Initiate conversations anytime with WhatsApp's Templates
Previously, in Bigin's Messages module, you could only reply to customer-initiated messages, but with this enhancement, you can now initiate conversations using WhatsApp templates.
A WhatsApp template is a pre-designed message template designed to start conversations with your contacts whenever needed. However, before using these templates, they need to be submitted to WhatsApp for approval.
To create a new template, go to Setup > Messages > Templates > + Template button.
Provide a name for your template and choose the language. Next, select the relevant template category:
- Marketing for promotional offers, product announcements, or sales outreach
- Utility for deal updates, order updates, or payment notifications
Once you save the details, the templates are sent for approval to Meta. Generally, they're verified within a few minutes, but in some cases, it can take a few hours.
Notes
- Verification can take up to 24 hours.
- Templates may be rejected for any of the following reasons:
- Language details mismatch
- Spam content
- Category mismatch
- If the mobile field is empty or has an invalid number, you can't initiate a conversation. Similarly, you can't send messages to numbers that aren't registered in WhatsApp.
How to send template messages to your customers
Once WhatsApp approves your templates, you can use them to initiate conversations with customers. To initiate a conversation, go to the Messages module and click on the + New WhatsApp Chat button.
Select the contact and send the message template to initiate the conversation. Once the customer replies, you can send a message using the message composer. But until they respond, you can only use templated messages.
While replying, you can send templates anytime by clicking on the templates icon in the message composer.
Note
- You can't send marketing templates to customers who have opted out of the marketing template.
Limitations:
- The maximum character count for a template is 900.
- The maximum number of templates you can create—including approved, rejected, and pending templates—is 200.
- You can include a maximum of 10 merge fields in a single template.
To learn more about Bigin's WhatsApp Integration, access the help link.
That's all for this enhancement. We sincerely hope you find these improvements useful. Please give them a try and leave your feedback in the comments section below. Watch this space for future announcements.
Thanks and have a good day!