Guide · WhatsApp Business app · For the owner just starting out

Your first week on the WhatsApp Business app: Meta's seven-day setup path, from profile to first ad

Meta's own onboarding guide for the WhatsApp Business app sets out a seven-day path, one job a day, from a finished business profile to a first ad and a daily routine. This is that path, with links to the guides that go deeper on each step.

Published 7 October 2026 · Updated 8 October 2026

Before day one

Meta suggests a number used only for the business, so work and personal chats stay apart. The business name should be the one customers already know, and the profile photo a high-contrast logo or a clear picture of the shopfront, so customers recognise it in their chat list.

Our reading: lock the number on day one

Meta's security tips for the app list two-step verification as a way to stop unwanted logins. It takes a minute and is easiest to do before anyone else is using the number; the number-takeover guide explains it.

Meta's seven days

Day 1: finish the business profile. Under Tools, then Business profile, fill in every field: a short, specific description, the address, opening hours, email and website. The business profile guide shows what customers see.
Day 2: greeting and away messages. Meta says the away message should always include when the customer can expect a reply.
Day 3: at least five quick replies. One for each question typed every day, such as prices, hours or location, each with a shortcut like /hours so it sends in seconds.
Day 4: a label system. Meta's starter lists follow the sales cycle: new inquiry, pending info, order in progress, payment pending, completed and follow up. The inbox guide covers lists and notes.
Day 5: a catalog of the top five to ten items. Each with a clear name, a price, a short description and a good photo. Services can be listed as packages that say what is included. The catalog guide goes further.
Day 6: a first ad that clicks to WhatsApp. Each click opens a chat with the business. What Meta tells the business about each lead is in the ads guide.
Day 7: a daily routine. Check, label and reply. Meta's tip is five minutes at the end of each day labelling open chats, so the next day starts with a plan for who to answer first.

Before the day-six ad goes out

Meta reviews every ad against its Advertising Standards, and its Business Help Center keeps a short checklist of the rules new advertisers break most easily. The ad has to represent the business and what it sells accurately and follow local law. It should not have sloppy grammar or punctuation, an image of something that does not work (Meta's example is a play button that plays nothing), misleading claims or unrealistic promises, sensational wording, key information held back to get a click, or a public figure's name or face used to lure people. It must not refer to or imply a person's race, religion, beliefs or other personal characteristics. If the ad links to a website, the site has to work, match the ad, and be free of pop-ups and shocking or misleading content. Some products cannot be advertised at all, including tobacco, prescription, recreational or illegal drugs, unsafe supplements, weapons and adult products. Meta says the checklist is not complete. Our reading: an ad that opens WhatsApp has no website for Meta to check, so the ad's own words and picture carry the review, and an offer the shop would not honour in the chat is exactly the kind of unrealistic promise the checklist names.

Telling customers the number exists

A finished account only helps if customers use it. Meta lists where to put it: social media profiles, the contact page of the website, the Google Business profile, receipts and order confirmations, and a QR code on signs in the shop. Making those links and codes is covered in the QR codes and short links guide.

Keeping customers' trust

Meta's security tips say messages in the WhatsApp Business app are end-to-end encrypted, and ask businesses to respect each customer's messaging preferences and avoid unsolicited messages. When the first busy weeks arrive, the busy-season guide picks up where this one ends.

Questions

What does Meta check before our first ad runs?

Every ad is reviewed against Meta's Advertising Standards. Its basics checklist asks for an accurate picture of the business, correct grammar, no misleading claims or unrealistic promises, nothing that implies a person's race, religion or beliefs, and no prohibited products such as tobacco, drugs or weapons. Meta says the checklist is not complete.

Should we use our personal number for the WhatsApp Business app?

Meta's onboarding guide suggests a number dedicated to the business, so work and personal chats stay separate.

Do we need the whole product range in the catalog before we start?

No. Meta says to start with the top five to ten best-sellers or most common services, each with a name, price, short description and photo.

What should the away message say?

Meta says to always include an expected response time, so customers know when they will hear back.

Which lists should we start with?

Meta's starter set follows the sales cycle: new inquiry, pending info, order in progress, payment pending, completed and follow up.

Sources

WhatsApp Business: Onboarding 101: Setting yourself up for success on the WhatsApp Business app (6 August 2026), read 7 October 2026.
WhatsApp Business (21 July 2026): 5 ways small businesses can improve security and trust through the WhatsApp Business app, read 7 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Advertising policy basics checklist, read 8 October 2026.

More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

Want every chat in one place you own?

We set up a business's WhatsApp number on a system its team runs, so every customer conversation sits in one place the business owns. A short call is the easiest way to see how that would work for you.

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