Messaging channels

Message templates are used to send business-initiated messages through WhatsApp. Templates are created in WhatsApp Manager and approved for use by WhatsApp. Once approved, templates will appear in Kustomer.

In this article

• Prerequisites
• View your templates in Kustomer
• Map WhatsApp variables to Kustomer
• Send a message template

Prerequisites

To use message templates to send outbound WhatsApp messages, you must have the following:

• A WhatsApp Business account
• Existing message templates that were approved by WhatsApp

You can create and manage your templates in the WhatsApp Manager page. See this WhatsApp article to learn more.

View your templates in Kustomer

Existing templates are shown in Kustomer automatically after you connect your WhatsApp Business account. You can view or manage authorization for them by going to Apps, selecting WhatsApp, opening the desired account, and then selecting the Message Template tab.

By default, you will see all of the templates that were created in the same language as your organization's default Localization setting. You can use the Language drop-down menu to view templates made in any of the languages currently activated for your organization.

The following information is shown:

• Template name is the name of the template. The category the template is in is listed underneath.
• Language is the language the template was created in.
• Mapping Status shows whether or not you finished mapping all WhatsApp variables to text in Kustomer.
• Quality Status shows the quality rating and status for each template. For more information, see this article.

Map WhatsApp variables to Kustomer

You can use static or dynamic content to substitute placeholder values in templates to personalize your messages.

For example, you can map a variable to greet a returning customer by name, or update them on their billing status. If you do not map a variable, agents can choose to map it when sending the template, or send the template without it. Using the first sentence in the example above, if a value isn’t provided, instead of "Thank you for purchasing the Meta Quest Pro" the message will read "Thank you for purchasing".

You can add media to your templates, such as image files in the header or a PDF as an attachment. The following media types are supported in the message header:

• JPG
• PNG
• MP4
• PDF

 The maximum file size allowed for all media is 5MB.

You can also create a personalized link for your buttons to create a more unique experience for your customers.

Send a message template

You can use message templates to initiate conversations with customers, or to reply to customers who have not sent you a message in over 24-hours. 

1. Open or create a WhatsApp conversation in the customer's timeline and select Message Template.
   
2. A list of all available templates opens in the wizard. Select the template to preview it. 
3. Select Next.
4. Review the existing mapped variables, if any. You can change them if necessary, or map any missing variables directly. If the template has an attachment such as, an image or file, you can choose a different file.
   
5. Select Next to review the message.
6. Select Send. The template appears as a new message in the conversation. If you create a new conversation from the timeline and then send a new business-initiated message, it will create a new conversation.