Put Meta Click-to-WhatsApp ads in a shared Cloud API inbox: assignment, ad referral, and templates after the 24-hour customer service window.
Media buyers run Click-to-WhatsApp because the click is a conversation, not a landing-page bounce. Operations then discovers the lead in a personal WhatsApp Business app: no assignment, no audit trail, and no way to send a Meta-approved template when the lead goes quiet for two days.
The ad click is user-initiated. It opens the 24-hour customer service window. It is not a forever license to free-form message that person next week. When the window closes you need a template and recorded opt-in. Details are in the 24-hour window and opt-in and STOP guides.
Connect the number, import templates, and wait for Meta to mark them approved. Point the ad at that number. Agents answer inside the session. If the lead goes silent, send a follow-up template, not a paste from the composer. When they order, abandoned-cart and shipping templates use the same contact record.
Do not run Click-to-WhatsApp into a number that also blasts unsolicited marketing. Quality rating is per phone. One bad campaign takes the ads inbox with it.
See inbox and analytics, abandoned cart recovery, or Nautilus Flow vs WATI if you are replacing a BSP inbox.