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How to Use Click‑to‑WhatsApp Ads with Flowella

Click‑to‑WhatsApp ads are Facebook or Instagram ads that encourage people to start a WhatsApp chat with your business.

Using Click to WhatsApp Ads with Flowella

Click to WhatsApp ads are Meta ad formats on Facebook and Instagram that send people straight from an ad into a WhatsApp conversation with your business when they tap the call to action. Instead of landing on a web form, they arrive in a chat. Meta describes this family of formats as “ads that click to message”, which open conversations in Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp. Facebook

Flowella fits in by handling what happens after the click: it can automatically start a WhatsApp Flow, collect structured data in chat, and push that data into tools like HubSpot, so your ads become a proper lead or data capture funnel rather than just a chat for chat’s sake.

This article covers:

  • What Click to WhatsApp ads are
  • Where they are created in Meta Ads Manager
  • How to connect them to a Flowella flow
  • How Flowella captures and syncs data
  • Where you track performance
  • Recommended best practices, example flow, and common pitfalls

1. What are Click to WhatsApp ads?

Click to WhatsApp ads are Facebook and Instagram ads with WhatsApp set as the destination. When someone taps the call to action, they are taken directly into a WhatsApp conversation with your business, rather than to a website or landing page. Facebook+1

A few key points:

  • They run in Meta placements such as Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Stories and Marketplace.guides.clickatell.com

  • The call to action is typically “Send message” with WhatsApp as the messaging app.

  • After clicking, the user sees either:

    • A pre filled message ready to send to you, or

    • A structured “form in WhatsApp” style experience, depending on how you configure the ad and your templates.

The ad itself is still a normal Meta ad. The difference is simply where the click goes: into WhatsApp instead of onto a website.

2. Where Click to WhatsApp ads are created

You create and manage Click to WhatsApp ads in Meta Ads Manager, the same interface you use for other Facebook and Instagram campaigns. Meta’s help centre describes “ads that click to WhatsApp” as an Ads Manager flow where you choose WhatsApp as the messaging destination. adsmanager.facebook.com+1

Typical high level steps in Ads Manager:

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click Create.
  2. Select a campaign objective that supports messaging (see below).
  3. In the ad set, choose Messaging apps as the conversion location and select WhatsApp. aisensy.com
  4. Choose the Facebook Page and the WhatsApp number connected to that Page.
  5. Define audience, budget, schedule and placements.
  6. At the ad level, build your creative and configure the initial WhatsApp message or form.
  7. Publish the campaign and wait for Meta’s review and approval.

You can also create simpler Click to WhatsApp ads by boosting a post from your Facebook Page directly and selecting WhatsApp as the destination. Facebook

3. Campaign objectives that support WhatsApp

Meta has consolidated its ad objectives into six: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion and Sales. Facebook

Within that framework, Click to WhatsApp is typically available when you:

  • Select Engagement and optimise for Messages / Conversations
  • Select Traffic with Messaging apps as the destination
  • Select Leads and choose WhatsApp as the lead capture surface

The exact combination of objectives and options evolves, so always refer to the latest “Create ads that click to WhatsApp in Ads Manager” help article when setting up a new campaign.

4. How Flowella fits in

Once the ad hands the user over to WhatsApp, Flowella takes care of the experience and the data.

At a high level, Flowella can:

  • Automatically start a WhatsApp Flow when a new conversation begins from an ad

  • Ask a series of structured questions in WhatsApp to capture lead or form data

  • Validate and map answers to your existing form fields or CRM properties

  • Send the data into systems like HubSpot as form submissions or contact updates

  • Optionally hand off to a human agent if the user needs live help

So you can think of the setup as:

Meta Ads Manager handles the ad click.
Flowella handles the chat journey and data capture.
HubSpot (or other tools) handle nurturing and reporting.

5. Ways to link a Flowella flow to a Click to WhatsApp ad

There are two common patterns you will use.

5.1 Using a WhatsApp template / form (auto launched flow)

If your WhatsApp account has a template that represents the first step of a flow, you can attach that template when you configure the ad’s message experience in Ads Manager.

Conceptually:

  1. In Flowella, you create and publish a flow for a specific use case, for example a lead capture form.

  2. That flow is represented on your WhatsApp Business account as a suitable template or flow definition.

  3. In Ads Manager, when you configure the “message” part of the ad, you choose that template or a “form in WhatsApp” option so that, when someone clicks the ad, the business can send the structured message to start the flow within the chat.adsmanager.facebook.com

From the user’s perspective:

  • They click the ad.

  • WhatsApp opens.

  • Within a moment, they see your first automated message or form screen.

  • They answer step by step inside WhatsApp.

This is the lowest friction experience, because they do not need to type the first message themselves.

5.2 Using a pre filled “entry” message

If you prefer to keep things simple, or you are not using a dedicated template, you can use pre filled WhatsApp message text as the entry trigger.

  1. In Flowella, give the flow an entry condition, for example a specific keyword or phrase at the start of a conversation.

  2. In Ads Manager, configure the default WhatsApp message that appears when someone clicks the ad. For example:

    “Hi, I’d like a WhatsApp quote.”

  3. When the user clicks the ad, this text appears in the WhatsApp composer and they tap Send.

  4. Flowella detects that first inbound message and starts the matching flow automatically.

Meta explicitly recommends using a pre filled text prompt for ads that click to message, to reduce friction and make it clear what the user should send.Facebook

This approach works well if you want quick setup without dealing with template approvals, and it keeps everything within the standard 24 hour user initiated conversation window.

6. What happens after the click: user journey in WhatsApp

Once the ad has done its job, the experience is:

  1. Ad click

    • User taps “Send message on WhatsApp” on your Facebook or Instagram ad.

  2. WhatsApp opens

    • Either with a pre filled message waiting to be sent, or with your first template message/form appearing shortly.

  3. Flowella starts the flow

    • Sends a greeting and your first question.

    • Presents buttons, lists, or input fields where appropriate.

  4. User answers step by step

    • Flowella validates entries, branches logic, and collects all answers.

  5. Flow completes

    • User receives a clear confirmation of what will happen next.

    • Flowella sends the data to HubSpot or other connected tools.

  6. Optional human takeover

    • Your team can step in from the Flowella inbox if someone types outside the script or asks to talk to a person.

From the customer’s point of view, it is just a natural chat in WhatsApp. Behind the scenes, you are effectively running a structured form and CRM integration.

7. Data capture and HubSpot sync

When a flow runs for a user who came from a Click to WhatsApp ad, Flowella can:

  • Create or update contacts in HubSpot with the collected properties

  • Log form style submissions linked to the conversation

  • Preserve context like which flow ran and when

This allows you to:

  • Trigger HubSpot workflows, scoring and automation off WhatsApp leads

  • See WhatsApp collection history in the contact timeline

  • Attribute results to campaigns by using naming conventions, UTM parameters, or custom fields

From a process point of view, you should treat a completed Flowella WhatsApp journey exactly like a completed HubSpot form.

8. Where you track performance

Because we are combining two systems, you will be looking at results in two places.

8.1 In Meta Ads Manager

Here you measure the front-end performance of the ad:

  • Impressions and reach

  • Link clicks

  • Messaging conversations started (or equivalent metric for ads that click to message) Facebook

  • Cost per conversation

  • Click-through rate

For a Click to WhatsApp campaign, a good primary KPI is usually conversations started, because that is the point where someone actually opens a session with you, not just clicks.

If you use the Leads or Sales objectives and integrate server side events, you can also send back conversion events, but that is optional and more advanced.

8.2 In Flowella / HubSpot

Here you measure the back end performance:

  • Number of flows started vs completed

  • Number of leads created

  • Quality of leads (based on response data)

  • Downstream metrics in HubSpot, such as MQLs and opportunities

A simple way to read performance is:

Ads Manager: “How many people started talking to us from this ad?”
HubSpot: “How many of those became useful leads or customers?”

9. Best practices for using Flowella with Click to WhatsApp ads

Some practical tips, aligned with Meta’s guidance on ads that click to message and good WhatsApp hygiene.Facebook+1

  1. Make the value crystal clear in the ad

    • Explain what the user gets if they message you.

    • For example: “Get a quote on WhatsApp in 2 minutes” or “Chat to book your demo”.

  2. Mention WhatsApp explicitly

    • Use copy like “Message us on WhatsApp” so people know what will open.

    • This filters in people who are happy to use WhatsApp.

  3. Use a strong default message

    • Give the user helpful pre filled text, for example “Hi, I want to book a consultation”.

    • This improves the proportion of clicks that become actual chats.

  4. Keep flows short and purposeful

    • Ask only what you need to qualify or fulfil the request.

    • Use buttons and lists so the user taps rather than types whenever possible.

  5. Match ad promise to flow content

    • If the ad says “Get a quote”, the flow should quickly ask the few questions needed for a quote and then confirm what happens next.

    • No surprise twenty question interrogations.

  6. Optimise for conversations, not just clicks

    • Where possible, use an objective that optimises for messaging conversations instead of traffic.

    • That encourages delivery to users more likely to engage.

  7. Test the entire journey on a phone

    • From seeing the ad, to tapping it, to going through the flow, to arriving in HubSpot.

    • Fix any confusing questions or broken routing before you scale spend.

  8. Have a plan for human follow up

    • Particularly for high value leads, ensure someone reviews completed flows and can reply personally in WhatsApp within a reasonable time.

10. Example flow: “Book a demo on WhatsApp”

A simple pattern you might use in Flowella for a Click to WhatsApp ad:

  1. Ad promise

    • Primary text: “Book a 20 minute product demo, all arranged in WhatsApp.”

    • CTA: “Send message on WhatsApp”.

  2. Default message (if using pre filled text)

    • “Hi, I’d like to book a demo.”

  3. Flowella flow steps

    • Ask for name.

    • Ask for company.

    • Ask for email address.

    • Ask for preferred timeslot from a list.

    • Confirm booking and expectations.

  4. HubSpot mapping

    • Name, company, email mapped to contact fields.

    • Preferred timeslot mapped to a custom property.

    • Optional: task or meeting booked by a workflow.

  5. Follow up

    • Sales rep receives a task or notification.

    • Rep confirms the booked slot by email and/or WhatsApp.

From a user perspective, they scroll, tap, answer four or five quick questions, and are done. From your side, a neat, structured lead appears in HubSpot.

11. Common pitfalls

A few things to avoid:

  • Using an objective that does not support messaging properly

    • Traffic can work, but Engagement with messages is usually better for conversations.

  • Leaving the chat empty

    • Forgetting to configure the default message or template so users land in a blank conversation and do not know what to say.

  • Overlong or complicated flows

    • Trying to replicate a 20-field web form in WhatsApp. Break it down or trim it.

  • No QA before launch

    • Not testing the end-to-end journey and discovering after spending that flows are not firing or fields are mapped incorrectly.

  • Ignoring the 24 hour messaging window

    • If you promise a follow up, try to do it while the conversation is still open, or have approved templates ready for later contact.

12. Official Meta resources

When you need to double check Meta side configuration or policy, these official pages are useful: