Channel | WhatsApp Business

Message Templates are typically used to initiate a conversation with one of your customers. Before sending a templated message, you must create the Message Template and submit it for approval by WhatsApp. 

But don’t worry, with tyntec, Message Templates are straightforward and easy to set up once you know how they’re structured. Our Message Template Manager allows you to create new Message Templates within minutes.

With a few simple steps, you can create a new Message Template for any of your WhatsApp Business accounts. Create marketing, utility, or authentication templates to reach out to customers in every situation.

Head over to your tyntec account and log in. Navigate to your Message Template Manager to create a new template. 

Select the appropriate category for your Message Template from the list.

Then select the WhatsApp Business Profile for which you want to create the new Message Template and enter a unique name for your Message Template. 

Naming restrictions

• Only lowercase alphanumeric characters
• No spaces between characters
• Use underscores to separate words

Select ‘Continue’ on the bottom right of the screen and start adding the contents for your Message Template. 

The contents for your Message Template need to be added in all languages for which you want to create the Message Template. Select at least one language on the left and start adding your content. 

On the right side of the screen, you’ll find a dynamic preview for your Message Template that mimics how it will look for customers. 

Header
You can choose from different headers for your template. A header can be either: 

• Text 
• Image
• Document
• Video
• Location

Note that for images, documents, and videos, you will need to provide a sample that illustrates what you will send to customers later on. Learn more about samples here. 

When choosing a text as a header, you will need to adhere to the following limitations. 

• Max 60 characters
• Max 1 variable
• No new lines
• No tabs allowed 

Body
All Message Templates must have a body text. This represents the main message you sent to customers. You can format the text with basic styling, add emojis, and use variables to personalize your message. Learn more about variables here. 

The following restrictions apply to the body: 

• Max 1024 characters 
• A variable is considered as one character. So the following example: ‘Hello {{1}}’ would be 7 characters 
• Not more than 2 new lines are accepted 
• Not more than 4 empty spaces in a row 
• No tabs allowed

You can use basic styling as described in the table below.

Footer
While footer text is optional, consider using them to add a disclaimer, company name, department name, or signature. The following restrictions apply to the footer.

• • Max 60 characters

• • No variables allowed

• • No new lines

• • No tabs allowed

Interactive Buttons
You can add either ‘Quick Reply’ or ‘Call-to-Action’ buttons to your Message Template to allow direct interaction for your customers. Rich interaction increases the likelihood that a customer will answer your Message Template.

Quick Reply buttons are used to offer up to 3 pre-defined answers from which a customer can choose to answer during the chat. They are purely text-based and are typically used to offer standardized answers that, for example, chatbots can identify.

In contrast, a Call-to-Action button is used when you want to guide a customer to call your business or redirect him to a specific web page outside of the WhatsApp chat.

Learn more about interactive buttons here

WhatsApp does not offer automated translations for Message Templates, so you are required to add translations for the languages you want to create a Message Template for. To add a new language, you just need to select the language from the list on the left in your Message Template Editor. 

Message Templates are available in over 70 languages and idiom variations, e.g., American and British English worldwide.

In case you are using the API to send and receive messages, you’ll need to specify the language in your API request when sending a templated message. 

Variables are helpful placeholders for text elements in a Message Template. They enable you to create a template that you can personalize on the fly when sending a templated message.

Examples for variables

• • First name

• • Last name

• • Salutation

• • Order number

• • Tracking number

• • Product details

• • Dates & times

• • Addresses

• • Other dynamic text elements

To add a variable to your Message Template, simply enter each ascending number into two curly brackets. For example: {{1}}

The following variables then would be {{2}}, {{3}}, and so on.

Limitations

• • Variables must be surrounded by other text, so it is clear what each variable stands for

• • You will need to provide a sample for each variable (Learn how to add samples)

• • Free-standing, floating variables are not allowed by WhatsApp

• • Variables without context are not allowed

• • Multiple variables in the body text field cannot be placed directly next to each other

• • You cannot place a variable at the beginning or the end of the body text field

• • You cannot place too many variables in the body text field. You will either need to decrease the number of variables or increase the message length

• • Variables cannot contain line breaks, tabulators, or more than 4 consecutive spaces

Check the tutorial on how to send a message with variables here.

Once you add a variable or dynamic header content (images, documents, videos), you need to provide samples for your Message Template. 

In the editing interface of our Message Template Manager, you’ll find a button to add your samples. The button opens up a small window where you find all fields that need a sample. The preview on the right side illustrates how your Message Template will look like, including the provided samples. 

Note: Samples always need to be provided per language. Make sure to not include real customer data in your samples. 

Message Templates support a huge variety of media elements. When creating a Message Template, simply choose the media element for your header. As most media elements will include personalized information, you will just specify the type of media element when creating a Message Template. Once you are using the approved Message Template, you can specify the media element for each individual customer. 

The following media elements are supported by WhatsApp: 

Check all the content types and their specifications here.

WhatsApp requires businesses to adhere to their Commerce and Business policies. Message Templates that are confusing, deceiving, defrauding, misleading, or spamming violate the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy.

Message Templates may be rejected during the WhatsApp Business approval process or become inactive over time if users give negative feedback. Check the different statuses for Message Templates here.

Once you submit your new Message Template, it will automatically go through WhatsApp’s approval process. All you need to do is submit your Message Template with our Message Template Editor. 

Typically it takes 24 hours until WhatsApp approves a new Message Template. 

Message Template API

We also offer an alternative way to create and submit Message Templates with our Message Template API. Templates that are created with our Message Template API are synched every 5 minutes. This ensures that Message Templates submitted via the API typically get quicker feedback, whether a new template was approved or rejected by WhatsApp. Usually, this process takes around 15 minutes. 

You can edit Message Templates with our Message Template Manager or via our API endpoint. Note that edited Mesage Templates undergo the same approval process as new ones.

Each conversation with customers is unique. Message Templates can help you standardize your internal processes and help your customer support or chatbot to send messages effectively and consistently to ensure a personalized customer experience.

To learn the different types of content you can send, check out our extensive documentation about Content Types.

Our blog offers great inspiration to get you started with WhatsApp Business.