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Template Message

What is a Template Message? #

WhatsApp allows the business to interact with the user with any kind of message until 24 hours from the user’s last message. Once this 24 hours window is closed, you are only allowed to send users a Template Message that needs to be approved by WhatsApp. This is done to ensure that businesses do not spam the users on WhatsApp.

Do these Template Messages needs to be approved by the WhatsApp Team? #

Yes, each of the template messages submitted is checked by the WhatsApp Team personally and only then it is approved.

What kind of Template Messages does WhatsApp approves? #

WhatsApp approves all the messages that don’t sound like a Cold Sales, Promotion or Offer Message. This includes Transactional, Notifications, Updates and Follow Up Messages. If you want to get a promotional message approved by WhatsApp, you have to frame the message in such a sense that it sounds like a warm outreach or a follow-up message.

We have gotten various Template Messages approved for our clients, do check out those Sample Template Messages for different industry verticals.

Can I edit any approved Template Message? #

No. Once a Template Message is approved, one can not make changes or edit the Template Message. Only the dynamic values in the Template Message can be edited which is set while submitting it.

What all media format the Template Message supports? #

The Template Message formats can be Text, Image, File or Video. With any of these media formats, text must be included since it is mandatory. This means only Image, File or Video can not be sent to the users as a Template Message.

Is there any size limit of the media files? #

Yes, there is a size limit of the media file in the template messages. The following is the size limit of different media files –

Video : 16 MB
Image : 5 MB
Document : 100 MB
Audio : 16 MB
Sticker : 100 KB

Where can I see the list of all my Template Messages? #

To view all your Template Messages with the status, Go to Manage -> Template Message. The list of all your submitted template messages with their status is listed there. Along with the name of the template message you can also see the Status – APPROVED, REJECTED or PENDING, Media Type – TEXT, IMAGE, VIDEO or FILE, Template Label and the Date of Creation – Created At.

By clicking on any of the Template Message rows, you can preview the template message as well.

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How much time does WhatsApp takes to approve a template message? #

Typically, template messages are approved within 48 hours by WhatsApp. In our experience, we have seen different time slots for approval for different kinds of messages –

Media Type TEXT : 4 to 6 hours
Media Type IMAGE : 5 to 8 hours
Media Type FILE : 8 to 24 hours
Media Type VIDEO : 14 to 24 hours

How to submit a New Template Message? #

To submit a new template message, go to Manage -> Template Message and click on the “+ New” button on the top right corner. There are various details to be submitted while submitting a new template message from the Template Message dashboard. As soon as the Template Message is submitted, it directly goes to WhatsApp for approval and the Status of the message changes to PENDING. If the Template Message complies with the WhatsApp policies and rules, it gets APPROVED else REJECTED.

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Following are the fields and the format of input text –

1. Template Label : The template label defines what is the use-case the template message serves in 2-3 words. For example Account Update, OTP Verification, Shopify Abandoned Cart etc.

FORMAT – There are no such restrictions in the format of Template Label, just that it should be in 2-3 words. We recommend writing the Template Label as simple as possible without any special characters.

2. Template Category : There are various template categories according to different use cases of the Template Messages. For example, if you want to notify a user regarding their low credits, you can choose ALERT_UPDATE. In case there is a payment reminder message, you can choose PAYMENT_UPDATE. If you are confused about any template message category, you can choose ACCOUNT_UPDATE. It kind of fits every template message.

3. Template Type : It is the type of template message you want to send. The different types are TEXT, IMAGE, VIDEO & FILE. In the case of Template Type IMAGE, VIDEO and FILE, you need to submit a sample media file at support@aisensy.com that will be sent to your users along with the text. Once the template message gets approved, you can send any relevant media file to your users. The sample media file is just for the approval process and informing WhatsApp of the kind of media file that will be sent by the business.

Please note that the media file need to be sent along with some text. It is not like you can send only Images, Files or Videos. TEXT is mandatory because, based on Text, WhatsApp Approves or Rejects a template message.

4. Template Language : You can choose the language of your template message from all the global languages and vernacular as well.

5. Template Name : Keep the Template Name the same as Template Label. Just make few changes like write the initial letter Small and replace the white space with an Underscore. For example, account_update, otp_verification etc.

FORMAT – The template name can only be in lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores. Special characters and white spaces are not allowed.

6. Template Format : The template format is your template message content. Write down the template message that you want to send to your users after getting approved by WhatsApp. The template message can have various dynamic values that are specific and unique to every user such as Name, OTP Number, Order ID, Payment Links etc. These dynamic values are depicted by {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}} and so on and so forth. If there are multiple dynamic values in a template message, it should always start with {{1}}, the next {{2}}, the next {{3}}…{{n}}.

If you want to make some text bold and italics, use the same rules applied in the WhatsApp App – putting asterisks (*) at the start and end of the phrase (*Bold Text*) and underscores for Italics (_Italics Text_).

FORMAT – The template message should be non-promotional and should not be more than 1024 characters.

Example – Hi {{1}}! Thanks for showing interest in the {{2}} course. The last date to complete your application is {{3}}. Seats filling fast, don’t miss out on India’s top {{4}} course.

7. Sample Message : The sample message is exactly the same as Template Format, just that the double curly brackets are replaced with a single square bracket and the numeric value inside those curly brackets with a sample value.

Example – Hi [Mohit]! Thanks for showing interest in [Mechanical Engineering] course. The last date to complete your application is [30th September 2021]. Seats are filling fast, don’t miss out on India’s top [Mechanical Engineering] course.

8. Interactive Actions : If there are no interactive actions required, simply choose None.

Call to Actions : There are 2 types of Call to Action buttons namely URL and Phone Number. A template message can have a URL or a Phone Number or a URL & a Phone Number both as CTA. You can not have two CTAs of the same type with a template message.

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a) URL as Call to Action – After choosing the URL as the action type, you have to write the Button Title that appears as the clickable button and Button Value is the redirection link. The redirection link can be Static or Dynamic in nature.

Example of static button value : https://aisensy.com/docs
Example of dynamic button value : https://aisensy.com/{{5}}
The numeric digit inside double curly brackets in the dynamic link is the next numeric digit after the ones in the Template Format. Like, if there are 6 dynamic values in the template format and there is a need for the dynamic link as well then the dynamic parameter will be represented by {{7}}.

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b) Phone Number as Call to Action – After choosing the Phone Number as the action type, you have to write the Button Title that appears as the clickable button and Button Value is the Phone Number. Note that the Phone Number must be written along with the country code without the plus (+) sign. If the number is submitted without the country code, it violates the format and gets rejected by WhatsApp.

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Quick Replies : These interactive action buttons are the user response buttons. This means if the user clicks on these buttons, the text in the buttons becomes the user’s message. There can be a maximum of 3 Quick Replies that can be sent with a template message (limitation by Facebook itself) and can have a maximum of 20 characters.

The template messages with the Quick Reply buttons can be used to take feedback from the customers or to make customers choose between two or more given options.

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