WhatsApp Chat and Conversations End of Renewal Guide

The WhatsApp Chat and Conversations SKUs will no longer be renewable after September 1, 2023. Upon the end of the Customers’ Marketing Cloud subscription term, Customers can purchase and implement the current WhatsApp-First Business Messaging solution. WhatsApp-First Business Messaging is a new product solution offered by Salesforce Marketing Cloud in partnership with Meta/WhatsApp. Since this is a new product solution, Customers’ existing WhatsApp setup and delivery of WhatsApp messages within the Chat or Conversations (Sinch) Product tool will be impacted.

Customers can now purchase WhatsApp-First Business Messaging and will need to provide their phone number to use with WhatsApp-First Business Messaging. Existing phone numbers currently or previously registered with WhatsApp are not supported in WhatsApp-First Business Messaging. Customers must also create new WABAs, Templates, and Journeys within Marketing Cloud. 
 

WhatsApp-First Business Messaging Onboarding

1. Purchase WhatsApp-First Business Messaging via WhatsApp Business Messaging SKU upon Renewal/SWAP/Early Renewal. Steps to purchase the WhatsApp Business Messaging SKU will vary depending on the stage in your buying cycle. 
   • Upon activation of the WhatsApp Business Messaging SKU, Customers will no longer be able to: (1) send on the existing WhatsApp Chat or Conversations (Sinch) Product tool and (2) use existing Templates, Journeys, and Campaigns within the WhatsApp Chat or Conversations (Sinch) Product tool.
2. To begin the WhatsApp-First Business Messaging setup, please follow the steps in the Set up WhatsApp-First Business Messaging Help Documentation under the “Get Started with WhatsApp-First Business Messaging (Meta)” heading. 

Steps to set up a WhatsApp-First Business Messaging account: 

1. Create a new WhatsApp Business Account(s)
2. Register the new phone number as further described here
3. Register new Templates
4. Create new Journey(s)

Some Customers may be eligible for a technical migration. A technical migration is where existing WhatsApp phone numbers within the Sinch solution will be migrated to the new WhatsApp-First Business Messaging solution. Prerequisites for technical migration availability include purchased quantity of WhatsApp entitlement, WhatsApp messaging send volume, and multiple WABA(s) and Phone Numbers associated with Customer accounts. If you are eligible for a technical migration, you should receive notice from your account management team. Please reach out to your account manager if you have any additional questions.

Upon migrating from Chat Messaging Setup (Sinch) to WhatsApp-First Business Messaging (Meta), it's recommended to delete or uninstall the Installed Package, Chat Messaging Setup, from your Marketing Cloud instance to avoid confusion when conducting WhatsApp Messaging activities.