the number back.
This year she moved to Official WhatsApp. She wrote the promotion a day early, Meta approved it in twenty minutes, and she added an Order Now button under a photo of her gift box. All 900 messages went out in one morning. She paid Meta a small fee per customer, and nothing was blocked.
How Many Members Can I Reach Without Official WhatsApp?
Pixalink does not cap how many members you can broadcast to on your own number. What it limits is how many go out each day, to protect your number from a block.
- In Safe Mode, the fastest gap is 1 minute, which sends at most 480 messages a day. Wider gaps send fewer, for example 240 a day at 2 minutes.
- Messages that do not fit in one day roll over to the next working day.
- If you try to send more than 480 a day, Pixalink warns you that it risks getting your WhatsApp number banned.
So a list of 2,000 members at a 1 minute gap takes about 5 working days. With Official WhatsApp, the same list can go out in one morning.
Good to Know
- Meta bills you for each conversation, on top of your Pixalink plan. The toggle warns you about this.
- Once Meta approves your wording it is locked. To change it, create a new campaign.
- Meta gives your number a quality rating and a daily message limit. Both are shown in Settings then Configurations.
- You can keep your own linked number for staff chats and one to one replies. The two sit side by side.
- Marketing wording is sometimes rejected. Keep the offer honest, and never start or end the text with a customer name.
- Switching suits you best if you send often, send to large lists, or have lost a number before.
Need Help?
Talk to your Pixalink account manager or our support team. We walk through the Meta side of the setup with you.