Guide · Ads · For the owner making an ad from the WhatsApp Business app

Making the ad itself in the WhatsApp Business app: photos or video, the 90-character description, audience, budget and days, and how you pay

The WhatsApp Business app can make a Facebook or Instagram ad that opens a chat with your shop. Each screen along the way has its own article in WhatsApp's Help Center: the picture or video, the description, the settings, the audience, the budget and the payment method. This guide puts those articles in one place, in plain language, one section per screen.

Published 14 October 2026

Where the ad screens are

WhatsApp's Guide to creating ads on the WhatsApp Business App is a hub page. It lists one article for each part of making an ad: choosing the media, writing the description, choosing the ad settings, reviewing and creating the ad, choosing an audience, setting up a payment method, and choosing the budget and duration. WhatsApp's media and description articles both start in the app at Tools > Advertise.

Choosing the picture or video

WhatsApp's article How to choose ad media for WhatsApp businesses says ads with images make it easier for customers to see what you offer. Under Tools > Advertise, tap Choose other media, then pick one of these:

Your newest catalog item: Uses the item you added to your catalog most recently. Tap Next to review and edit it.
Your catalogue: Lets you pick older catalog items, up to 10 of them. The article notes that catalog items you want to advertise must be approved.
Take a new photo or video: Take it in the app; you can edit it before you carry on.
Upload photos or videos: From your phone's gallery: up to 10 photos or one video. You can crop, trim or rotate them.
Your status: Choose a status you have posted and edit it the same way.

The article's list of options also includes your business profile photo. Its tips for the picture itself:

One clear product: A simple but clear image or video of one of your products, cropped or trimmed so the product or service is clearly featured.
Quality: Use a high-resolution image or video, and avoid screenshots.
Light and background: Good, even lighting and a plain, light background. Avoid textured backgrounds and shadows on or behind the product.
Framing: Try different angles, don't shoot from too far away, and use the full frame.

The description: 90 characters

WhatsApp's article How to write an ad description for WhatsApp businesses says the character limit is 90 characters, including spaces and emojis. On a Facebook ad the description shows above the image or video; on an Instagram ad it shows below it.

Short and clear: Customers scan ads quickly, so keep the text short, clear and concise. The article's example: Flaky, chocolate croissant. Baked fresh daily. Order now.
Urgency: Words such as now, hurry or offer valid for limited time only encourage people to act.
Emojis and hashtags: Emojis can make the text more interesting. Hashtags can increase reach, but use no more than 2 or 3 relevant ones.
Several ads: Keep the tone consistent and the words simple.
Check before publishing: Add the text from the description field, tap Save, then look at the preview in the Design ad screen to see how it sits next to the image or video.

Our reading

Spaces and emojis eat into the 90 characters, so write the offer first and add an emoji or a hashtag only if there is room left.

Ad settings and the audience

WhatsApp's article How to choose ad settings for WhatsApp businesses explains the settings screen:

Total reach: The number of people who will see the ad at least once over the whole life of the campaign.
Budget and duration: Once live, the ad is visible only for a set time, and how long it runs depends on your budget.
Audience: The set of people who might see your ad and message you on WhatsApp, filtered by age, gender and location.

WhatsApp's article How to choose an audience adds:

Location: Advertise in the cities, communities and countries where you want to do business.
Age: Adjust the age group you want to reach.
Gender: For a gender-specific product or service, choose Male or Female. To reach the most people, choose All.
Not sure yet: You can start a campaign without changing the audience, and come back to tweak it once the campaign is created.

Ads the app can't make: Special Ad Categories

The ad settings article says special ad categories apply to ads that have specific requirements in certain countries. Creating these ads is not currently supported on WhatsApp; the article sends you to Meta Ads Manager instead.

Meta's Business Help Center article How to choose a Special Ad Category says these categories cover ads about social issues, elections or politics, where advertisers in select countries may be required to get authorised and add Paid for by disclaimers, and ads about employment, housing opportunities, or financial products and services, which get limited audience selection tools to help protect people from unlawful discrimination. Meta says its list of examples is not comprehensive and is not legal advice.

For housing, employment and financial ads, the article says age, gender, ZIP or postal code, exclusion targeting, lookalike audiences and saved audiences are limited or unavailable for advertisers based in or reaching the US, and for advertisers reaching Canada and certain countries in Europe.

Our reading

Meta's page names no Gulf country among those audience limits. If an ad does need a Special Ad Category, for example a job, housing or finance ad aimed at the US, Canada or certain countries in Europe, make it in Meta Ads Manager, because the WhatsApp Business app can't create it.

Budget and how many days

WhatsApp's article How to choose a budget and duration says you move the sliders at Budget & duration, or tap the pencil icon.

Daily budget: The average amount you want to spend on the ad each day. You can change it at any time.
Duration: The number of days the ad runs, from one to 60.
Changing mid-campaign: You can switch the budget and duration even while the ad is running, but that doesn't change what you have already spent.
The ceiling: The ad stops running when the budget reaches its limit, and you won't be charged more than the budget you set.

Our reading

A daily budget is an average, so spend can vary from day to day. Plan around the daily budget times the number of days. The article says the ad stops when the budget reaches its limit and you won't be charged more than your set budget.

The payment method you need before you can finish

WhatsApp's article How to review and create an ad on the WhatsApp Business App says you need to set up a payment method before you can finish creating the ad. It is charged based on the budget and duration you chose. You can only have one default payment method, and it pays for all your ads. You can change it, but the charge always goes to whichever default is on your account.

WhatsApp's article How to set up a payment method says you start with Add payment method, and change it later with Change. Payments in the app are enabled by Meta Pay and handled by the payment companies Meta supports. The accepted methods:

Cards: Credit or debit cards: American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa and JCB.
PayPal: Listed as an accepted method.
Bank account: Direct debit, in supported countries.
Local manual methods: In supported countries and currencies.

The methods you see depend on the country and currency of your ad account. The article adds that for catalogs in the WhatsApp Business app, the payment currency is chosen automatically from the country code of your registered phone number and can't be changed.

The review article also says that creating an ad shares your business profile name with Meta, and your profile photo too if its privacy setting is Everyone, to help customers learn more about your business.

Ads in WhatsApp Status

Ads in Status are a separate case. Two WhatsApp articles, Troubleshoot image quality in status ads and Can't respond to my ad replies in status, say that ads in Status on the WhatsApp Business app are managed in Meta Ads Manager and supported by the Meta Business Help Center. Problems creating ads go to Meta Business support; payments and refunds go to Meta payment support.

Shape: WhatsApp Status supports a 9:16 ratio for both images and videos. Use it so the ad isn't squashed or stretched.
Resolution: Use the highest resolution you have. The minimum recommended image size for Status is 500 x 320 pixels.
Preview: Use ad preview in Meta Ads Manager on a desktop to see how the published ad looks in each placement.
Where replies go: People who interact with your ad in Status are sent straight to a chat with your business.

If you can't reply in those chats, the article lists these steps, in order:

1. Update: Update the WhatsApp Business app and your phone's operating system.
2. Restart: Restart the phone and make sure it is connected to the internet.
3. Check the connection to Ads Manager: Make sure your WhatsApp Business phone number is connected to Ads Manager.
4. Check registration: Make sure you have completed registration for the WhatsApp Business app.
5. Ask Meta: If it still doesn't work, contact Meta Business support.

What this means for your shop

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). We do not create or run anyone's ads. This guide repeats WhatsApp's and Meta's own Help Centers as we read them on 14 October 2026, and is not legal advice.

Our reading

Get the catalog item approved and the payment method added before you sit down to make the ad, since the app won't let you finish without a payment method. Then pick one clear picture, write the offer in under 90 characters, and pick a daily budget and number of days whose total you are happy to spend in full.

Questions

How long can the ad text be?

WhatsApp says the description can be up to 90 characters, including spaces and emojis. It shows above the picture on Facebook and below it on Instagram.

How many photos can one ad use?

WhatsApp says you can pick up to 10 photos or one video from your gallery, or up to 10 items from your catalog. Catalog items must be approved first.

Can I be charged more than my budget?

WhatsApp says no. The ad stops when the budget reaches its limit, and you won't be charged more than the budget you set.

How long can an ad run?

WhatsApp says from one to 60 days, and you can change the budget and duration mid-campaign. That doesn't change what you've already spent.

Can I make an ad in a Special Ad Category from the app?

No. WhatsApp says special ad categories apply to ads that have specific requirements in certain countries, and creating them is not currently supported on WhatsApp; make them in Meta Ads Manager. Meta lists employment, housing, financial products and services, and social issues, elections or politics among those categories.

Can I pay for ads without a card?

WhatsApp lists PayPal, direct debit in supported countries and local manual methods in supported countries and currencies, as well as cards. What you see depends on your ad account's country and currency.

Who is BitByteCore?

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). We do not create or run anyone's ads. This guide repeats WhatsApp's and Meta's own Help Centers, and is not legal advice.

Sources

WhatsApp Help Center: Guide to creating ads on the WhatsApp Business App, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to choose ad media for WhatsApp businesses, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to write an ad description for WhatsApp businesses, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to choose ad settings for WhatsApp businesses, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to choose an audience, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to choose a budget and duration, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to set up a payment method, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to review and create an ad on the WhatsApp Business App, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: Troubleshoot image quality in status ads, read 14 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: Can't respond to my ad replies in status, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: How to choose a Special Ad Category, read 14 October 2026.

This guide describes WhatsApp's and Meta's pages as we read them, and is not legal advice. More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

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