WhatsApp link and QR code generator

Create a "wa.me" link to bring your customers into chat. Put it on your website, in your store, wherever, and customers can use it to get into your WhatsApp channel. Then start building your community!

Why do I need this link?

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The text you write below will be pre-filled in WhatsApp when customers click the link or scan your QR code. They then press send to opt in to your business chat.

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This is your chrls.wa link

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And your qr code

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Why do businesses love WhatsApp links?

#1

messenger worldwide

96%

of people think WhatsApp is the best customer service provider

10X

more customers trust WhatsApp links

Why use click-to-chat in your business?

When moving prospective customers along their buying journey, adding as few bumps and obstacles to their path is essential. That’s where the WhatsApp "Chat-in" link generator becomes a genuine game-changer for your business. It takes one click – or one scan if it's embedded in a QR code – for a potential lead to enter your inbox.

 

A WhatsApp Chat-in link or wa.me feature takes the person clicking it to a WhatsApp chat with your business profile. You can even add a pre-written message to make it extra easy for the client to communicate with you. 

 

Once in direct contact, it is easier for trained sales personnel to convert prospects who otherwise would abandon their carts. So let’s say a person adds a 1,500€ bed to their cart but has a burning question before actually hitting that “Buy” button. In this case, a WhatsApp chat-in link will shorten the time they spend contemplating considerably. 


Woodboom, the manufacturer of said 1.5k bed, used their WhatsApp chat-in link to shift the conversation with customers from email to WhatsApp. Before deciding to buy, their customers ask an average of 7 questions. This could easily take 2-4 weeks via email, meaning they lose several potential buyers before completion. With WhatsApp chat-in links, woodboom managed to shorten this sales cycle to just 2-4 days and increase conversions considerably. By now, 70% of their sales occur in chat.

 

How to Use The WhatsApp Link Generator for Your Business to create Chat-Ins in 2 steps

Did you know that an increase of just 5% in customer retention can equal an increase of 25% in profit? On top of this, 75% of customers are more likely to spend on a brand if they can message rather than call. That’s why WhatsApp chat-in links and QR codes are so in-demand: They’re ideal to jumpstart conversion and achieve the kind of high-quality customer service that delights both prospects and regulars alike.

 

While creating a WhatsApp link or QR code is easier than spelling “10x-ing your revenue” (more on that later), every business should have a clear strategy in place before using this tool of conversational commerce. 

 

That’s why we’ve created this guide to show you how to use a WhatsApp chat-in links and QR code generator to best benefit your business in 2022.

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Create Your WhatsApp Click-to-Chat Link in 2 Steps

Before you can reach similar numbers, however, you need to create your WhatsApp click-to-chat link or QR code. How do you do this? Fortunately, that is the easiest part of the entire process and accomplished in two quick steps. 

 

Step 1: Enter the number of your WhatsApp Business account

The beauty of wa.me links, as they’re sometimes called, is their easy setup. Simply add your number with your country code at the end of one of these links: 

 

Be sure to leave out the “+” or “00” at the beginning of your country code. So if your number starts with +49170, the link would start like this: https://wa.me/49170, followed by the rest of your number. 

 

Technically you’re done after this step. Everything your customers need to enter your inbox is your number, which they now have – no saving your company’s phone number on their private phone required!

 

Step 2: Add a pre-written message (optional)

If you want to make the experience extra special for your customers, as we at Charles recommend you do, there is a second step: Adding a pre-written message that will appear on your customer’s side of the conversation. 

A pre-written message in a chat-in has several benefits: 

  • Less effort for the potential customer: Typing out a question can be what prevents a prospect from reaching out and makes them abandon their cart. The less hassle, the better. 
  • Feeling appreciated: What’s more, if you add a well-crafted message to your wa.me link that goes beyond ‘Hello’, the customer will recognize that you considered their needs and feel appreciated. 
  • Clarity for your team: It’s not just the customer who benefits. Let’s say you provide a message that’s tailored to a specific product page. When customers send it with a simple click, your service team will know exactly which product they refer to.

 

How do you add a pre-written message to your WhatsApp chat-in link or QR code? That depends on how long your message should be. Here’s how: 

 

Single sentence: 

  • Take the wa.me link with your company phone number,
  • add ‘?text=’ after your number without spaces, 
  • type the text you want to add
  • while using ‘%20’ to indicate a space

 

This is what a link might look like, with XX as placeholders for your number:  https://wa.me/49170XXXXXXX?text=Hi%20there%20!

 

Multiple sentences: 

  • Take the wa.me link with your company phone number,
  • add ‘?text=’ after your number without spaces, 
  • type the text you want to add
  • while using ‘%20’ to indicate a space
  • and end each sentence with ‘0A’.

 

If you want to send, for example, “Hi there! Tell me more about this product?”, your link would look like this: 

‍https://wa.me/49170XXXXXXX?text=Hi%20there%20!%20Tell%20me%20more%20about%20this%20product?.

 

Yeah, setting this link manually can be quite time-consuming, especially if you wish to tailor the message to each chat-in you embed in your site or channels. 

 

That’s where this free chat-in link and WhatsApp QR code generator comes in handy. They don’t provide a strategy to go along with these links, however – read on for more!

 

Best Practices: Where to best embed your wa.me link

As easy as creating a WhatsApp chat-in link or QR is, the real art is embedding it where it benefits your business most. You have several options that, depending on your intent, will suit your wa.me link best: 

  • Popups on your website
  • Chat-ins on product pages
  • Thank you pages
  • QR codes on flyers sent out with your product
  • Social Media
  • Email

 

If your aim goes beyond providing a low-threshold way for customers to pose their questions and engage with you, you can catch their attention – and capture their contact information – by offering them an incentive like a discount or early access to an upcoming sale. Adapting the principle of a lead generator from email marketing also works for WhatsApp newsletters. 

 

HOLY Energy, for example, doubled their subscribers by offering early access to their new flavor, only available if they sign up through WhatsApp chat-ins. This strategy helped them 10x their revenue on launch weekend, prompting them to scale their opt-in collection through post-order flows.


Another successful case, this time featuring chat-in QR codes, is the beauty brand Maniko. In addition to several touchpoints on their website, many customers come into chat via flyers with QR codes. These offer an application guide and get sent out with Maniko's products.

whatsapp chatin best practice

After scanning the QR code, users are directly taken into chat where they can send a pre-written message. This message triggers an automated flow that sends out a video explaining the application. This decreases Maniko's service effort, opens the door for further conversation with the customer, and amounts to a 20x higher value of chat-ins vs. email.

 

Frequently Asked Questions about the WhatsApp Chat-In Link Generator

Now that the set-up and use of link generators are clear, we’re able to answer your most burning questions with clarity:

What are WhatsApp Chat-Ins?

WhatsApp chat-ins or the “click to chat feature” allows (potential) customers to start a conversation with you via your WhatsApp Business account. A WhatsApp link removes the need for saving your phone number on their private devices. Instead, customers access the chat through a link or a QR code you share on your website, social media channels, or print material. 

It makes reaching out a smooth and effective experience for users that will positively impact their experience with your brand. For example, when you add your WhatsApp link to your Instagram bio.

You can boost this effect – and your business – by making sure the customer encounters great service: in form of pre-written messages, automized flows, and trained sales personnel that converses with them quickly and efficiently. 

How do I use my QR code?

WhatsApp chat-in QR codes work best where people have a chance to scan them. They can be on posters in your store or flyers added to products you send out, ideally providing an incentive like a discount or early access to sales or new products.

If your website has a lot of traffic from desktop (as 45,6% of all global website traffic still was in 2021), adding a QR code to your product pages or thank-you pages might add value, too. QR codes help customers enter the chat via their phones by simply scanning the QR code in case they aren’t using WhatsApp Web and thus can’t click the wa.me link to be taken to your inbox. 

What is a WhatsApp Link Generator?

WhatsApp link generators provide a clickable link that takes a customer directly into your WhatsApp inbox without needing to know or even save your number first. WhatsApp link generators store your phone number in the link – or QR code – they generate, providing the information to the customer’s phone when they click on it. 

WhatsApp link generators can also be used to add pre-written messages. So if a customer clicks the wa.me link on your website or social media, they enter the chat and already see a message written for them. For example, “Hi, I have a question about your product.”

Link and QR code generators are especially useful if you have to create several chat-ins with tailored messages since creating them manually can be quite time-consuming and tedious.

How do I get more opt-ins in WhatsApp?

Does your aim with WhatsApp chat-in links go beyond providing a low-threshold way for customers to pose their questions and engage with you? Then you can catch their attention – and capture their contact information – by offering them an incentive like a discount or early access to an upcoming sale

Adapting the principle of a lead generator from email marketing also works for WhatsApp newsletters: Offering a 10% discount on their next purchase for the simple act of scanning a QR code will prove more enticing than subscribing to yet another email list that will clog their inbox.  

You can also leverage information as a lead magnet, as Every Food proved in their Veganuary campaign. Promising “tips and deals” on a plant-based lifestyle during the time between Christmas and New Year, the food brand attracted 300 first-time orders and 850 unique recipients for Veganuary. Amazingly, they had less than 10 unsubs throughout the month. 

How do I add a WhatsApp button on Instagram?

Instead of using the precious real estate in your bio to add a WhatsApp chat-in link, Instagram recently added a feature that looks and feels a lot smoother for your followers. Here’s how you add a WhatsApp button to your Instagram:  

1. Click “Edit profile” on your Instagram profile page. 
2. Select “Contact options”. 
3. Go to the field titled “WhatsApp”. 
4. Enter the number associated with your WhatsApp Business account. 
5. Enter the verification code you received on Instagram. 
6. Pro tip: If you only want your WhatsApp button visible, you need to remove other contact options such as email or phone number.  

From now on, potential clients visiting your Instagram profile will be able to contact you with just one click after you add WhatsApp link to Instagram.

How to create WhatsApp chat links?

To create a WhatsApp chat link, add your number with country code to the end of wa.me/<number> or use the link creator for WhatsApp. To add a pre-filled text which users will send, add encoded text to the url in format: wa.me/whatsappphonenumber?text=urlencodedtext to have a 'chat-in message'. In the end, your url should look something like: https://wa.me/4916093888242?text=Hello%20people.

Closing Thoughts On The Click-to-Chat Link & WhatsApp QR Code  Generator

Easy to create and easy to use, WhatsApp chat-in link and QR code generators are a perfect tool for any brand that wants to take their customer service to the next level. By simply adding your WhatsApp business number and a pre-written message to the wa.me link, you unlock a smooth path for your customers to start a conversation, ask questions and even place their order. 

 

If you want to go beyond the basics, you need a partner at your side to help you leverage the chances of chat-in links and QR codes. 

 

We at Charles are experts at building the type of profound brand-customer relationship that will have a long-lasting positive impact on your bottom line. We have helped over 120 brands unlock the power of conversation and are eager to help you fulfill your full potential. 

 

Ready to find out how we can help you take your customer journey to the next level with chat-in links and conversational commerce? Reach out today to book a demo!

 

olivia

“Do you also want to prove the value of WhatsApp vs. Email newsletter for your business?”