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

• Zoho Desk API - Influence which layout is used

  Hello, how can the ticket layout be changed using the API? I would like to choose the layout directly when creating the ticket. If this is not possible, my question would be how can I change it afterwards? Best regards, Sven

• Has CSS Changed for Common Elements?

  I noticed today that the standard title headings on my Forms and Reports display smaller in size than before. Google Dev Tools (attached), seems to confirm my suspicion. Something appears to be overriding the 1.375rem to 1.125rem. The font size on the

• Text field alignment

  Is it possible to align text in the text field? Or even better, is there a possibility to have a field which accepts only numbers?

• email moderation issue when email is sent in the name of a mail group

  Symptom: an email that is sent by a mail group moderator in the name of a moderated mail group is held back for approval. Reproduction: Create a moderated mail group with members and moderators. Allow that mails can be sent in the name of the group (extended

• Pipeline in Custom Modules

  I love the way the Sales Pipeline looks and functions with reports. I would like to add the save pipeline features and visualization to a custom module, however, I only see that these pipelines are only available for the Deals module. Is there a way to add pipelines to custom modules?

• Duplicate customers being created in Desk

  Hi I've trying to work out why I've getting duplicated customers being created in my desk. I have an external booking system that generates an email when I get a customer booking a job. A booking email gets sent to Desk where I manage the booking and

• Tip #53- Remote Billing: Your End-to-End Billing Solution in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'

  Manual invoicing, after every remote support session, can be time-consuming and often error-prone. As an MSP, IT admin, or even a freelance support technician, it may become overwhelming to keep track of session time, service rates, and client invoices.

• Record history and ticket interaction tab in contacts and accounts

  Hello everyone! We have improved the History tab to help users trace updates in the interaction activity logs of the Contacts and Accounts detail pages in the Customer Module. This enhancement make it easier to get clear details about who made each update,

• sync views to sheet

  Im looking to sync my views aka reports in analytics to zoho sheets, when data is updated in analytics it also should be updated in sheets, till now zoho sheets only offer raw data connection and it is not enough as these reports are difficult to re-do

• Is there an API to "File a Ticket" in Desk

  Hi, Is there an API to "File a Ticket" in Desk to zoho projects?

• Keyboard UX for Assemblies

  The new Assembly module has a counter-intuitive behavior that ought to be corrected. When an Assembly is ready to be entered, there are two options given, the blue-highlighted "Assemble" and the gray "Save as Draft". This correctly implies that the normal

• Mapping a new Ticket in Zoho Desk to an Account or Deal in Zoho CRM manually

  Is there any way for me to map an existing ticket in Zoho desk to an account or Deal within Zoho CRM? Sometimes people use different email to put in a ticket than the one that we have in the CRM, but it's still the same person. We would like to be able

• Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

  Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

• How to Move Behavior, Acquisition, Polls & Forms Data from Zoho PageSense to Zoho Analytics?

  Hi Zoho Community, I'm looking for a way to transfer data from Zoho PageSense to Zoho Analytics, specifically: Behavioral data (clicks, scrolls, heatmaps, etc.) Acquisition data (traffic sources, campaigns, etc.) Polls and forms data As far as I can tell:

• Why can't I see images uploaded by other users in the Library for Campaigns

  We are several users of zoho Campaign. I have uploaded visuals of our company, but my team members can't see them.

• zoho sheet stuck

  I Need help. ZOHO sheets stuck on the loading screen. I've already deleted the system cache and cookies of my browser (google chrome) but it's still not opening. 

• Tip of the Week #78 – Cut response time with multichannel shared inboxes

  If you’ve ever felt your team juggling between multiple email accounts, social pages, and chat apps just to reply to customers, you’re not alone. Managing conversations in multiple channels can quickly turn messy. Important messages across inboxes, replies

• Need a way to run a client script longet than 10 seconds

  By The Grace of G-D. Hi, Currently, Client Scripts are Timing out at 10 seconds. We have complex logics that needs more time. Can you add a feature request to increase the timeout?

• FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

  I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import

• Unable to Send Different Email Templates for Different Documents in Zoho Sign

  Hello Zoho Community, I am facing a limitation with Zoho Sign regarding email notifications sent to customers when a document is sent for signing. Currently, whenever I send any template/document for signing, the email notification that goes to the customer

• Timeline Tracking Support for records updates via module import and bulk write api

  Note: This update is currently available in Early Access and will soon be rolled out across all data centers (DCs) and for all editions of Zoho CRM. The update will be available to all users within your organization, regardless of their profiles or roles.

• UI Improvement - Ability to Collapse Flow

  The UI for Flow is generally pretty good. However, when multiple decision trees are used, the layout can get pretty convoluted and hard-to-follow (see one of my Flows below): In these cases, even the auto-arrange fails to make this something that a normal

• Tasks Statuses

  Hi, The task status "Completed" is a final status which closes the task. We need to have a status "Cancelled". However, when the status is set to "Cancelled", the task prompt still has a blue button to Close Task. When the customer clicks that and closes

• Add Lookup Field in Tasks Module

  Hello, I have a need to add a Lookup field in addition to the ones that are already there in the Tasks module. I've seen this thread and so understand that the reason lookup fields may not be part of it is that there are already links to the tables (

• Create New Tasks Layout in CRM

  I am able to do this in Leads, Contacts, Meetings, Calls - every other module, but cannot create a new layout in tasks. I have the appropriate access but it's simply not appearing as an option. Only "Standard" option shows. Please help!

• Whatsapp Connection Status still "Pending" after migration

  Hello, I migrated my WhatsApp API to Zoho from another provider a day ago. So far the connection status is still “Pending”. There is a problem? How long does it usually take?

• Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

  Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure

• Auto-sync field of lookup value

  This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.

• Zoho Recruit Subscription

  Hello Zoho Recruit Team, Good day! I would like to inquire about your recruitment subscription plans and would also like to verify the current subscription our company is enrolled in under Zoho Recruit. Thank you, and I look forward to your response.

• Keyboard shortcut M key

  I'm trying to customize my keyboard shortcuts and assign the "m" key. But it says the key is already assigned. I've looked through all my shortcuts and can't see any assigned "m". When I select an email and press the M key, nothing happens. What is the

• Is it possible to create a meeting in Zoho Crm which automatically creates a Google Meet link?

  We are using Google's own "Zoho CRM for Google" integration and also Zoho's "Google Apps Sync" tools, but none of them provide us with the ability to create a meeting in Zoho CRM that then adds a Google Meet link into the meeting. Is this something that

• Ensure Consistent Service Delivery with Comprehensive Job Sheets

  We are elated to announce that one of the most requested features is now live: Job Sheets. They are customizable, reusable forms that serve as a checklist for the services that technicians need to carry out and as a tool for data collection. While on

• Bill automation in Zoho Books

  Hi I am looking for 3rd-party options for bill automation in zoho which are economical and preferably have accurate scanning. What options do I have? Zoho's native scanning is a bit pricey

• Automatic Portal invite

  We have numerous customers we move through a blueprint in deals, when they get to a certain point we need to give them portal access, how can this be done through deluge or a workflow? Latest Update (December 2025): The option to automate portal invitations

• Marketer's Space: Why mobile optimization deserves a place in your email strategy

  Hello Marketers, Welcome back to Marketer's Space! Today, we'll talk about the importance of creating mobile-friendly email designs. While mobile phones were once used only to make phone calls, today they're used for almost everything, including texting,

• Enhancements in Canvas

  Dear All, Greetings! Canvas lets you design the record details page to suit your brand or business preferences. We are glad to introduce the following enhancements to uplift your design experience. Reusable Components Style Presets Let's go! Reusable

• Introducing Dark Mode / Light Mode : A New Look For Your CRM

  Hello Users, We are excited to announce a highly anticipated feature - the launch of Day, Night and Auto Mode implementation in Zoho CRM's NextGen user interface! This feature is designed to provide a visually appealing and comfortable experience for

• ABN with Legal Entity Name

  Hi, How can I execute this? The ABN number is entered in Accounts Module and ideally, it should display or suggest the correct Legal Entity Name based on the ABN lookup. ex. Account Name: JPG Resources ABN Number: 65 067 761 871 Legal Entity Name: (auto

• Zoho Cliq not working on airplanes

  Hi, My team and I have been having this constant issue of cliq not working when connected to an airplane's wifi. Is there a reason for this? We have tried on different Airlines and it doesn't work on any of them. We need assistance here since we are constantly

• Unify Overlapping Functionalities Across Zoho Products

  Hi Zoho One Team, We would like to raise a concern about the current overlap of core functionalities across various Zoho applications. While Zoho offers a rich suite of tools, many applications include similar or identical features—such as shift management,

• Next Page