Set up Click-to-WhatsApp ads with Spur

A Click-to-WhatsApp (CTWA) ad opens a WhatsApp conversation with your business. The customer must send a message before Spur can process that incoming conversation. Clicking an ad or opening WhatsApp alone does not start the workflow described in this guide.

You create and manage the ad in Meta. In Spur, you connect the relevant accounts, decide which incoming ad messages start a workflow, build the conversation, and report conversion milestones.
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Routing and attribution are different. A keyword can start a conversation workflow, but it does not prove that the contact came from a paid ad. WhatsApp conversion reporting requires a Meta ad click ID. An ad ID identifies the ad; a click ID identifies the click used for conversion reporting. They are not interchangeable.
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Before starting, make sure you have:

A connection marked Connected is useful confirmation, but the practical check is whether you can select and use the required ad account. If you see Needs attention, resolve the connection or permission issue before configuring the campaign.
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Depending on the version of Spur you use, account settings and the workflow editor may open in different app screens or a new tab. Use the screen labels in this guide to orient yourself.
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Keep these connections separate: your WhatsApp channel receives and sends messages; the Meta account connection provides access for ad selection, reporting, and conversion events. Troubleshoot the connection relevant to the failing step.
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Use Meta Ads Manager to create or edit an ad that sends people to WhatsApp. Meta's available objectives and labels can vary by account and change over time; use the campaign setup that offers WhatsApp as the messaging destination rather than relying on an older screenshot's exact objective name.

Check the following before launch:

For optional keyword routing, use a distinctive phrase such as “I want the summer consultation”. A generic keyword such as “hi” can also match unrelated enquiries. Customers may edit the starter text, so do not rely on it as the only way to identify ad traffic.

Prepare the ad before selecting Specific Ads in Spur. Once the ad appears in the picker, select it and finish testing the workflow before scaling spend.

Do not add an arbitrary pixel just because an older guide shows one. Spur's current WhatsApp conversion integration sends business-messaging events to a dataset associated with your WhatsApp Business Account. Any additional event-source configuration required by your Meta account should be confirmed for that account; the older “Spur pixel” and “Offline events” screenshots are not a universal setup requirement.
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The workflow editor may open in a separate tab. A template's name alone does not guarantee that it uses the current ad-referral trigger; always inspect the trigger configuration.
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Under Which Ads should trigger this workflow?, choose All Ads when you want one shared entry workflow for incoming ad-referral messages on the selected WhatsApp channel.

This does not mean every message from every channel. The workflow is associated with its selected WhatsApp channel. Optional keywords can broaden text-based matching, as described below.
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Use Specific Ads when different campaigns need different offers, qualification questions, or team assignments.

If you change the business or ad account, recheck your ad selection. If you duplicate or replace an ad in Meta, verify that the new ad is included rather than assuming the original selection covers it.

The picker can display Ice Breakers supplied with the ads. Selected ad starter text can participate in matching. If you need strict campaign separation, use distinct starters and test the actual ads—not only their names or creative images.
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In Keyword Triggers, add a distinctive phrase used by this campaign, such as “summer consultation”.

Keyword matching provides a fallback for messages that do not match through the ad-referral selection, including messages without referral details. It can also match an ordinary message containing the phrase. Therefore, adding a keyword can make a Specific Ads workflow respond beyond the selected ads.

Use the default Message contains keyword behaviour for the setup in this guide. Matching is case-insensitive and can match text inside a longer message or word, so choose a distinctive phrase. If the editor offers other match modes, test their saved behaviour before relying on them for CTWA routing.

Where WhatsApp test links are shown under the keywords, you can use them to test the starter text. A normal wa.me link is not a paid-ad attribution test and does not itself provide a Meta ad click ID.
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Spur processes the first matching CTWA workflow for an incoming message. Do not assume that a Specific Ads workflow automatically takes priority over All Ads, or that every matching workflow will run.

For predictable routing:

Connect the trigger to a WhatsApp message that acknowledges the offer and sets expectations. For example:

Thanks for your interest in our summer consultation. Which service are you looking for?

Use message blocks appropriate to the response you need: text, buttons, lists, or User Input. Collect only information needed for the next step.

For a typed answer, add a User Input block and configure:

A workflow variable alone does not permanently update the contact. Use the contact-field option or a Set Custom Field action for information you need beyond the current run.
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After collecting the required answers, use conditions to route the contact. For example:

Use the builder's variable selector to reference the saved answers. Avoid typing a guessed variable name into a condition or message.

On the qualified path, you might:

These are workflow choices you configure, not steps that happen automatically whenever an ad message arrives.
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Decide whether the entry workflow or your AI agent owns the opening response, and test the handoff. Spur's CTWA handling suppresses the AI reply for an incoming message that starts a matched ad-referral workflow. This is not a permanent AI pause for the entire conversation; later messages and plain keyword matches can behave differently.

Do not assume that opening a ticket disables every automation. If your process needs a timed pause, review the Pause Automation action and the workspace's automation settings, then test the full conversation.

Add Send Meta Conversion API Event only after the customer has reached the milestone you want to report.

Examples:

A welcome message is not automatically a qualified lead. Opening a checkout link is not automatically a purchase. Sending an event does not create an order, collect payment, or independently verify the event's truth.

The action offers these event names. Use the one that describes what actually happened; availability in Spur does not mean Meta will offer every event as an optimisation goal for every campaign.

These examples describe event meaning, not additional automatic tracking supplied by the CTWA trigger. Your workflow or connected system must detect the milestone and reach the action.

Both fields can use workflow variables. Use a numeric, nonnegative value and a valid three-letter currency code such as INR, USD, or AED. For example, a purchase of 2,500 Indian rupees should use Value: 2500 and Currency: INR, not ₹2,500 in the value field.

For WhatsApp, Spur first looks for the ad click ID associated with the workflow's trigger. If it is unavailable there, it can use the click ID previously saved on the contact.

If neither is available, Spur skips the WhatsApp conversion event and continues the workflow. A completed workflow therefore does not prove that Meta received a conversion.

This explains why a keyword-only test can send all the expected messages while producing no ad conversion. An ad-referral card can also exist without a usable click ID: the ad ID and click ID are different pieces of information.

A later workflow can report a conversion using the saved click ID. This supports processes where qualification or purchase happens after the opening conversation.

You still need to connect that later business event to the correct contact and configure the action in the later workflow. The saved click ID does not guarantee that Meta will attribute every later event; Meta's eligibility, reporting, and attribution rules still apply.

Avoid reporting the same milestone from multiple workflow paths. Before retrying an execution that already sent a conversion, check whether the event was previously sent. CTWA entry deduplication is not a guarantee against duplicate conversion events.

Use a test contact to open the intended ad on WhatsApp's mobile app and send the opening message. An ad preview or a manually typed message can be useful for partial testing, but do not assume it carries the same referral and click ID as a real ad interaction.

Verify this complete sequence:

Also run a normal keyword-only message to confirm fallback behaviour. Keep that result separate from the attributed-ad test. Test the non-qualifying path as carefully as the qualifying path.

Spur prevents repeated CTWA entry for the same contact, workflow, and ad click ID. Where Meta supplies no click ID, recent entry from the same ad is also checked. Follow-up messages can continue carrying the original referral without representing a new ad entry.

If repeating a test does not restart the workflow, check for an existing execution before assuming the trigger is broken. Use a fresh, controlled ad interaction or a separate test contact; do not delete a real contact merely to reset a test.

Open the test conversation and find the incoming message. When Meta supplies referral information, Spur can show:

Not every referral includes every field. Missing creative media alone does not prove that routing failed.

From the CTWA trigger panel, select View Analytics Dashboard.

The dashboard includes Total Spend, Total Clicks, Messaging Connections, and Conversations Started, plus campaign metrics and ad previews.

Interpret these as different measures:

Use the same account, date range, and reporting context when comparing tools. Allow for Meta's processing and attribution rules rather than expecting every metric to update immediately or match one-for-one. Do not interpret No Campaign Data as proof that no customer contacted you.

Open the workflow's analytics to inspect runs. You can filter by date and status, search by contact name, number, or execution ID, and inspect the available execution information. Saved workflow answers can be useful when checking the path a customer took.

If a run stops early, review its exit conditions and state. If a conversion is missing, check whether the conversion action was reached and whether a click ID was available before retrying.

Treat permission to send a message and whether Meta charges for it as separate questions.

See Meta's current WhatsApp Business Platform pricing documentation for the applicable charging rules. Ask Spur support if the window displayed in your inbox appears inconsistent with your ability to send.

These are configurations you can build, not automatic behaviours enabled by connecting an ad account.

Specific Ads → Welcome → User Input → Qualification conditions → Tag and save fields → QualifiedLead → Open Ticket.

Use this when different campaigns have different qualification criteria. Keep a separate path for leads needing review or outside your service area. If you track both submission and qualification, place LeadSubmitted after the required information is provided and QualifiedLead after the qualification check.

Ad message → Ask about the product → Answer or hand off → Confirm purchase in the appropriate process → Purchase with value and currency.

If purchase happens later, configure the conversion in the later workflow and ensure it refers to the same contact. Do not send Purchase merely because the customer says they are interested.

All Ads → Ask what the customer needs → Conditions → Relevant response or assignee.

Use this when all ads should enter the same conversation. Avoid simultaneously enabling overlapping campaign-specific entry workflows without testing which one wins.

Distinctive starter phrase → Qualification workflow.

Useful when the intended message arrives without referral details. Treat this as text-based routing, not proof of paid acquisition. Without an available click ID, the WhatsApp conversion event is skipped.

Use your configured AI process to collect or evaluate information, then start a suitable workflow at the verified qualification milestone. That workflow can send QualifiedLead using the contact's saved click ID. AI qualification and the workflow handoff must be configured separately; connecting CTWA does not automatically create them.

This can appear as Meta error 100, subcode 1487246. A working Spur WhatsApp channel does not resolve missing advertising-asset permissions.

Ask the administrator of your Meta assets to check:

Resolve ownership/access or asset-sharing issues in Meta. Do not disconnect a working Spur channel as the first troubleshooting step. Granting the required Meta asset access does not require rebuilding your Spur workflows or templates.

Include the workspace, WhatsApp channel/number, workflow name or ID, execution ID if available, ad account ID, ad ID, timestamp and timezone, expected result, actual result, and the exact error. State whether the message came from a live ad, an ad preview, a keyword test link, or a manually typed message.

Share contact details only through an appropriate support channel. Never include access tokens, passwords, or other credentials in screenshots.

This setup uses Meta Ads Manager for the ad and Spur for the messaging workflow, conversion actions, and reporting. Creating the workflow does not publish an ad or start ad spend.

Ad-referral routing can match the ad itself. Text matching depends on the configured keywords or ad starter text. A customer who edits the message may not satisfy your keyword fallback, so test referral routing separately.

Yes. Select several ads under Specific Ads, or use All Ads for a shared entry point on that WhatsApp channel.

Do not design for every matching workflow to run. The incoming CTWA handler uses the first match. Keep entry routing non-overlapping.

Not by itself. It can open WhatsApp and prefill a keyword, but it does not substitute for Meta's ad referral and click ID.

Yes, a later workflow can use the click ID saved on the contact. You must configure that later workflow and associate it with the right contact. Meta ultimately determines attribution.

No result is guaranteed. Accurate events provide signals to Meta, but campaign eligibility, optimisation settings, volume, learning, and delivery remain subject to Meta's rules.

Not necessarily. Spur's event selector is not a guarantee of campaign-goal availability or identical labels in Meta reports.

No. If no click ID is available, Spur skips the WhatsApp conversion event and continues. Verify event receipt separately.

Review what already happened first. A retry can repeat messages or business actions, including a conversion that succeeded before a later step failed.

Do not assume a universal 72-hour entitlement. Meta's current free-entry-point eligibility and charging rules apply, and charging eligibility is different from permission to send a non-template message. Ad spend and Spur charges are separate.

Availability depends on the features and permissions enabled for your workspace. If you cannot access the required screen or action, ask your workspace administrator or Spur support to confirm availability rather than assuming a particular plan includes it.