How to let customers contact businesses directly on WhatsApp without adding contacts

A big challenge that many cross-border sellers often encounter when promoting their products is how to quickly establish contact with potential customers after attracting their attention. Many customers may want to communicate with you directly after browsing your official website, but they don’t know how to contact you quickly and conveniently. The most direct way is usually to add WhatsApp to communicate, but many customers are reluctant to add unfamiliar sellers as friends, so they may choose to give up.

To address this problem, this article will introduce several ways to allow customers to contact you directly on WhatsApp without adding any contacts. After integrating these methods into your website, you will be able to provide a more smooth and user-friendly communication experience, allowing customers to connect with your business directly through WhatsApp.

Create your own link

Open your browser and enter https://wa.me/<number> where <number> requires the full phone number in international format. When adding the phone number in international format, omit any zeros, brackets, or dashes.

Example:

Correct format: https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX

Incorrect format: https://wa.me/+001-(XXX)XXXXXXX

Create your own links using pre-filled text

If you need to send pre-filled text directly to the conversation,

Use the format https://wa.me/whatsappphonenumber?text=urlencodedtext where whatsappphonenumber is the full phone number in international format and urlencodedtext is the pre-populated, URL-encoded text.

Example: https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX?text=I'm%20interested%20in%20your%20car%20for%20sale

To create a link with only pre-filled text content, use https://wa.me/?text=urlencodedtext

Example: https://wa.me/?text=I'm%20inquiring%20about%20the%20apartment%20listing

After entering the link, click the [Continue Conversation] button, and then you can choose to download the WhatsApp App or expand it directly on the web page.

Adding widgets with SaleSmartly

1. Open SaleSmartly and click Create plugin in [Integration].

2. Find the WhatsApp portal under the [Port Integration] category. You can directly associate the business API number that has been connected to SaleSmartly or directly enter the WhatsApp number to complete the configuration.

Benefits of using SaleSmartly to set up

1. SaleSmartly not only supports integration with WhatsApp, but also with multiple social media channels including Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Line, Email, WeChat, etc. All these settings can be easily completed on the designated page. SaleSmartly can easily manage messages from multiple channels in a unified manner.

2. SaleSmartly allows you to integrate multiple WhatsApp accounts. By configuring smart diversion links , customers can be assigned to different WhatsApp accounts for reception based on their random selection or needs during a specific time period.

Tutorial on how to configure a diversion link: Are you afraid of being blocked if your WhatsApp is frequently added? Diversion links can help you (salesmartly.com)

Using the Chat on WhatsApp button

In addition to setting up direct links to WhatsApp in multiple places on the official website, you can also embed a "Chat on WhatsApp" button on the website. With just one click, you can start a real-time WhatsApp conversation with the customer service team, so that you can receive the help and service you need quickly and consistently.

HTML code example

To embed an SVG image:

<a aria-label="Chat on WhatsApp" href="https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX"><img alt="Chat on WhatsApp" src="WhatsAppButtonGreenLarge.svg" />

Embed PNG images

<a aria-label="Chat on WhatsApp" href="https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX"><img alt="Chat on WhatsApp" src="WhatsAppButtonGreenLarge.png" />