# Opt-In, STOP and Sender Reputation | BM CRM | Singapore

> WhatsApp opt-in rules in plain language: what counts as consent, the 24-hour window, STOP handling, and how to run marketing that never risks your number.

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## The opt-in rules that keep your WhatsApp number alive

On WhatsApp, your sender reputation is a business asset, and it is earned. This guide explains opt-in, STOP, and quality ratings in plain language, and the habits that keep a number healthy for years.

## What opt-in really means

Opt-in means the person agreed to hear from your business on WhatsApp, by messaging you first, ticking a box on your form, or telling you in conversation. A purchased list is the opposite of opt-in.

Practical consequence: leads who message you or submit your ad form have opted into the conversation they started; broadening beyond that, newsletters, promotions, should be its own clear yes.

## STOP is sacred

When someone writes STOP (in any phrasing), everything to them must stop, instantly, across campaigns and automations, and only the customer can reverse it. This must be enforced by your system, not by someone remembering.

Honoring STOP well is what keeps the rest of your list warm and your block rate low. A clean list outperforms a big one.

## How quality ratings behave

WhatsApp watches how people react to your messages: blocks and reports lower your rating; replies and continued conversations support it. Ratings move gradually, and recover when behavior improves.

The levers are boring and effective: message people who expect you, be useful in the first line, send at humane hours, and prune contacts who never engage.

## Habits of long-lived numbers

Warm up sending volumes gradually rather than blasting a cold list on day one. Watch reply rates per campaign, falling replies predict trouble before ratings move.

And automate the guardrails: opt-out enforcement, quiet hours, failure-spike pausing. Numbers die from repeated small carelessness, almost never from one mistake.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does an ad click count as opt-in?

Starting a WhatsApp conversation from an ad opts the person into that conversation. Ongoing marketing beyond it deserves its own explicit yes, a box on the form, or a question in chat.

### Can a customer opt back in after STOP?

Yes, but only the customer can, by telling you so. Nothing on the business side should ever reverse an opt-out.

### What lowers a quality rating fastest?

Blocks and reports, which follow from messaging people who never asked, irrelevant content, and bad timing. The fix is always the list, not the copy.

### Does a customer messaging us first count as opt-in?

It opens a day-long window in which you can answer them freely, which covers the conversation. Marketing to them later is a separate agreement, and it is worth asking for plainly.

### How do we collect opt-in without making the form longer?

One line beside the phone field saying what you will send. Recorded with the contact, it takes a second to collect and settles the question for good.

### What does good standing actually get us?

Reach. A number people are glad to hear from can start conversations with more new people each day than one people block, which is the practical reward for all of it.

### Can we buy a list to get started?

It is the fastest way to spend a good number, and the people on it were not going to buy anyway. A small list you collected yourself outperforms a large one you did not.

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[BM CRM](https://www.bmcrm.ai), https://www.bmcrm.ai/en-sg/guides/whatsapp-opt-in-guide