1. Click the   icon on the left in the forms listing page to access the Control Panel.
   
   
   
2. Click WhatsApp Configuration.
   
   
   
   
3. Once it is ready for configuration, click Link with WhatsApp.
   
   
   
   
4. You will be redirected to log in through your Facebook account in a widget to connect to your Meta Business account.
   
   Note: Ensure that your browser's pop-blocker is disabled for the widget to load.
   
5. Login to your existing personal Facebook account. New personal accounts may not be approved.
6. Once you log in, you will be prompted to get started with the setup to register and connect your WhatsApp business account to Zoho Social to send notifications to WhatsApp users via the WhatsApp business API. Click Get Started.
   
   
   
   
7. To allow Zoho Social to manage your WhatsApp Business account, you'll need to share account and billing permissions. Click Continue.
   
8. Then, you will be asked to fill in your business information. To connect your WhatsApp Business Account, you must first select a Meta Business Account from the dropdown. If you do not already have a Meta Business Account, you will be given the option to create one.
   
   Your business must have a  Meta Business account (formerly known as Facebook Business Account) in order to have a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). The Meta Business Account is specific to a Company. If the Company has multiple Sub-brands with different names, each Sub-brand should have its own WhatsApp Business Account with their name.
   

   
   

   
9. Your Business name, Business email address, Business website, and Country will be autofilled. Click Next.
   
10. The next step is to create or select a WhatsApp Business account which will belong to your Meta business account. 
    
11. Choose Create a new WhatsApp Business profile and click Next. 
    
    
    
    
12. Give your WhatsApp business account name, WhatsApp Business profile display name and select the Category of your business. 
    The WhatsApp Business display name is the name that customers see when they visit your WhatsApp Business profile. Read the guidelines in choosing a display name for your WhatsApp profile.
    
13. You can optionally provide a description for your business and include any website you have for your business. The category and business description will both be visible to your customers. Click Next. 
    
    
    
    
14. The next step is to add a WhatsApp business phone number. This is the number that people will see when they chat with you for your business. Enter the Phone number along with your country code.
    Pre-Requisites for Phone Number
1. The number must be owned by you
   
2. The number must have a country and area code
   
3. It should be able to receive voice calls and SMS
   
4. It should not be a short code
   
5. Any other BSP should not have previously used the number
   
6. The number should not be connected to any WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App at the instant. 
15. Choose if you would like to verify your phone number via Text message or a Phone call . You will receive a code to verify this phone number on your preferred verification method. You can change your preferred verification method if it isn't working.
    
    
    

Note : The phone number will be verified with a PIN, so make sure you have access to it.

  

Creating a Channel

1. In your Control Panel > Notification Settings > WhatsApp Configuration, click + New Channel.
   
2. In the pop-up, enter a name for your channel and select the WhatsApp business phone number that you have verified from the dropdown.
   
   
   
   
3. Click Create.
   

Creating a Template

When a message is sent, the placeholder values inside double curly braces {{...}} are replaced with dynamic content from your form fields. The later stages of these steps will determine which placeholder will be replaced by which form field response.

Note:
1. The maximum size for a message template, including any placeholders that are replaced with text, is 1024 characters. If your template exceeds this limit, the message will not be delivered to the recipient.
2. If the template category is set to AUTHENTICATION, headers are not supported, and only message text is allowed.

Refer to some sample templates.

 

You should set up a template for each type of notification you need to send and  wait for WhatsApp to review and approve your template before you can use it to send notifications on receiving form entries.

Header Type

If you wish to configure the WhatsApp template using message text only, choose the Header Type as None. To include a header in your WhatsApp template, choose one of the two available formats: 

1. Header Text 
   
2. Header Image
   

Additionally, based on the input source of the header, there are two types of headers - Static Header and Dynamic Header.

Static Header 

Static Header (text or image) is configured directly during template creation and remains the same for every message, regardless of user responses.

1. For Text, enter the desired text in the field Header Text. 
   
2. For Image, choose Add Manually after selecting the header type.
   
   

For example, Zylker Cafe wants to send a WhatsApp notification with it's logo included in every order confirmation. To configure the same,

 
1. Choose Header Type as Image from the dropdown list.

2. Select Add Manually and then click Upload Image to upload the logo.
3. Preview the WhatsApp notification message with the uploaded logo as the header, along with the message text.
 

Since the logo remains the same for every order, it’s ideal to use a static header.

Dynamic Header

Dynamic Headers (text or image) can be preferred  when you need to customize the WhatsApp notification message based on respondent's input. 

1. For Text,  add placeholder values ( e.g., {{1}} ) in Header Text field, similar to how placeholders are configured in the message body.
2. For Image, choose Map a Form Field to dynamically pull the file from the user's response. 
   

For example: Suppose you're running a cake shop that accepts custom cake orders. Customers can upload a sample image of the design they want while placing the order. You want to include this uploaded image as a header in the WhatsApp notification. To configure the same,

 

1. Choose Header Type as Image from the dropdown list.

2. Select Map a Form Field.
3. Preview the WhatsApp notification message with a placeholder image as the header and the message text. 

Setting up a form to send WhatApp Notifications 

1. Go to the form builder of the form that you wish to send WhatsApp Notifications for.
   
2. Navigate to the Settings tab > Email & Notifications > WhatsApp Notifications.
   
3. Click Configure Now.
   
   
   
   
4. Select the Channel and Template that you wish to use for sending WhatsApp notifications for this form.
   
5. Enter the Recipient's phone number. You can either enter a number or select a Phone field from your form by clicking the phone icon. If you select a Phone field from your form, the message will be delivered to the phone number entered by the respondent in the selected Phone field.
   You can either use US format or use International format with Country Code.
6. Under Placeholder Mapping, you can select the form fields whose responses you want to replace for the placeholders in the double curly braces you specified when configuring the WhatsApp message template.
   
7. Click Save.
   
   
   
   

The mapped template above has no headers as you can see in the preview.

Send Notifications With Headers

If your template includes a header (Text or Image), you can configure the notification based on whether the header is static or dynamic.

For a template with a static header, 

1. Select the template for the WhatsApp Notification. 
2. Map the placeholders in the message text, if any.
Header will be used from the selected template directly, as you can see in the preview.



For example: In the above order update form, the customer's name, product name, and order number are sent as a WhatsApp notification along with the order status shown as the Header Text.

For a template with a dynamic header, 

1. Select the template for the WhatsApp notification.
2. Click Choose Field under Header Mapping to display the available image upload fields in the form.
3. Select the Image Upload Field that has to be mapped as the dynamic header.  Add placeholders for message text if needed. 
Preview the WhatsApp notification message with a placeholder image as the header and the message text. 



For example: In the above order form, the customer's name and order number are sent along with the image uploaded by the customer (e.g., a sample cake design), which appears as the Header Image in the notification.

Pricing

WhatsApp has updated its conversation pricing as follows which will be effective from June 1st, 2023.

1. Every conversation will be charged per the new conversation-based pricing model.
2. The charges for conversations will be determined by the template category. Unless the template is delivered during an open conversation of that category, delivering it opens a new conversation of that category and incurs the charge of that conversation category. For instance, if a utility conversation is open and a marketing template is delivered within it, a new, separate marketing conversation is opened, and a marketing conversation charge is initiated.

How to purchase credits

1. In your Zoho Forms account, click the Subscription link in the top-right corner.
   
2. Under Nonrecurring Add-Ons, click Buy More.
   
3. Specify the number of credits you want to purchase. You will be charged per credit, along with a value-added fee of 3% of the cost.
   
4. Click  Proceed and make the payment.
   
5. Once paid, your credits will be topped up and will be reflected in the  Available Balance section, and you can start sending your WhatsApp business messages.