Inbox: Chat with Customers on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger | Passtastic Help
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Inbox: Chat with Customers on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger

Instagram and Messenger are coming soon. WhatsApp is available now. Connect Instagram and Connect Messenger are not available yet: they follow after Meta approves them. The Instagram and Messenger parts of this guide describe how they will work.

Connect your own WhatsApp Business number and you can chat with customers and send them offers on WhatsApp, all from Passtastic. You keep your number and keep using the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. Chats stay in sync both ways. Instagram and Messenger will follow once Meta approves them, and you'll answer those messages in the same place.

Connect your WhatsApp number

Only an owner or an admin can connect WhatsApp.

1. Open Settings and choose Messaging channels.

2. Click Connect WhatsApp.

3. Log in with Facebook.

4. Scan the QR code with your WhatsApp Business app. The app needs to be version 2.24.17 or newer.

Good to know:

  • You keep your number and keep using the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. Messages you send there show up in Passtastic, and the other way round.
  • Your recent chat history, up to 180 days, is imported once, when you connect.
  • For now, one WhatsApp number per business.
  • To stop, click Disconnect in Settings → Messaging channels (owner or admin). Messages stop appearing in Passtastic. Your WhatsApp app keeps working.

Connect Instagram

Only an owner or an admin can connect Instagram. You need an Instagram professional account (business or creator).

1. Open Settings and choose Messaging channels.

2. Click Connect Instagram.

3. Log in with Instagram or Facebook in the window that opens.

4. If you have several Instagram accounts, choose the one to connect and click Connect this account.

5. Allow Passtastic to manage your messages.

Good to know:

  • If messages don't arrive, check in the Instagram app that connected tools are allowed to access your messages.
  • Your Instagram app keeps working as before.
  • To stop, click Disconnect on the Instagram card in Settings → Messaging channels (owner or admin). New messages stop appearing in Passtastic. Your chats so far stay.

Connect Messenger

Only an owner or an admin can connect Messenger. You need a Facebook Page that you manage.

1. Open Settings and choose Messaging channels.

2. Click Connect Messenger.

3. Log in with Facebook.

4. Choose the Facebook Page and click Connect this Page.

To stop, click Disconnect on the Messenger card in Settings → Messaging channels (owner or admin). Your chats so far stay in Passtastic.

Who pays for WhatsApp

WhatsApp (Meta) charges your business directly. Passtastic adds nothing per message.

  • Add a payment method in WhatsApp Manager. If it is missing, Settings → Messaging channels shows a banner with Open WhatsApp Manager.
  • Replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message are free, up to 1,000 per number per month.
  • Offers and automatic messages are charged per message by Meta, depending on the customer's country. Check Meta's current rates in WhatsApp Manager.

Reply to customers in the Inbox

Inbox is a menu item right after Customers, with a count of unread chats.

The Inbox is part of the Bring customers back pack on Loyalty, bookings + app; earlier plans include it. Without that pack you can still read your chats and your customers' messages keep arriving, but replying, Send join link, Invite members to WhatsApp, connecting WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger, and sending on WhatsApp are locked until you add the pack. Your free trial includes it. Reconnecting a channel whose connection expired always works.

  • You see your conversations as a list. Switch to Unread to see only the ones waiting for you.
  • Open a chat and the customer's card sits beside it: stamps, points or level, and Last visit.
  • Within 24 hours of the customer's last message you can write anything you like.
  • After 24 hours, WhatsApp only allows messages it has approved. Pick a message type: Offer, We miss you, Reward ready or Card update.
  • Photos, voice messages and other media show as "open in WhatsApp". Open them in the app on your phone.

If the person is not a member yet, the chat offers Send join link (only within 24 hours of their last message) or Add to customers. When Passtastic thinks a chat belongs to an existing customer, it asks Is this Ana? and you confirm.

Replying on Instagram and Messenger

Instagram and Messenger chats appear in the Inbox next to your WhatsApp chats, each marked with its channel.

  • These channels are for replying: you answer people who wrote to you first.
  • Within 24 hours of the customer's last message you can write anything you like. After that, answer in the Instagram app or in Messenger.
  • You can't send offers or campaigns on Instagram or Messenger, and no automatic messages go out there. Offers go by wallet notification or SMS, and by WhatsApp.
  • Replies you send in the Instagram app or in your Page inbox show up in Passtastic too.

Instagram and Messenger don't give us a phone number, so Passtastic can't match a chat to a customer by itself. You link it:

1. Open the chat and click Link to customer.

2. Search by name, email or phone and pick the customer.

Once linked, the customer's card sits beside the chat and the chat shows in their history. To undo it, click Unlink. The chat stays in the Inbox.

Send an offer on WhatsApp

1. Open Customers and select the customers.

2. Click Message.

3. Tick WhatsApp and pick a message type. You see how many customers will get it on WhatsApp.

4. Send.

  • Customers who agreed to WhatsApp get the offer there instead of the wallet notification or SMS, never twice.
  • WhatsApp sends finish in the background. You see the results in Customers → Messages history.
  • The same send can't be repeated within 10 minutes.
  • The same options are in Send message on the dashboard.

For automatic messages, open a program, go to Campaigns, open an offer and switch on Also send on WhatsApp. It is available for most automatic offers, for example birthday, we miss you and reward ready. Customers who agreed get it on WhatsApp instead of the wallet notification. See Messages and Campaigns. On Loyalty, bookings + app without the Bring customers back pack, WhatsApp offer messages are paused, and so are most offers that send automatically (both are part of the pack). A paused offer shows Paused · part of Bring customers back. An offer that keeps sending without the pack shows WhatsApp · paused: only its WhatsApp message is held back. Your settings stay saved, and everything resumes when you add the pack.

Customers must agree first

WhatsApp only allows offers to people who said yes. There are three ways to get that yes:

1. A checkbox on your join form. Customers tick "I want to receive offers from [your business name] on WhatsApp" when they sign up.

2. Invite members to WhatsApp in Settings → Messaging channels. Each member gets one wallet-card notification. Tapping it opens WhatsApp with a ready message, and sending it is their yes. You can send this once every 30 days.

3. My customers agreed to hear from me on WhatsApp. Tick this only if you already have their permission, for example from a paper signup form. Owners and admins can confirm it.

A customer who replies STOP (in any of our 8 languages) or blocks your number will not get offers.

Customers can also change their mind in your app. When WhatsApp is connected, My details shows Send me offers on WhatsApp. Switching it off stops offers, and so does a STOP on WhatsApp: the switch then shows as off. Switching it on again records a new yes.

What you see on each customer

Open a customer and stay on History (it opens first). Choose Chats to see their WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger conversations with an Open link to each chat, or Messages sent to see everything you sent on every channel, across all their cards, marked Sent via wallet card, Sent via SMS, Via WhatsApp, Via Instagram, Via Messenger or Sent via email. For WhatsApp you also see Delivered and Read.

Who can do what

  • Viewers can read messages.
  • Editors can reply and send offers.
  • Owners and admins can connect and disconnect WhatsApp (Instagram and Messenger once they open) and confirm that customers agreed.

The text WhatsApp wraps around your message is in the language you use Passtastic in.

Common questions

Can I send offers on Instagram or Messenger?
No. These channels are for replying to people who wrote to you first. Offers go by wallet notification or SMS, and by WhatsApp.
Do I keep my WhatsApp number?
Yes. You connect the number you already use with the WhatsApp Business app and keep using the app.
What if a customer never agreed?
They get nothing from you on WhatsApp. They still get the wallet notification or SMS as before, and you can still reply to them in the Inbox when they write to you.
Can I send the same offer twice by mistake?
No. The same send can't be repeated within 10 minutes.
Why can't I write to a chat?
On WhatsApp, more than 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message: pick a message type instead. On Instagram and Messenger, you can reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message; after that, answer in the Instagram app or in Messenger.
Why is the reply box locked?
On Loyalty, bookings + app, replying is part of the Bring customers back pack. Earlier plans include it, and so does your free trial. You can still read every message, and new ones keep arriving.