Marketing · 5 min read · Savina Bansal
WhatsApp Status Ads in India: Should Small Brands Try?
WhatsApp now shows ads between Status updates. How they work, what they can’t target, whether they’re live for you in India, and a ₹100/day test plan.
Building the platform this article is about
WhatsApp Status ads are full-screen ads shown between people’s Status updates, in the Updates tab. You buy them in Meta Ads Manager, and a tap can open a WhatsApp chat with you. Meta is rolling them out gradually, so check Ads Manager to see whether the placement is live for your account. Ohanvi, a WhatsApp marketing platform, suggests a small test before any big budget.
What Meta launched
In June 2025, Meta announced three new things in WhatsApp’s Updates tab:
Ads in Status — ads between Status updates. People can tap to start a chat with you.
Promoted Channels — pay to show your WhatsApp Channel in the Channels directory.
Channel subscriptions — followers pay a monthly fee for exclusive updates. This one is mainly for creators and media.
In September 2025, Meta added click-to-WhatsApp ads with a Status placement, reported by Social Media Today. These appear only in the Updates tab.
The quotable version: WhatsApp Status ads never appear inside chats; they live only in the Updates tab.
What they can and can’t target
Meta says Status ads use limited information: country or city, language, the Channels a person follows, and how they’ve responded to ads before.
Meta says personal messages, calls and groups are never used to pick ads, and phone numbers are never sold to advertisers.
For you, that means no custom audiences from your customer list on this placement. Expect colder traffic than Instagram or Facebook ads.
Are they live in India?
It depends on your account. Meta said in 2025 that Status ads “are not available in all regions as yet”. In February 2026, exchange4media named Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, the US and the Philippines as early markets. India wasn’t on that list.
The simple check: open Ads Manager, create a click-to-WhatsApp campaign, and look for “WhatsApp Status” under placements. If it’s there, it’s live for you.
A ₹100/day test plan
Ravi sells handmade candles in Bengaluru. Here’s how he’d test Status ads without wasting money.
Run it as its own ad set. Don’t mix it with Instagram or Facebook placements, or you can’t tell which one worked.
Spend ₹100 a day for 7 days. That’s ₹700 to learn something real.
Write for a 2-second glance. One product, one price, one line: “Diwali gift box, ₹499. Tap to order on WhatsApp.”
Use the local language. Language is one of the few things you can target. A Kannada ad in Mysuru may beat an English one.
Have a welcome reply ready. When someone taps, answer within seconds with buttons: “See gift boxes”, “Talk to us”.
Compare cost per chat with your regular click-to-WhatsApp ads. Keep whichever is cheaper.
When a chat starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on Meta’s Android or iOS app and you reply, Meta opens a free entry point window. Meta says it can stay open for up to 7 days, and the messages you send inside it carry no WhatsApp message charges.
What will it cost?
Meta doesn’t publish fixed prices. Status ads run on the same auction as Facebook and Instagram ads, so the cost of a chat depends on your audience, your creative and the season. Your own 7-day test will tell you more than any estimate.
How Ohanvi helps
Ohanvi doesn’t sell ads. It handles what happens after the tap: an instant welcome reply, a bot that answers common questions, and a shared inbox so no lead waits.
Ohanvi’s Click-to-WhatsApp Ads manager is on every plan, including ₹0 a month.
Before you spend
Questions this answers
- What are WhatsApp Status ads?
- WhatsApp Status ads are full-screen ads shown between Status updates in WhatsApp’s Updates tab. Businesses buy them in Meta Ads Manager, and a tap can open a chat with the business. Meta says personal chats, calls and groups are never used to target them, and they never appear inside chats.
- Are WhatsApp Status ads available in India?
- Meta is rolling Status ads out gradually, region by region. To check, create a click-to-WhatsApp campaign in Meta Ads Manager and look for the WhatsApp Status placement. If you see it, it’s available for your account. Early 2026 reports did not list India among the first markets.
- Do I pay WhatsApp message charges on chats from Status ads?
- Not while Meta’s free entry point window is open. When a chat starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on Meta’s mobile app and you reply, Meta opens that window — its documentation says it can stay open for up to 7 days — and charges nothing for messages sent inside it. After it closes, normal WhatsApp rates apply.
