In this article, we’ll learn about the WhatsApp Business display name, its importance to businesses and the guidelines for getting it approved. If you intend to turn your default WhatsApp Business account into an official account, read on to find out how you can get your display name approved for the transition.
What is a WhatsApp Business Display Name?
The WhatsApp display name is the name of the business shown on the contact view screen. Display names allow contacts to identify business accounts without adding them to their contact list.
Display names appear differently depending on the status of the account. Here are the differences between them.
Official Business Account
With an official business account, the WhatsApp Business display name will:
- Be seen from the chat list, chat screen and WhatsApp notifications even if a contact hasn’t added the business account to their contact list
- Have a green tick next to it when it’s displayed on top of the chat screen and on the contact view screen of the business account
Default Business Account
With a default WhatsApp Business Account, the WhatsApp Business display name will:
- Only be shown on the contact view screen of the business account
- Not have a green tick next to the display name on any screen
Now that you know the purpose of a WhatsApp Business display name, here’s why you should care about getting one.
Why Should Businesses Get Official WhatsApp Display Name?
Since official WhatsApp display names are difficult to obtain, they give businesses more credibility. Official WhatsApp display names give contacts ease of mind as they know they are speaking with a verified business account, especially when sharing sensitive information.
If you’re looking to pass your WhatsApp API account business verification to increase your messaging limits or to become an Official WhatsApp Business Account, you’ll need a suitable display name to pass the review process.
How Do Businesses Get Their WhatsApp Business Name Approved?
Meta is very specific regarding the types of names it approves for Official WhatsApp Business Accounts. Display names must represent businesses accurately and cannot be used to mislead their contacts. To get a display name approved, businesses must follow these rules.
Since the display name review is such an important procedure, let’s run through each rule in the list. We’ll use our made-up business, Grub N Go Food Delivery, to help illustrate what will or won’t pass the display name review process.
A WhatsApp Business Display Name Should Comply with WhatsApp Policies
A display name should not violate WhatsApp’s Commerce and Business policies. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed as it's a food delivery service and doesn’t violate any of WhatsApp’s policies
- Grub N Go Drugs & Alcohol - is not allowed as it violates the Commerce policy
A WhatsApp Business Display Name Should Accurately Represent Your Business
A display name should represent a business or its service, product, or department; or be a test account or demo account and must maintain an association with the business.
A display name should not be an individual's full name, a generic term (e.g., Fashion), a generic geographic location (e.g., New York), a slogan or a long description.
An organization with a government affiliation needs the WhatsApp team's approval. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery Test - is allowed when used for a testing account
- Grub N Go Food Delivery George - is not allowed since it doesn’t represent a service, product or department
- George Wong - is not allowed because it is an individual’s full name
- Food Delivery - is not allowed because it is a generic term
- Fresh and Fast, Never Slow - is not allowed because it is a slogan
A WhatsApp Business Display Name Should Be Consistent With External Branding
A WhatsApp Business display name must have consistent branding with external sources, such as a company's website or marketing. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed because it follows the company’s external branding
- Grub N Go Delivery - is not allowed because “Food” was removed from the business name
- GNG Food Delivery - is not allowed because it is an abbreviation of the company name inconsistent with external branding
A WhatsApp Business Display Name Should Show Clear Relationship with Your Business
A display name must have a clear relationship with your business — it must be referred to on the business's website or external media references. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed because that’s the name of the company on the website and all marketing materials
- GNGFD - is not allowed because the company is not referred to by its abbreviation
If the relationship between your company and the brand is not obvious, indicate the relationship using “by [company name].” For example:
- Instant Pizza by Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed because the name explains the relationship between the two names
- Instant Pizza - is not allowed because it doesn’t explain its relationship to Grub N Go Food Delivery
If the WhatsApp Business display name represents a business that the company is working with (i.e., if the business is an agency, distributor, partner, or parent company), then the relationship between the business represented in the display name and end-client business must be evident and clear in both parties’ business websites. For example:
- If respond.io wants to use the display name Grub N Go Food Delivery, they must submit both websites stating that Grub N Go Food Delivery is a subsidiary of respond.io
Capitalization and Grammar
A display name may not be in all capitals, must have grammatically correct capitalization, and should match the capitalization used in your business name. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed
- grub n go food delivery - is not allowed because the business name uses proper capitalization
- GRUB N GO FOOD DELIVERY - is not allowed because the business name uses proper capitalization
Spacing
Do not change the spacing from the spacing used in your business name. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed
- GrubNGo Food Delivery - is not allowed because it doesn’t follow the business name’s spacing
- Grub N Go FoodDelivery - is not allowed because it doesn’t follow the business name’s spacing
Punctuation
Do not add any extra punctuation, emojis, or character symbols such as trademark designations. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed because it follows the business name
- Grub N Go: Food Delivery - is not allowed because it doesn’t follow the business name
- Grub ‘N Go! Food Delivery - is not allowed because it doesn’t follow the business name
Extra Words
Do not add extra words to your company or brand name unless the words indicate country or region, department or function, or “Test” or “Demo” accounts. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery Spain - is allowed
- Grub N Go Food Delivery Customer Support - is allowed
- Grub N Go Official Account - is not allowed since ‘Official Account’ doesn’t indicate a country or region, department or function, or test or demo account
Capitalization of Extra Words
If you add permitted words, the first letter of the word must be capitalized. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery Spain - is allowed
- Grub N Go Food Delivery Customer Support - is allowed
- Grub N Go Food Delivery spain - is not allowed because Spain isn’t capitalized
- Grub N Go Food Delivery customer support - is not allowed Customer Support isn’t capitalized
A WhatsApp Business Display Name Should Have a Minimum of 3 Characters
A WhatsApp Business display name must contain a minimum of three characters. For the following examples, we will use GNG as the official business name instead of Grub N Go Food Delivery:
- GNG - would be allowed
- GG - would not be allowed because it falls below the minimum of 3 characters and is also not the name of the company
URL Format in Display Name
A WhatsApp Business display name may not be in URL format unless it is the company's business name. For example:
- Grub N Go Food Delivery - is allowed because it doesn’t contain a URL
- respond.io - is allowed because that is the business name of the company and how it is normally referred to
- GrubNGoFoodDelivery.com - is not allowed because it contains a URL
Once your WhatsApp Business display name is ready, you’re one step closer to getting your account officially verified. Be sure to read our complete guide on verifying your WhatsApp Business Account to find out what to do next!
Further Reading
If you found this article helpful, here are some additional articles on getting the most out of WhatsApp for your business:
- How to Get a WhatsApp API Account
- The Ultimate Guide to WhatsApp API
- How To Verify Business on Facebook
