How to create and use WhatsApp templates?

Did you know that you can now customize message templates? With this option, you can design predefined messages for WhatsApp, instead of creating a new message from scratch, to speed up communication with your audience.

Once you log into your account in Doppler, go to the Conversations option. There, from the panel on the left, choose Message Templates.

Next, choose the +New Template option. Here you will see the custom messages you have already created in your chat rooms.

Now, how can you create a new message template?

The + New Template button displays a form to fill in with the following data:

name
category
language
header
body
footer (optional)
buttons (optional)

For example, your message template will be displayed as follows:

You can even add a footer with more informative text to reinforce the information.

The footer of the templates is optional, as is the addition of buttons that allow you to add a multimedia action or a quick response.

Let’s see what these options are about:

Quick Responses: refers to the text that will be shown to contacts when they receive the templates.
Multimedia Actions: provides the option to add the text for a Phone Number and/or a URL.

To finish and see how your work is progressing, this screen has a preview button, before requesting the creation and approval of the META. As shown in the following image:

Approval status of your templates

Once you have completed the previous process, the creation of the template is done by pressing the “Authorize” button. When you press it you will have to wait a few seconds, META may not give you an answer immediately.
If your template was created correctly you will see the following message:

But what does this mean? The message informs you that the created template is pending approval by Meta, and is not available for use. The estimated time for review and approval of the templates can vary and depends exclusively on Meta. Generally, this process can take between 24 and 48 hours, but in some cases it can be extended or, in the best of cases, be immediate (between 5 and 10 minutes).
At the end of the process, you will automatically return to the screen with the list of templates and there you can refresh the status of the templates, according to META’s response. If the template was approved, you can now use it to start conversations with your contacts.

Let’s now look at the status of your templates:

It indicates that the template is pending approval.

It indicates that the template is approved and ready to be used.

It indicates that the template was rejected and cannot be used.

How to use message templates?

The created templates can be used to start a conversation with a contact. There are 2 ways to use the templates, let’s see how to do it 🙂

From the WhatsApp channel room by searching for the contact or by creating a new one and using the only option enabled to start a conversation with the contact.
From the option of mass sending to contact groups using the templates available for that room

E.g. from the chat screen in a WhatsApp room.

When you select a template, you will be shown the corresponding fields that you will need to fill out in order to send it to your contact. If the chosen template contains variables, you must add content for each one. If you select a template without variables, you can send it immediately.