Multilingual WhatsApp templates in Instant Messaging

Ever wondered what it feels like to be greeted in your own language by a brand you love?

A “Welcome!” feels nice, but a “¡Bienvenido!” or “स्वागत है!” feels personal.

 

In today’s global world, conversations often need to cross both time zones and cross languages. But expecting every support agent to speak every language under the sun is just not realistic.

That’s where multilingual WhatsApp templates in IM come in, helping your business sound local, friendly, and familiar no matter where your customers are from.

  

Business example   

Imagine you run an online travel agency.

A customer from Paris signs up for an itinerary update, and another customer from Japan signs up on the same day.

Both receive the same notification template, but:

1. The French customer sees “Votre réservation est confirmée.”
   
2. The Japanese customer sees “ご予約が確認されました。”
   

Same workflow, same template, but each customer receives a message that feels tailored to them.

This is the power of multilingual templates.

 

What is a WhatsApp template?  

A WhatsApp template is a pre-approved message format that businesses use to send reliable, consistent communication to customers. They are perfect for alerts, confirmations, reminders, notifications, and marketing messages.

 

How WhatsApp templates make your business communication more effective

1. Templates help you stay consistent and efficient.
   
2. They make sure every message follows WhatsApp policies.
   
3. They reduce agent effort since no one needs to retype the same message.
   
4. They support automation for essential updates and help maintain a high-quality customer experience during busy hours.
   

Once you have a solid template strategy, the next step is making those messages feel truly personal. That is where multilingual templates come in.

 

What are multilingual WhatsApp templates?   

When you create a WhatsApp message template, you can attach translations in English, Spanish, Hindi, French, or any other language you need to use with customers.

Same message, same tone, but each recipient can read it in their own language.

For example:

Your customer in Madrid sees “¡Bienvenido!”, while someone in Mumbai gets “स्वागत है!”.

And yes, if you add a translation later, it will go through Meta’s approval again.

 

What if their language isn’t supported?  

No worries! IM will fall back to your default language (usually English) so your message always reaches the customer.

No gaps, no confusion, just consistent communication.

Pricing overview for multilingual templates   

1. Each approved translation is treated as its own template
   
2. Charges apply for every delivered template message in each language
   
3. Utility template messages are free if delivered within 24 hours of a user-initiated message
   
4. Marketing templates always follow WhatsApp Business Platform pricing
   

 

 For full pricing details, see the help document: 

 WhatsApp Business Platform: Comprehensive Pricing User Education Guide 

How language mapping works in IM   

Every template in IM begins with a default language. When IM detects the customer’s preferred language, it automatically sends the message in that version.

For example:

1. If your French translation is ready, French customers receive that version of that WhatsApp template.
   
2. If your German version isn’t ready yet, IM sends the English template instead. 

No delays, no lost messages.

 

Best practices for setting up templates in  IM

1. Choose the correct category (for example, Marketing for offers)
   
2. Use clean numbered placeholders like {{1}} and {{2}}
   
3. Limit emojis.
   
4. Always use real translations; WhatsApp doesn’t auto-translate
   
5. Set fallback logic in IM mapping
   
6. Make sure you have customer opt-in for proactive messages
   
7. Review reclassifications after approval, as Meta might update your category
   
8. If a template is rejected, correct the issue and resubmit.
   

Why this matters   

When you speak your customers’ language, you make them feel seen, valued, and understood. That builds trust, improves engagement, and creates a lasting connection.

So the next time you’re sending a message, think beyond just delivering information. Think about connecting with people, one language at a time.

 

Your turn!

Have you tried multilingual templates in IM yet?

What worked for you and what challenges did you face?

Share your thoughts below and let’s learn from each other!  

Regards,

Prabin | Zoho Desk

• Topic Participants

• Raj R

  

• Sticky Posts

• Zoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences

  Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynote

• WhatsApp pricing changes: Pay per message starting July 1, 2025

  Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is shifting from conversation-based pricing to per-message billing. That means every business-initiated message you send will count. Not just the first one in a 24-hour window. Pricing updates on the WhatsApp Business Platform

• Live Webinar - Work smarter with Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace integration

  Hello customers! Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace are coming together for a webinar on 14th May, 2024. Zoho Workplace is a suite of productivity apps for email, chat, docs, calls, and more at one single place. Zoho Desk is closely integrated with a few tools

• Apple iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates for Zoho Desk users

  Hello Zoho Desk users! Apple recently announced the release of iOS 17 and iPad OS 17. These latest OS updates will help you stay productive and efficient, through interactive and seamless user experiences. Zoho Desk has incorporated the updates to help

• Zoho Desk Cheat Sheet For The Year-End

  Check out these Zoho Desk best practices to end this year on a high and have a great one ahead! #1 Set Business (Holiday) Hours - If you have limited working hours, please make sure you restrict your business hours or set them as holidays for the coming days. Let your customers know when you will, and won't, be available. #2 Update the Annual Holiday List - Check the holidays for the new year and update the holiday schedule. Usually, holidays from the current year will be carried over for the next

• Recent Topics

• In the Zoho CRM Module I have TRN Field I should contain 15 digit Number , If it Contain less than 15 digit Then show Alert message on save of the button , If it not contain any number not want to sh

  Hi In the Zoho CRM Module I have TRN Field I should contain 15 digit Number , If it Contain less than 15 digit Then show Alert message on save of the button , If it not contain any number not want to show alert. How We can achive in Zoho CRm Using custom

• Zoho Bookings know-how: A hands-on workshop series

  Hello! We’re conducting a hands-on workshop series to help simplify appointment scheduling for your business with Zoho Bookings. We’ll be covering various functionalities and showing how you can leverage them for your business across five different sessions.

• Custom report

  Hello Everyone I hope everything is fine. I've tried to To change the layout of the reports, especially the summary page report, and I want to divide summary of each section in the survey but I can't For example: I have a survey containing five different

• Zoho Journey - ZOHO MARKETING AUTOMATION

  I’ve encountered an issue while working with a journey in Zoho Marketing Automation. After creating the journey, I wanted to edit the "Match Criteria" settings. Unfortunately: The criteria section appears to be locked and not editable. I’m also unable

• Custom Fields in PDF outputs

  I created a couple of custom fields. e.g Country of Origin and HS Tariff Code. I need these to appear on a clone of a sales order PDF template but on on the standard PDF template. When I select "appear on PDFs' it appears on both but when I don't select

• How to create a Service Agreement with Quarterly Estimate

  Hello, I'm not sure if this has been asked before so please don't get mad at me for asking. We're an NDIS provider in Australia so we need to draft a Service Agreement for our client. With the recent changes in the NDIS we're now required to also include

• Zoho Social - Post Footer Templates

  As a content creator I often want to include some information at the end of most posts. It would be great if there was an option to add pre-written footers, similar to the Hashtag Groups at the end of posts. For example, if there is an offer I'm running

• Allow to pick color for project groups in Zoho Projects

  Hi Zoho Team, It would be really helpful if users could assign colors to project groups. This would make it easier to visually distinguish groups, improve navigation, and give a clearer overview when managing multiple projects. Thanks for considering

• Zoho Books - Quotes to Sales Order Automation

  Hi Books team, In the Quote settings there is an option to convert a Quote to an Invoice upon acceptance, but there is not feature to convert a Quote to a Sales Order (see screenshot below) For users selling products through Zoho Inventory, the workflow

• Can't find imported leads

  Hi There I have imported leads into the CRM via a .xls document, and the import is showing up as having been successful, however - when I try and locate the leads in the CRM system, I cannot find them.  1. There are no filters applied  2. They are not

• Custom Button Disappearing in mobile view | Zoho CRM Canvas

  I'm working in Zoho CRM Canvas to create a custom view for our sales team. One of the features I'm adding is a custom button that opens the leads address in another tab. I've had no issue with this in the desktop view, but in the mobile view the button

• The connected workflow is a great idea just needs Projects Integrations

  I just discovered the connected workflows in CRM and its a Great Idea i wish it was integrated with Zoho Projects I will explain our use case I am already trying to do something like connected workflow with zoho flow Our requirement was to Create a Task

• Zoho Projects MCP Feedback

  I've started using the MCP connector with Zoho Projects, and the features that exist really do work quite well - I feel this is going to be a major update to the Zoho Ecosystem. In projects a major missing feature is the ability to manage, (especially

• email template

  How do I create and save an email template

• Enhancements in Portal User Group creation flow

  Hello everyone, Before introducing new Portal features, here are some changes to the UI of Portals page to improve the user experience. Some tabs and options have been repositioned so that users can better access the functionalities of the feature. From

• blank page after login

  blank page after logging into my email account Thanks you

• Always display images from this sender – Is this feature available?

  In Zoho mail, I had my "Load external images" setting set to "Ask me", and that's fine. That's the setting I prefer. What's not fine though is I always need to tick "Display now" for each email I get, regardless if I've done that multiple times from several

• Zoho Notebook Sync problem

  I'm facing a problem with syncing of notebook on android app. It's not syncing. Sometimes it syncs after a day or two.  I created some notes on web notebook but it's not syncing on mobile app. Please help!!!!

• Cant Save Gauge on Creator Page

  How to Save Gauge on Creator Page see movie https://vimeo.com/1116410860?share=copy#t=0

• Apply Advance option not shown in report

  We are facing an issue in Zoho Expenses. While approving an Expense Report, the "Apply Advance" option is not appearing under the three dots (More Options). Details: Module: Expense Reports Issue: "Apply Advance" option not visible Status of Report: Awaiting

• Auto Capitalize First Letter of Words

  Hi I am completely new to ZOHO and am trying to build a database. How can i make it when a address is entered into a form field like this: main st it automatically changes is to show: Main St Thank You

• Follow-up emails via Workflow Automation not staying in the same thread

  Dear Zoho Support Team, I am currently using Workflow Automation in Zoho Campaigns to send follow-up emails. In my test case, I noticed the following behavior: All emails in the automation have the same subject line. If the follow-up email is sent within

• Client Script refuses to set an initial value in Subform field

  I tried a very simple, 1 line client script to set a default value in a custom subform field when the "Add Row" button is clicked and the user is entering data. It does not work - can someone tell me why? ZDK documentation suggests this should be doable.

• Help Center IFrame Issue

  I have had a working Help Center on my website using an iframe for a while. But now for some reason the sign in page gets a refused to connect error. Can someone please help. If I go to the url manually it works correclty

• Comment Templates

  Is it possible to add a template option for comments? We have some agents in the process who's responses require a pre-formatted layout. It would be incredibly handy to have a template for them where they can insert the template and then add their responses

• [ZohoDesk] Improve Status View with a new editeble kanban view

  A kanban view with more information about the ticket and the contact who created the ticket would be valueble. I would like to edit the fields with the ones i like to see at one glance. Like in CRM where you can edit the canvas view, i would like to edit

• Adding Markdown text using Zoho Desk API into the Knowledge Base

  Hi Zoho Community members, We currently maintain the documentation of out company in its website. This documentation is written in markdown text format and we would like to add it in Zoho Knowledge Base. Do you know if there is REST API functionality

• An Exclusive Session for Zoho Desk Users: AI in Zoho Desk

  A Zoho Community Learning Initiative Hello everyone! This is an announcement for Zoho Desk users and anyone exploring Zoho Desk. With every nook and corner buzzing, "AI's here, AI's there," it's the right time for us to take a closer look at how the AI

• Shared values: From classroom lessons to teaching moments in customer service

  While the world observes Teachers’ Day on October 5, in India, we celebrate a month earlier, on September 5, to mark the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great teacher, renowned scholar, educationist, and advocate for empowerment.

• Create a list of customers who participated in specific Zoho Backstage events and send them an email via Zoho CRM

  How to create a list of customers who participated in specific Zoho Backstage events and send them an email via Zoho CRM? I was able to do a view in CRM based on customer that registered to an event, but I don't seems to be able to include the filter

• Zoho Desk blank page

  1. Click Access zoho desk on https://www.zoho.com/desk/ 2. It redirects to https://desk.zoho.com/agent?action=CreatePortal and the page is blank. Edge browser Version 131.0.2903.112 (Official build) (arm64) on MacOS

• I hate the new user UI with the bar on the left

  How can I reverse this?

• Question regarding import of previous deals...

  Good afternoon, I'm working on importing some older deal records from an external sheet into the CRM; however, when I manually click "Add New Deal" and enter the pertinent information, the deal isn't appearing when I look at the "Deals" bar on the account's

• Client Script also planned for Zoho Desk?

  Hello there, I modified something in Zoho CRM the other day and was amazed at the possibilities offered by the "Client Script" feature in conjunction with the ZDK. You can lock any fields on the screen, edit them, you can react to various events (field

• One person/cell phone to manage multiple accounts

  Hi. I have a personal Free account to keep my own domain/emails. Now I need to create a Business account to my company's own domain, but I have only one mobile phone number I use to everything. How do I do to manage this? Can I manage a Free domain and

• Tracking KPIs, Goals etc in People

  How are Zoho People users tracking employee targets in People? For example, my marketing assistant has a target of "Collect 10 new customer testimonials every month". I want to record attainment for this target on a monthly basis, then add it to their

• Zoho Desk: Ticket Owner Agents vs Teams

  Hi Zoho, We would like to explore the possibility of hiding the ‘Agents’ section within the Ticket Owner dropdown, so that we can fully utilise the ‘Teams’ dropdown when assigning tickets. This request comes from the fact that only certain agents and

• Can not Use Attachment Button on Android Widget

  this always pops up when I touch the attach button on android widget. going to settings, there is no storage permission to be enabled. if I open the app, and access the attach feature there, I can access my storage and upload normally.

• Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.24.0)

  Hello everyone! Trident for macOS (v.1.24.0) is here with interesting features and thoughtful enhancements to redefine the way you plan and manage your calendar events. Here's a quick look at what's new. Create calendar events from emails. In addition

• Mass Mail Statistics - Number of unsent emails

  How do I find out which emails were not sent?

• Next Page