WhatsApp Setup
Connect a WhatsApp Business number to Lynkist end-to-end — from Facebook Business verification to your first delivered message.
This is the most important guide in Lynkist. Until your workspace has a connected WhatsApp Business number, you cannot send messages, design real templates, or test campaigns. The whole platform unlocks once setup is complete — and most teams can finish in under an hour if their Facebook Business records are in order.
What you'll need before you start
Have these ready in a tab before you begin. Hunting for them mid-flow is the most common reason setup stalls.
- A Facebook Business Account (or admin access to one). If you don't have one yet, create it at business.facebook.com — takes five minutes.
- A phone number that is not currently registered on the consumer WhatsApp app or the WhatsApp Business app. The number must be able to receive an SMS or voice call for the registration OTP.
- Your business legal name and address as they appear on official documents — these must match what's on file with Facebook.
- A working website URL for the business (used during Facebook verification).
- A display name for the WhatsApp profile (this is what recipients will see).
If the phone number is currently active on a phone, you must delete the WhatsApp account on that device first. Open WhatsApp → Settings → Account → Delete my account. This permanently removes the consumer account; the number is then free to register on the Business API.
How the stack works
Lynkist is registered with Meta as a WhatsApp Technology Provider, and connects you through a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) rather than to Meta directly. This matters for two reasons:
- Pricing transparency. Meta charges Lynkist for conversations; Lynkist passes that through. The BSP handles the Meta billing relationship.
- Compliance. The BSP holds the Meta partnership status, which is what lets us run embedded signup and template approval without you maintaining a direct Meta partner account.
You won't see any of this in the dashboard — the BSP layer is invisible from your side. It's worth knowing it exists only because it explains why setup goes through Facebook and why template approval can take a little longer than a direct Meta integration would.
Step 1 — Sign in to Lynkist and open the WhatsApp settings
Log in at lynkist.io, then go to Channels → WhatsApp. If you have never set up a number, you'll see a single primary button: Login with Facebook.
That is the right button — WhatsApp Business accounts are administered through Facebook, so Meta's own signup flow starts with a Facebook login. Clicking it opens the embedded signup modal, hosted by Meta.
Step 2 — Embedded signup with Facebook
Embedded signup is a guided modal that walks you through:
- Sign in to Facebook. Use the account that is an admin of your Facebook Business Account. If you have multiple Facebook accounts, double-check you are on the right one before continuing.
- Select or create a Business Portfolio. This is the legal entity inside Facebook. Pick the existing one if you've used Facebook Business before; create new if this is a fresh setup.
- Select or create a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). A WABA is the parent container for your WhatsApp numbers and templates. Most teams have exactly one WABA.
- Select or add a phone number. Enter the number you prepared earlier (see prerequisites), then complete the verification code Meta sends to it — you can choose SMS or a voice call, and the code is entered inside the Facebook modal, not in Lynkist.
- Choose a display name. This is what recipients see in their WhatsApp chat. It must comply with Meta's display name policy — it should match your brand, not include words like "WhatsApp" or "Free", and not misrepresent the business.
When the modal completes, control returns to Lynkist and it finishes configuring the number for templates and campaigns. You'll see one of these states on the WhatsApp settings page:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Setting up… | The embedded signup handoff is still in flight. |
| Finalizing your setup… | The number is connected; we're enabling templates and campaigns. Give it a moment. |
| Setup did not complete | Something failed. The message names the cause, and a Reconnect WhatsApp button retries — unless the number is registered on another platform, which needs manual release first. |
| Number listed under Connected Phone Numbers | Done. You're ready to send. |
Embedded signup typically takes five minutes. Your business does not need to be verified first — see Step 3 for what verification changes.
Step 3 — Verify your business with Meta
You can connect a number and send messages before your business is verified, but an unverified account starts with a messaging limit of 250 unique customers in a moving 24 hours. Verifying your business in Meta Business Suite is one of Meta's paths to 2,000, and it also raises the number of message templates you can have.
Verification happens in Security Centre in Meta Business Suite, not inside Lynkist. You need full control of the business portfolio, details that match your registration documents exactly, and a website that loads over HTTPS. Meta can take up to 14 working days to decide.
The Business Verification guide has every step, the documents Meta accepts, and what to do if Meta rejects it.
Step 4 — Confirm the number is live
There is no separate registration step inside Lynkist — the phone-number OTP is part of Meta's embedded signup modal in Step 2. Once you're back, open Channels → WhatsApp and check that:
- The number appears under Connected Phone Numbers.
- The setup banner has cleared (no "Finalizing your setup…" or "Setup did not complete").
If numbers look out of date — you added one on Meta's side, say — Sync from WhatsApp re-reads them from your WABA.
If the OTP never arrived during embedded signup, try the other delivery method (voice instead of SMS, or vice versa). If both fail, the number may be on a carrier that blocks Meta's OTPs — contact us via the Contact page and we'll escalate.
Step 5 — Set the WhatsApp profile
Open Channels → WhatsApp → Profile to set what recipients see when they tap your business name in the chat header:
- About — one-line description (139 chars)
- Description — full business description
- Email and Website — at least one is recommended
- Address — only required for some business categories
- Business category — pick the closest match
- Profile photo — square, at least 640×640px, on-brand
These settings sync to WhatsApp within a few minutes. Recipients will see them in the chat profile screen.
Step 6 — Prove it works end to end
Lynkist has a built-in check for exactly this. On Channels → WhatsApp, click Test Connection:
- Enter the number you want to test from — your own mobile is ideal.
- Lynkist gives you a QR code and a link that open a WhatsApp chat to your business number with a message pre-filled.
- Send it from your phone.
- Watch the checks turn green as the message arrives and Lynkist replies.
A green result means the whole pipe works: outbound send, Meta's webhook to us, and inbound delivery into your shared inbox. That is a stronger check than sending a template, because it proves the inbound path too.
Once that passes, move on to Templates and Campaigns. Your own templates need Meta approval before you can broadcast them, so submit early.
Common problems and what to do
| Problem | What's actually happening | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Embedded signup popup is blank | Browser blocked third-party cookies for facebook.com | Allow third-party cookies for the session, or try in Chrome incognito with extensions disabled |
| "This number is already registered" | The number is still active on consumer WhatsApp | Delete the WhatsApp account on the device first, then retry |
| Business verification rejected | The details or documents don't match each other, or the website doesn't load over HTTPS | See Business Verification |
| OTP never arrives during signup | Carrier blocks Meta's sender, or rate-limited | Try the other delivery method; wait 5 min and retry; contact support |
| Display name rejected | Violates Meta's display name policy | Drop generic words, match the brand name, avoid "WhatsApp" or "Free" |
| Profile photo won't save | Image is too small, wrong format, or has transparency | Use a JPEG or PNG without transparency, at least 640×640px |
| "Setup did not complete" after signup | Lynkist couldn't finish enabling templates/campaigns | Click Reconnect WhatsApp. If the error says the number is registered elsewhere, it must be released on that platform first — retrying just loops |
What setup gives you
Once a number is Connected:
- You can submit and use message templates
- You can run campaigns to your contact list
- Inbound messages flow into the shared inbox
- You can subscribe to webhooks for every meaningful event
- You can call the API to send programmatically
Next steps
Design your first template
Once your number is connected, the next bottleneck is template approval. This guide covers how to write templates Meta will say yes to.
Run your first campaign
Upload a CSV of contacts, segment them, and send a templated campaign to thousands of people at once.
Set up the shared inbox
When recipients reply, those messages need to land somewhere your team can answer them quickly.
Getting Started
Your first 30 minutes in Lynkist — how the workspace is laid out, what to set up first, and the fastest path to a delivered message.
Business Verification
Verify your business with Meta in Meta Business Suite — what it unlocks for WhatsApp, what to prepare, each step, and what to do if Meta rejects it.