WhatsApp content templates - creation and management

To send WhatsApp campaigns, you need to create a content template, then get it reviewed and verified by Meta. Once the content template is verified, you will be able to send any number of WhatsApp campaigns using the same content template. You can create WhatsApp content templates and manage them under Library in Zoho Marketing Automation.

In this document, we'll walk through the process of creating templates, getting them reviewed by Meta, and managing them.

Create WhatsApp content template from Library

From the navigation toolbar, click Library and select WhatsApp.
Click Create.
In the slide-in that follows, enter the following details:

Template name
Select Marketing to send promotional campaigns.
Choose the language of the message.
Choose a folder where the template would be saved.

Click Proceed. Start creating a content template customized to your needs.

Note: You can draft a template on the go while creating a Whatsapp campaign.

Supported languages

Afrikaans
Albanian
Arabic
Azerbaijani
Bengali
Bulgarian
Catalan
Chinese (CHN)
Chinese (HKG)
Chinese (TAI)
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
English (UK)
English (US)
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Hausa
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Kinyarwanda
Korean
Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan)
Lao
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Malay
Malayalam
Marathi
Norwegian
Persian
Polish
Portuguese (BR)
Portuguese (POR)
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Spanish (ARG)
Spanish (SPA)
Spanish (MEX)
Swahili
Swedish
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Zulu

Draft content template

Configure a header content for your campaign. It can be text, image, document, or a video. This step is optional. Click Save.

Points to remember while framing header content
Video:

The supported formats are mp4 and 3gpp
H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec formats are supported
Video can have a single or no audio stream
Maximum size is 15 MB
You can upload one video file

Image:

The supported formats are jpg, jpeg, and png
The image must be 8 bit, RGB or RGBA formats
Maximum size is 15 MB
You can upload one image file

Text:

Maximum of 60 characters (including the link)
Maximum number of placeholders is 1
Placeholder must be separated with space before and after.
Content can't contain new lines, formatting characters, emojis, or asterisk.

PDF:

The supported format is pdf
Maximum size is 20 MB
Maximum number of document is 1

Body

Configure the body content. It can be a message of up to 1024 characters, which can include customized data like merge tags and short links. You can also enable the Add unsubscribe link option to include an unsubscribe link in the message. Click Save.

Points to remember while framing body content

Maximum of 1024 characters (including placeholder values)
Maximum of 10 placeholders
Placeholders must be separated with space in between them

A new content template will need the approval from WhatsApp before it can be sent.

Configure the footer content. It is usually where unsubscribe messages are included. Inform the recipient they can type STOP in English if they want to be unsubscribed from your WhatsApp campaigns. Click Save.

Points to remember while framing footer content:

Maximum of 60 characters (including the link)
No placeholders or multiple lines of content
No emojis or special characters
Inform the recipient they can type STOP in English if they want to be unsubscribed from your WhatsApp campaigns.

Button

Lastly, configure the button content. You can choose three buttons, such as phone number, URL, and quick reply. Click Save.

Three quick replies or a combination of URL and call number action can be configured in a template.

Points to remember while creating a button:

Call number:

Maximum of 20 characters
No placeholders allowed

URL:

Maximum of 20 characters
URL must be valid and start with http or https
Maximum of 1 placeholder

Quick reply:

Maximum of 20 characters
No placeholders allowed
Message cannot be repeated

Click Send for review after completing the template.

Review process

The review process may take from a few hours to one or two days. You can send campaigns using the template once it is approved by Meta.

Content template status

Draft - When a template creation process is on going and has not been sent for review.
Pending - When a template has been sent for review and the process is on going .
Approved - When a template has been approved by Meta. You can go ahead and send WhatsApp campaigns using that template.
Rejected - When a template has been rejected due to some reasons. The reason will be conveyed. If the reason is unclear, you can contact support@zohomarketingautomation.
If a content template has been rejected, you need to create a fresh draft of the template implementing suggested changes and send it for review once again.
Paused - When an approved template is paused by Meta due to negative feedbacks from the user. The pause period duration is decided by Meta.

You can follow few best practices to ensure your template gets approved.

Possible reasons for content template rejection

There are a few reasons why WhatsApp may reject your content template. The possible mistakes are listed below; ensure to avoid these while creating your content template.

INCORRECT_CATEGORY

The content template has a transactional message, but the category is chosen as marketing, it will be rejected. This is attributed to an invalid category. Such template contains content that violates WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy.

INVALID_FORMAT

It might be because of one of the following reasons:

The message template content should not violate the WhatsApps Business Policy. Sensitive and personal information can't be asked via WhatsApp campaign. For example, do not ask people to share their account details, their credit card number, social security number, or other documents.
The content can't be abusive or in a threatening tone. Otherwise, the template will be rejected.
The message template can't be identical to an existing approved template. If a template has similar wordings in the body and footer part of any of the approved messages, the recent similar template sent will be rejected.

Edit template

From the navigation toolbar, click Library and select WhatsApp.
Hover over the draft you would like to edit and click Edit.
You will be taken to the Message Builder page, which has all the parts of the template. You can make the following changes:

If you want to edit a section, hover over it and click the Edit icon that appears at the top-right corner.
You can configure a section by clicking the corresponding Configure button.

Click Send for review once you've made all the changes.

You can't edit approved templates, but you can clone them and make changes, if required. However, you need to send the cloned template for WhatsApp approval.