All communication with clients in WABA starts with a template message, regardless of whether it is a mailing for clients or a dialog initiated by the client himself (for example, when contacting the support service). There is a fee for sending such a message to the client. After sending a template, 24-hour non-template communication becomes available, and a company employee or a bot can chat with the customer. In order to protect users from spam, Facebook has certain requirements for templates. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a day for a template message to meet these requirements.
Requirements for templates
Facebook believes that a message should be useful to the user. The essence of the concept is that it is not so much advertising as service. The most strictly to this principle correspond to messages that are related to previous communication or actions of the client. For example, a template containing the following phrase is very good from the point of view of the rules: "You have contacted our company...".
Messages of purely promotional nature, including discount offers, notifications of promotions, etc. are prohibited.
It is not allowed to collect any confidential customer information through WABA. If you need to collect personal data for marketing purposes, you should do it on other resources.
It is also prohibited to organize prize draws or any quizzes. But notifications about such events, which are held on third-party sites, are allowed.
Of course, it is strictly forbidden to insult or threaten the client, however, in practice, it is difficult to imagine an organization that will do something like this.
In addition to the requirements to the essence of the message, there are also rules of a technical nature. In particular, it is not allowed to use shortened hyperlinks. This is necessary for the user to immediately understand where he will go when clicking on a link from the message. Theoretically, a template can be returned for revision if it contains spelling or grammatical errors. Approval requires the presence of images or documents in the template. It is not allowed to use both images and documents in one template message at the same time.
To learn about all of Facebook's rules and requirements for templates, please visit the Facebook Knowledge Base - https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/message-templates/guidelines.
Prices for sending messages can also be found in the knowledge base - https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing.
Template categories
Template messages are divided into categories. However, this division is rather conventional.
The following categories of templates are provided:
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Marketing. Marketing refers to sending promotions, offers, information, or calls-to-action (CTAs) to customers. Any correspondence that does not fall under the description of the Service or Authentication will be categorized as ‘Marketing’.
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Utility. Handling specific requests or transactions, sending customers updates on the current transaction, including post-purchase notifications and invoices for regular purchases.
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Authentication. Messages with one-time codes, for example during multi-factor login processes (account confirmation, account recovery, etc).
Creating template messages
You can create a template in your personal cabinet of 1msg, as well as in the personal cabinet of our site (section "Message templates - WABA message templates").
When creating a template, enter the following data.
1. Name of the template message. It should be written in English in lowercase letters and reflect the essence of the template. It is allowed to use the "_" symbol (underscore).
2. Template category. It should be selected from the corresponding list.
3. Language of the message. Also selected from the list.
4. Select the type of template from the list: a "normal" message, or one that contains a document, image or video ("media template"). Variables containing links or information are allowed in "normal" messages. To insert a variable into a message, you must specify its number in two curly braces, e.g. like this: {{1}} .
5. Write the text of the message.
Now you only have to wait for the template to be approved. In the list of your templates, newly accepted templates are marked yellow, approved - green, and rejected - red. Draft templates are marked in gray.
There are also marks for templates that have received a warning (but are still available for use) or are blocked. This can happen if a certain number of users mark a message as spam.