Connect your WhatsApp Business number

Send confirmations, QR codes and reminders from your own WhatsApp number instead of Adnab's. Involves Meta as well as Adnab, so set aside some time.

By default, Adnab sends your attendees WhatsApp messages from a shared Adnab number. That works with no setup at all. Connecting your own WhatsApp Business number means those messages arrive from your business name instead, and replies come back to you.

This is the longest piece of setup in Adnab, and most of the waiting is Meta's rather than ours.

1. 1

   Check you have what you need

   Before you start: a Facebook Business Manager account, and a phone number that is not already on WhatsApp.

   • A Facebook Business Manager account for your organisation.
   • A payment method added to your Meta Business Manager account. Meta bills you directly for messages sent — nothing goes out until this is in place.
   • A phone number that is NOT currently registered on WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. This is the most common thing that stops people. If the number is in use on someone's phone, delete the account from the WhatsApp app first and wait a few minutes.
   • The ability to receive an SMS or a phone call on that number, to confirm it.
   • Your business documents to hand, in case Meta asks you to verify.

   Use a dedicated number

   Once a number sends through the WhatsApp Business Platform it is reserved for that purpose and can no longer be used in the ordinary WhatsApp app. Do not use a number anyone relies on day to day.
2. 2

   Start the connection

   In Account, open the WhatsApp tab and choose Connect WhatsApp. A Meta popup opens and walks you through creating or choosing your WhatsApp Business Account.

   The popup belongs to Meta, not Adnab. Work through it there, and it will hand you back to Adnab when it is done. Adnab then subscribes to your account and registers the number for you.

   Your access token is stored on Adnab's servers and is never exposed to your browser.

   If you connect your number while an event is already running, messages for that event will switch to your number immediately. Attendees who already received a message from Adnab's shared number will receive future messages from your number instead.

   If the number does not register

   Occasionally Meta rejects the automatic number registration, usually because of a PIN left over from a previous setup. Your account is still connected and subscribed. Finish the registration in Meta's WhatsApp Manager and everything else keeps working. It is not a dead end.
3. 3

   Understand message templates

   WhatsApp does not let a business message someone out of the blue in free text. Every proactive message uses a template Meta approved beforehand.

   You can build and submit templates from the Templates tab here, so you do not have to use Meta's own tooling.

   • Names use lowercase letters, numbers and underscores only. No spaces or hyphens.
   • Variables are numbered: {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}. Meta wants an example value for each one when you submit.
   • A template moves through PENDING to APPROVED, or comes back REJECTED. It can later be PAUSED or DISABLED if recipients react badly to it.

   Category is the biggest lever on your bill

   Utility templates (confirmations, reminders, receipts) cost a fraction of marketing templates. The same message classified as marketing rather than utility can cost five to six times more. Write transactional templates so they read as transactional, and check the category Meta assigns.
4. 4

   Map your templates to Adnab's actions

   Adnab has a fixed list of moments it sends at: registration confirmation, first QR code, check-in, reminders, flyers and so on. A mapping tells Adnab which of your templates to use for each, and which of your variables gets which piece of information.

   Anything you do not map will not send

   This is the single most important thing on this page. WhatsApp resolves template names per account, so Adnab's own templates do not exist inside your WhatsApp account and cannot be sent from your number. Once you are sending from your own number, Adnab sends only the actions you have mapped. An action you have not mapped produces no message, no error, and nothing in the interface to tell you. Work through the list and map every action you want your attendees to receive.

   For each action, pick one of your approved templates and say what goes in each variable slot.

   If Meta later rejects or pauses a mapped template

   That action stops sending. Adnab does not quietly fall back to its own template, because its template does not exist in your account. If messages stop arriving, check the status of your templates first.

   Why a bulk send can report failures

   When you message a large group, recipients whose message could not be built are counted as failed in the progress display. If you have unmapped actions, that is what you are seeing: the messages were deliberately skipped, not lost in transit. Map the action and send again.
5. 5

   Know what it costs

   There are two separate bills: Meta's, and Adnab's. They are not the same thing and they do not arrive together.

   Meta bills you directly, to your own Meta account. Adnab is not involved in that payment at all and never handles it. What you pay depends on where the recipient is and what category the template is.

   Recipient	Marketing	Utility	Authentication	Service
   Zimbabwe	$0.0225	$0.0040	$0.0040	Free
   South Africa	$0.0379	$0.0076	$0.0076	Free

   Meta's rates per message, as at July 2026. Meta sets these and reviews them every quarter, so check their pricing page for the current figures. Zimbabwe is not priced individually: it falls under Meta's "Rest of Africa" grouping, which Meta can change. South Africa is included because some organisers message attendees across both markets.

   • Service messages are free. Those are replies within 24 hours of an attendee messaging you.
   • Most of what Adnab sends is utility, so under a cent a message in both markets.
   • South Africa costs noticeably more than Zimbabwe for marketing, so a regional audience is not one flat rate.

   Separately, Adnab charges for broadcasts: $0.05 per message on Pay Per Event and $0.03 on Pro, with a $5 minimum. Event notifications such as registration confirmations, QR codes, check-in confirmations and reminders are not charged. Email is free on every plan.

6. 6

   If something is not working

   The common problems and where to look first.

   • Messages stopped after connecting your number: almost always an unmapped action. Go back to step 4 and check every action you expect to send.
   • The number will not connect: it is probably still registered in the WhatsApp app. Remove it there first.
   • A template was rejected: Meta gives a reason. Wording that reads as promotional in a utility template is a frequent cause.
   • One kind of message stopped but the rest are fine: check that template's status. A paused or disabled template stops that action only.
   • Number registration failed but the account connected: finish the registration in Meta's WhatsApp Manager. Everything else continues to work meanwhile.

   If none of that explains it, get in touch at support@adnab.co and we will look at it with you.