💌 Collect optins with a wa.me link
Updated at September 22nd, 2025
One of the most effective ways to collect optins is to reach out directly to your existing subscriber base.
To do this, send a newsletter introducing your new WhatsApp account and inviting your customers to sign up via a wa.me link: a link that directly opens a conversation with your WhatsApp account. It's simple to set up and requires no technical development.
Step 1: Set up your newsletter
To start, write a clear and engaging email that invites them to sign up.
Your audience is already subscribed to your emails: to maximize sign-ups to your WhatsApp, offer them a clear benefit. Giving them a good reason to join this new channel greatly increases the chances of them taking action.
Highlight attractive benefits, such as a “VIP club”, “privileged offers” or even access to “preview new products” depending on the strategy you plan for this channel.
If possible, offer them a promo code to redeem after signing up on WhatsApp.
“ To thank you for your registration, we are offering you a promo code of €X, only available on WhatsApp! ”
Since WhatsApp is primarily used on mobile, it's essential to make it easy for your entire audience to access the app. Since a newsletter can be read on both a phone and a computer, it's essential to offer two ways to access WhatsApp to engage all your readers, regardless of their device.
Concretely, add:
- A clickable button (CTA) for mobile users
- A QR code to scan for those reading the newsletter on a computer
You've designed your newsletter, now all you need to do is integrate the URL and QR code
We explain how to recover them in step 2 👇
Step 2: Save your optins in Simio via a chatbot
To create a Chatbot, you can follow the documentation 👉 📟 Create a Chatbot
To allow users to register, you will need to create a Chatbot consisting of:
- a pre-filled message that the user will have to send on WhatsApp to start the conversation and register, called “Message sent by the contact” (in green above)
How to choose the pre-filled message?
The message should be as clear as possible for the user. They should understand in a few words why they just need to send this message and what the result will be.
“ Send this message to register ”
“ Send this message to join our VIP club on WhatsApp ”
“ I want to be part of the club ”
Make sure this message is perfectly clear, because if the user decides to send a different message than the one configured in your chatbot, the registration will not take place.
- an opt-in box (outlined in orange above) so that users are subscribed as soon as their conversation starts
- a welcome message on the account, of the “ Answer ” type (box with the image above)
- more messages if you want to highlight services, a collection, send a promo code, etc.
In a chatbot, the user initiates the conversation, so there's no need to use templates. Just use Answer messages, which aren't charged by Meta.
Once your chatbot is created, that's it! You can retrieve the URL and QR code to integrate into your newsletter.
It's easy to do! Click the green box at the very beginning of your flow and you'll find your URL under the pre-filled message you set up. The QR code is generated via the "Generate a QR Code" button.
⚠️ If you change your pre-filled message, the URL and QR code will change.
Make sure to test the full journey before sending en masse: from receiving the email to the final navigation in WhatsApp.