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How can I tell whether a WhatsApp chat came from my Snapchat ad or my TikTok profile?

Give each channel its own link with a pre-filled message that carries a short marker, such as '(Snapchat ad)' or '(TikTok)'. When the chat arrives, the marker tells you where it started. It is not guaranteed, since the customer can delete or edit the message, but it is the simplest method there is and needs no analytics tool.

Published · 3 min read

Why WhatsApp does not tell you the source

When a customer taps a wa.me link and sends, what reaches your chat is the message text and nothing else. You do not see the link they tapped or the page they came from. So if you use one link everywhere, every chat looks alike and you cannot tell which ad earns its budget. The only thing that travels from the link into your chat is the pre-filled message, so let the message carry the source.

The method

  1. Decide which channels you want to compare: a Snapchat ad, your TikTok profile, your Instagram bio, and so on.
  2. In the WhatsApp link generator, type your number once, then the first channel's message with its marker, such as 'Hi, I have a question (Snapchat ad)'.
  3. Copy the link and use it in that channel only.
  4. Change the marker for the next channel, such as 'Hi (TikTok)', and copy the new link.
  5. Note the marker each chat arrived with, even on a simple sheet, and compare at the end of the week.

Choosing a marker

  • Short and meaningful to the customer, who sees it in the message box before sending. '(Snapchat ad)' makes sense; a code like X7Q may get deleted as a typo.
  • At the end of the message, so the opening still reads naturally.
  • Clearly different between channels, so they do not blur together when you skim your chats.

Round brackets stay as they are inside the link, while square brackets are encoded. 'Hi (TikTok)' becomes Hi%20(TikTok), whereas 'Hi [SNAP]' becomes Hi%20%5BSNAP%5D. Both work, but the first stays readable in the link, so you can tell at a glance which link belongs to which channel.

The limits, plainly

  • Customers can delete the marker or the whole message, so some chats will arrive with no source.
  • Anyone who copies your number and messages you directly never goes through the link.
  • The marker tells you where the chat started, not where the customer first heard of your shop.

UTM tags are for links to your website: if an ad sends people to a page in your store, build that page's link with the UTM campaign link builder and read the source in your site analytics. Do not expect UTM tags to show up in a WhatsApp chat, though; the chat shows only the text.

Common questions

Does the tool save the links I made for each channel?

No. The tool stores nothing, so keep the links yourself in a file next to each channel's name.

Will the marker put customers off?

Rarely, if it is short and clear. Test it by opening the link on your phone to see how it looks in the message box.