How to Create Effective WhatsApp Message Templates

Has your team often gotten caught up in the mundane action of repeating their answers over and over again for similar queries your business receives on WhatsApp? 

It's time-consuming, repetitive and doesn't exactly fuel your enthusiasm… Does it? 

Before the advent of WhatsApp message templates, you would've suffered through this monotonous process.

However, after their introduction, businesses have been liberated from this robotic task. 

Now, sending targeted, personalised replies instantly through WhatsApp message templates is possible.

So, how does one take advantage of this transformative change? 

Simple - by understanding and mastering the art of creating WhatsApp message templates.

In this article, we’ll tell you all about WhatsApp message templates, why they're an indispensable part of your business communication, the different types of templates available, and how to create your own on platforms such as Gallabox.

What Is a WhatsApp Message Template?

A WhatsApp message template is a pre-formatted and drafted message that allows businesses to respond to their prospects and customers with ease. These templates are incredibly beneficial because they standardise responses, ensure consistency, and save your team a huge chunk of time by freeing them from the task of typing the same responses over and over again. 

Why Do You Need WhatsApp Message Templates? 

WhatsApp message templates offer several advantages for not just your employees but your business and its bottom line. A WhatsApp message template can:

1. Eliminate Repetition

Improve the efficiency of your operational processes by reducing the time and effort it takes to type the same information repeatedly.  

2. Ensure Consistency

Maintain a uniform brand voice across all existing and potential customer interactions, ensuring recognition and building trust.

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3. Minimise Rejection

Speed up your template approval cycle with message templates that professionally and precisely convey information without errors.

4.  Personalise Easily

Although you need to stick to a specific format and word count limitation, businesses can customise templates with engaging elements.

5. Ensure Compliance

Use a pre-approved template to stay clear of policy non-compliance problems that can impact your block rate, quality rank, and more.

“WhatsApp templates are not merely blocks of text; they are dynamic and multifaceted, filled with various interactive components designed to keep your engagement rates soaring and make communication smooth.”

Components Involved In Creating a WhatsApp Message Template

What makes up a WhatsApp message template? 

A WhatsApp message template comprises four major components, each playing a unique role in ensuring your message is effectively heard and understood.

We're going to take a closer look at some of these components: 

1. Header

Serving as the first impression, the introduction allows you to convey the key details, grab the recipient’s attention, and set the stage for the rest of your message. You can create headers in one of these three formats:

• Text: You can keep it within 60 characters and not over two lines
• Media: Wanna feature an image, document, video, or sticker to grab attention? Use this!
• Location: Share your location details with customers upfront using this header type.

Example: A restaurant might use a dynamic location header that displays their exact location to a customer who has just made a reservation, hence making it easy for them to find the restaurant. 

2. Body

As the meat of your message, the Body contains the full details of your WhatsApp Message.

While it is usually best to keep the body short and to the point, adding a pinch of professionalism and conciseness alongside visual breaks, i.e., paragraph breaks, can make your body text more digestible and enticing for readers.

3. Footer

Your footer will round off the content in a fitting manner and prompt users to act. They may include catchy closing lines to induce a sense of urgency.

However, even a catchy footer may become ineffective if it fails to reflect and inject the essence of the whole message.

4. Buttons

Honestly, buttons have got to be the best part of a WhatsApp message template.

These nifty little buttons nudge your recipients to act and perform specific tasks when tapped. You can have a mix of up to 10 button components in total, and they can be either individual or a combination.

Although you can add more than three buttons to your template, only two will be visible in the delivered messages. On the other hand, additional buttons will be hidden under 'See All Options'. The other options will be revealed when your recipients tap on 'See All Options'.

Here are the different button types available for use on WhatsApp Business API:

1. Phone Number: Allows people to tap and trigger a call to the number included directly.
2. URL Button: Routes recipients to a specific webpage; it could be anything from a product page to a virtual shopping cart.
3. Quick Reply: Helps you collect swift responses from potential or existing customers.
4. Copy Code: Enables your recipients to copy a specific coupon or code instantly, prompting them to use it.
5. Flow Buttons: Let WhatsApp Flows guide your contacts based on their answers to pre-defined forms.

P.S.: You can even share Limited-Period offers with your customers.

If you own a clothing brand, you can use a 'Limited-Offer' button in their footer to inform your contacts about an ongoing sale and give them a sense of FOMO. 

WhatsApp Business Message Templates indeed have a bag full of tricks to enhance customer experience, streamline conversations, and speed up sales cycles.

WhatsApp Message Template Approvals and Statuses

Now that you’ve got a gist of what WhatsApp message templates do and their components, understanding different template statuses is equally important. It helps you follow the review process, meet guidelines, and ensure your templates are ready to send. 

We’ve broken it down for you in the table below: 

When it comes to template rejections, stay patient, be proactive in making necessary changes and stick to WhatsApp's Commerce Policy and Guidelines to prevent potential rejections and error pop-ups.

WhatsApp Message Template Types 

Now, what types of messages does WhatsApp allow or approve? And how are WhatsApp messages categorised?

Well, WhatsApp permits templates for three prevalent WhatsApp message types with real-world examples:

1. Marketing WhatsApp Message Templates

Marketing templates provide businesses with the largest degree of flexibility. They are employed to achieve various objectives, such as driving sales or generating awareness about your business, products, or services.

• Objective: Generate awareness, boost brand visibility, increase sales, share limited-time promotions, and even retarget unresponsive contacts.
• Categories: New product launch updates, abandoned cart recovery, targeted promotional offers, and drip marketing sequences on WhatsApp for retargeting.

Note: Templates with mixed content (both utility and marketing) or unclear contents fall will be marked as Marketing.

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2. Utility WhatsApp Message Templates

Utility templates are designed to follow up on user actions or requests, as these messages are typically triggered by something the user has done.

Whether it's confirming an opt-in, managing an order or delivery, sending account alerts, or launching feedback surveys, utility templates contain specific information about an active transaction, account, or interaction.

• Objective: Manage orders, product alerts, and opt-in updates, collect feedback, and continue conversations on WhatsApp that were either initiated on different platforms or started using WhatsApp Links or QR codes.
• Categories: Shipping or order confirmation and updates, time-sensitive account alerts, collecting feedback about past orders/services, follow-up customer service or sales queries on WhatsApp.

Note: Utility templates do not aim to upsell or cross-sell new products or services.

3. Authentication WhatsApp Message Templates 

Primarily used for OTPs, authentication templates verify a user with one-time passcodes at various stages in the login process.

Regarded as the most restricted template type on WhatsApp, they comprise a code and preset text, an explicit security disclaimer, a clear expiration warning, and buttons (auto-fill, copy code, or one tap).

• Objective: Double-check a user's identity using a one-time password in multiple stages throughout the login process.
• Categories: Account verification, account recovery, password reset, integrity issues, and more.

Note: For a template to be considered authentication, it must use WhatsApp’s preset authentication message templates, configure a one-time password button, and abide by content restrictions, such as the prohibition of URLs, media, and emojis within the template content or parameters.

The Actual Cost of WhatsApp Message Templates

WhatsApp’s conversational pricing model applies to its pre-approved message templates as well.

As the cost of a message is calculated based on a range of aspects like volume, country code of recipients, and more, it is advisable to use a WhatsApp Conversation Pricing Calculator to get an accurate projection of expenses. 

Be mindful that your conversational cost may vary depending on the WhatsApp Business Partner you choose. For instance, if you choose Gallabox as your WhatsApp Business Automation partner, here’s what you’d be charged: WhatsApp Conversational Pricing and the platform fee. 

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The Final Word

Now that you understand the importance of message templates and their different types and restrictions, you are all set to create marvellous WhatsApp message templates.

Here's where using a WhatsApp Automation Platform like Gallabox makes the process simple. The platform provides a straightforward way to create, approve and manage your WhatsApp message templates all in one place.

All you need to do is sign in to your Gallabox Business account, navigate to the 'Templates' section, and begin creating your templates. However, irrespective of the type, all of your templates need to be reviewed and approved by the WhatsApp team prior to use.

WhatsApp message templates are an excellent tool providing efficiency, consistency, and professionalism. Make the most of them, and improve your business communication standards today with a free trial of Gallabox.