Click-to-chat links and QR codes
Both do the same job: open a chat with your number, with a message already typed, so the customer only has to press send.
They are the cheapest way to fill your inbox. A message a customer sends you costs a small flat rate — a fraction of what a template costs — and it opens a 24-hour window you can then answer in for nothing. The opposite of a broadcast, where you pay the full rate to start every single conversation.
Which to use where
| Best for | |
|---|---|
| Link | Anywhere someone is already on a screen: your website, Instagram bio, email signature, an ad, a WhatsApp status |
| QR code | Anywhere physical: packaging, receipts, a shop counter, a table tent, a flyer, a van |
Same destination, different medium.
There are two ways to get a printable code, which is worth knowing before you pick. Every link you create comes with a QR of its own, and that one carries your short URL — so it counts opens. The QR codes page makes WhatsApp's own kind, which points straight at WhatsApp and is not counted. If you want to know whether the poster worked, print the link's QR.
Create a link
-
In the sidebar, open Growth → Links.
Growth holds the four ways of getting a conversation started. -
Click Create link.
Each link gets its own short URL and counts how many times it was opened. -
Pick the WhatsApp number it should open, give it an internal name so you can tell your links apart later, and write the pre-filled message.
The name is yours alone — the customer only ever sees the message. -
Create it. You get a short link, and a QR code for the same destination.
A link is not either/or — every link comes with a QR you can print.
Create a QR code
The QR codes page is a separate, WhatsApp-native kind: a code registered with WhatsApp itself rather than one pointing at a Wap2b short link. You get 10 per number.
-
In the sidebar, open Growth → QR codes.
A separate page from Links, because these are a different kind of code. -
Pick the number at the top of the page. The count beside it shows how many of the 10 you have used.
The limit is WhatsApp's, and it is per number rather than per account. -
Create one and write the pre-filled message. The number comes from the picker on the page, so the dialog asks only for the message.
140 characters here, against 1000 on a link. -
Download the image for print or screen.
These carry WhatsApp's own mark in the middle, which helps people know what it is.
Writing the pre-filled message
This is the whole craft, and it takes one line.
The message should be from the customer's point of view, because it is their message. It should say what they want, so your reply can be useful immediately.
| Good | Weak |
|---|---|
Hi, I'd like to book a table | Hello |
I'd like to know about the Diwali offer | Hi, I saw your ad |
Order #____ — I have a question | (blank) |
One link per place
Make a separate link for your website, your Instagram bio and each campaign, each with a slightly different pre-filled message. When conversations arrive you can tell at a glance where they came from — no analytics required.
Making QR codes work in print
- Print it large enough. Roughly 2cm square minimum on packaging; bigger on a poster people scan from a distance.
- Keep the quiet zone. White space all around it. Design elements crowding the edge break the scan.
- Tell people what they get. A bare QR gets ignored. "Scan to track your order" gets scanned.
- Test the actual print, not the screen. Scan the printed piece with an ordinary phone camera before ordering five thousand.
If something goes wrong
- The link opens WhatsApp but is not addressed to you. The number is not fully connected. Check Phone numbers.
- The pre-filled message does not appear. Some in-app browsers strip it. The chat still opens correctly, which is most of the value.
- The QR will not scan. Too small, printed at low resolution, or no quiet zone.
- Conversations come in but nobody answers. Set up working hours and an away message so people at least get an honest reply.