Subscriber Collection

According to WhatsApp, to initiate a WhatsApp message to a user, brands must first receive opt-in permission confirming that they want to receive future messages from your brand on WhatsApp. This opt-in must clearly state:

• that this user is opting in to receive messages from your brand over WhatsApp.
• your business' name.

The consent sentence could be mentioned within Insider templates, on your website, or in brick and mortar shops when collecting numbers for CRM.

You can create a subscriber base for WhatsApp messaging in different ways in Insider:

• CSV upload via Saved Segments
• Insider Object Integration
• Lead Collection Templates
• WhatsApp Text to Opt-in
• Sending your user data to Insider

CSV upload via Saved Segments

To use CSV upload, you should collect the leads beforehand. Thus, you can upload the pre-collected leads to Insider. The the users' consent should be collected before uploading the CSV to Insider Panel.

Insider Object Integration

You can use Insider Object integration if you want to collect subscribers within your website via native forms, sign in, etc.

Since Insider Object (IO) integration directly shares users' data (phone number) with Insider to be used as WhatsApp subscribers, the consent of the users should be collected within the your website with a clear consent sentence. 

Lead Collection Templates

You can collect leads within your website. To help you collect subscribers, we provide you with ready-to-use templates.

You can use two different lead collection templates on your desktop and mobile website.

Inline template

You can find this template under Experience > Optimize > Web Templates. Adding the template to your website, you can get your users' WhatsApp number.

On-page template

You can find this template under Experience > Optimize > Web Templates. Adding the template to your website, you can always display it on the screen for your users to reach when they want to.

By clicking the trigger, users can easily add their WhatsApp number to receive messages from your brand.

WhatsApp Text to Opt-in

Text to opt-in is a method for gathering subscribers by prompting them to send a predefined keyword or sentence to your WhatsApp account. For instance, you might designate "Subscribe" as your opt-in keyword. When a user sends "Subscribe" to your WhatsApp account, they are automatically subscribed to your WhatsApp channel.

Alternatively, you can use pre-generated links to simplify the subscription process for your users. When a user clicks on such a link, they are directed to either the WhatsApp Desktop or Mobile Application, where they are presented with a pre-filled message ready for them to send. This approach offers the advantage of collecting opt-ins from both offline and online channels, enhancing accessibility and user engagement.

Sending your user data to Insider

You can directly send user data that you collected by your CRM via Upsert API. You should your users' consent before sending the data to Insider.

The checklist for Subscriber Collection

Subscriber Collection via Lead Collection Templates

You can collect leads within your website. To help you collect subscribers, Insider provides you with ready-to-use templates.

• Lead collection templates work on the pages where the Insider Tag is integrated. First, following this guideline, check Insider Tag integration on your website. Lead collection templates need to be implemented on desktop, mobile, and tablet separately. Check whether you cover all devices to collect WhatsApp opt-in.
• You can embed Lead collection templates inside the page or as overlay. If you embed your lead collection template, check if the element is present on your website as you have positioned on the page.

If you have checked all of these above and still could not solve the problem, reach out to Insider team.

Subscriber Collection via Insider Object Integration 

A user object is required to collect and process users’ phone numbers and WhatsApp opt-ins. Since Insider does not store any personal data on cookies or local storage, you must integrate a user object using Insider Object to gather the necessary information to send messages to your customers over WhatsApp.

If you want to collect leads directly from your website, you should implement Insider Object integration to pass the opt-in information to Insider. Instead, you can use Insider's lead collection templates.

• Insider Tag should be integrated properly on the pages you collect leads directly. First, following this guideline, check Insider Tag integration on your website. WhatsApp user object should be integrated according to the instructions. Once the user object is integrated into your website, you can provide Insider with the required WhatsApp fields (phone_number, whatsapp_optin, gdpr_optin) whenever a user logs in.
 We highly suggest you to double-check integration with the related team on your side if there is any missing information.

If your company obtains your users' consent in compliance with the local regulations, make sure to pass the GDPR opt-in field to Insider. If you want to stop collecting and processing the data of an identified user, GDPR opt-in field should have the false value. Insider cannot be held liable if these obligations are not fulfilled and reserves the right to seek compensation from your company.

• whatsapp_optin must be true for Insider to send messages to your customers over WhatsApp. We highly suggest you to double-check integration with the related team on your side according to the instructions. 

If you have checked all of these above and still could not solve the problem, reach out to Insider team.

Subscriber Collection via CSV Upload through Saved Segments

To use CSV upload, you should collect the leads beforehand. Thus, you can upload the pre-collected leads to Insider. Make sure you collect users' consent before uploading the CSV to Insider's InOne panel.

• CSV upload requires manual work on your side. First, check the latest upload time to the Insider's InOne panel. 
• You must define the language of the targeted users in your CSV file. Language attribute value should be in the “en_US” format. Check whether the language attribute is defined. 
• Phone number should be in the “+101234567890” E.164 format starting with the country code (e.g. +65). WhatsApp opt-in should be true as a value. Check whether phone numbers are defined according to the instructions. 

If you have checked all of these above and still could not solve the problem, reach out to Insider team.

Subscriber Collection via Upsert API

You can directly send user data that you collected by your CRM via Upsert API. You should receive your users consent before sending the data to Insider.

• User-based data such as WhatsApp opt-in should always be transferred with an identifier (email or phone number). We highly suggest you to double-check the integration with the related team on your end according to the instructions.
• Each user object must have at least one attribute object or one event object. We highly suggest you to double-check the integration with the related team on your end according to the instructions. 
• Users you have uploaded via Upsert API should be listed on the User Profile page. We highly suggest you to double-check the WhatsApp Opt-in users that you use for tests on the Unified Customer Profile Page.