How to Create a WhatsApp Channel for a Brand.

The short answer

Before you create a WhatsApp channel, decide which account will own it, who else will run it and what the first week of updates will be. Followers will not see the admin’s name, picture or phone number. They find a channel by link, by a share from a friend or through WhatsApp’s directory, so plan for all three.

Where channels sit, and why it shapes the plan

On WhatsApp, channels live in the Updates tab. WhatsApp describes that tab as home to Status and Channels, separate from personal chats.

That is the first trade-off to accept. A brand’s updates do not land in the chat list next to a follower’s family and friends. They sit in a feed the follower has to choose to open, so the channel has to earn the visit every time.

It also makes the launch an Operations job before it is a content one: ownership, access and approvals come first. The strategic case for a channel is in what WhatsApp channels are actually for.

Check you can create one yet

WhatsApp’s help centre says it is rolling channels out gradually and in a limited number of countries, so channel creation is not available to everyone yet. It offers a waitlist for people who cannot create one.

For a brand with teams in several markets, confirm creation works on the phone that will own the channel, in the market where it will run, before a launch date goes in anyone’s diary.

Decide whose account owns it

A channel is run from a WhatsApp account, and that choice matters more than the channel’s name. WhatsApp says followers will not see your WhatsApp profile name, picture or phone number. Admins are a different matter: WhatsApp’s help centre says channel admins can see each other.

Our view is simple. Create the channel on an account the business controls, not on one person’s personal phone, and add a second admin so the channel does not depend on one handset or one employee.

What followers and admins can see

WhatsApp’s privacy rules for channels work in both directions.

• Followers cannot see the admin’s WhatsApp profile name, picture or phone number.
• Followers are not visible to each other. Other followers cannot see their name, phone number, profile picture, reactions or poll votes.
• A follower’s contacts cannot see which channels they follow, unless that contact is an admin of the channel.
• Admins who do not have a follower saved as a contact may see that follower’s profile picture and how they interact with the channel, but not their full phone number or profile name.
• Admins who do have a follower saved as a contact can see all of that follower’s profile, including name, full phone number and profile photo.

The last point is the one to brief the team on. WhatsApp also lets admins see which followers are their contacts from the follower list. An admin with customers saved in their phone can see which of them follow the brand’s channel, with full profiles. Give admin access only to the people who need it.

What you can post

WhatsApp lists the kinds of updates admins can share: text, images, videos, stickers, links, audio and polls.

In a roundup in April 2025, WhatsApp added two more. Admins can now record and share short video notes of 60 seconds or less, and followers can get a written summary of voice message updates when they cannot listen.

WhatsApp’s help centre says followers cannot reply to updates or message admins. They can react with emoji and vote in polls. That makes reactions and polls the only feedback a channel gives you, so plan them into the week rather than hoping for them.

How people find a channel

WhatsApp names three routes in.

• An external link, which you can share on other websites or apps. The channel and its updates open in WhatsApp.
• In-app sharing, where followers share channels they like with their own WhatsApp contacts.
• Browsing in the app, where people search for channels or browse the directory. WhatsApp sorts some channels into categories there.

In the same April 2025 roundup, it added a fourth tool: a unique QR code that links straight to the channel.

Only one of those routes is outside your control, and it is the directory. The link and the QR code are yours to place, and shares only happen once people already follow. In our view, a directory visitor judges the channel on what they see when they open it, which is why the first week matters.

The first week plan

This is the plan we would run for a brand launch. It is a starting rhythm, not a rule.

1. Before launch: agree who owns the account, add the second admin, and agree who approves updates.
2. Day one: post three or four updates before you share the link anywhere, so the first visitor finds something worth following.
3. Days one to three: put the link and the QR code where your audience already is, such as your website, email, other social profiles, packaging and anywhere in store.
4. Midweek: run a poll. It is the one way followers can answer you.
5. Later in the week: try a short video note, so you learn early whether your audience watches them.
6. End of the week: read the insights before you plan week two.

If the channel is one of several your team is launching and running at once, that is the kind of setup our social media management work is built around.

Read the insights at the end of the week

WhatsApp gives admins insights on the channel’s growth and reach for the last 30 days: accounts reached, top regions, follows and unfollows, the number of followers, and reaction and poll details.

Two readings matter in week one. Follows against unfollows after each place you shared the link tell you which routes bring people who stay. Top regions against your target market tell you whether you are reaching the audience you meant to, or just the one that found you.

What to know before you promise anything

When WhatsApp introduced channels in June 2023, it said channel history would be stored on its servers for up to 30 days, and that channels are not end-to-end encrypted by default. Its help centre says personal messages and calls stay end-to-end encrypted.

Two practical consequences follow. Treat the channel as a broadcast feed, not an archive, and keep anything you need to keep somewhere you own. And never post anything you would not be comfortable seeing outside the channel.

WhatsApp also says admins must keep content age-appropriate, and that anyone can report a channel.

How NBK thinks about WhatsApp Channels

A channel is cheap to open and easy to neglect. The brands that get value from one treat it like any other channel in the system: an owner, an approval step, a weekly rhythm and a read of the numbers.

If you are also deciding how customers should find and reach you on WhatsApp in the first place, our piece on how WhatsApp usernames change brand interaction covers that side.

Next step

If you want social to run with more clarity, rhythm and accountability, NBK can help build the system.