WhatsApp Message Types and Use Cases for Marketing Cloud Engagement

Template Messages

A template message is related to a business transaction. Types of template messages include:

• Transactional messages—Share important information with customers, and include sending account updates, order updates, alerts, and so on.
• Marketing messages—Increase awareness of and engagement with products or services, and include sending promotional offers, product announcements, and so on.
• One-time password messages—Give customers access to their accounts, and include verification codes, security codes, authorization codes, and so on.

Every template message requires WhatsApp approval. The WhatsApp Template message creation and approval flow is managed in Chat Messaging Setup. Approved templates appear in Content Builder.

Examples of approved templates:

• Welcome {{1}}. What company do you work for?
• Your {{1}} appointment is coming up on {{2}}.
• Your {{1}} appointment is coming up on {{2}}. Reply with {{3}} or {{4}}.
• Unfortunately your pending booking didn’t go through. No charges were made to your bank account. You can try to rebook the hotel again. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Examples of rejected templates and how to improve them:

• (Rejected) Reminder: {{1}}.
• (Rejected) {{1}} was added {{1}}, {{2}}!
• (Rejected) Ready! Thank you for your purchase of {{1}}. You can find your receipt at {{3}}. Download the App and get a $10 credit {{4}}.
  • (Revised and approved) Thank you for your purchase of {{1}}. You can find your receipt at {{2}}.
• (Rejected) Hi {{1}}! Not sure how to activate your prepaid card? It’s quick and easy! Get your new prepaid card in your pocket and start to enjoy all the advantages! Access at {{2}}.
  • (Revised and approved) Hi {{1}}! Our records show that your new prepaid card is delivered. Reply “ACTIVATE” to activate your card now.
• (Rejected) “...trying to touch base with you over text as I couldn't connect with you either by phone or email...”
• (Rejected) Thank you for your booking. Now refer your friends and earn credits. Ask your friends to book with the code {{1}}.

Note {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}, and {{4}} are personalization fields. WhatsApp checks only the remaining content. After the template is approved, you can edit these fields with personalization strings in Content Builder.

Session Messages

A session message is a response to a user-initiated conversation. When a user sends a message to your WhatsApp channel, you can respond without using a template. A session message is a free-form message and doesn’t need approval. Session messages have many different uses. Brands can auto-reply to users with welcome messages, ask them about their preferences to capture personalization details, navigate them to a product, or send questions about a product.

Interactive Messages

Interactive messages contain elements that your customers can interact with. You configure and manage interactive messages in the WhatsApp Business management console, and then add them to your journeys in Journey Builder. Interactive messages don't require preapproval from Meta.

There are three types of interactive messages: reply button messages, list messages, and WhatsApp Flows messages.

Reply Button Messages

Use reply buttons to give your customers predefined responses to your messages that they can select rather than typing a response. For example, if a customer is paying you for a service, you can use reply buttons to ask if they want to pay using a card that they've previously used, pay using a different credit card, or use a different payment method.

A message can contain up to 3 reply buttons.

List Messages

A list is a message that includes a button. When your customers click the button, they see a list of choices. For example, if your customer wants to pick up an item that they ordered in a store, you can show them a list of nearby stores and ask them to select the one they prefer.

A list can be broken into several sections, and each section can include a title and description text. A list can contain up to 10 list items across all sections.

WhatsApp Flows Messages

WhatsApp Flows are interactive messages that you can use to collect information from your customers. For example, a bank can use WhatsApp Flows to gather information about a customer's income, credit rating, and repayment period when they apply for a loan.

You can use WhatsApp Flows in both template and session messages.

Note We refer to this type of interactive message as WhatsApp Flows to distinguish them from Flows in Salesforce products.

When your customers use interactive messages, their interactions generate events in Event Notification Service (ENS). You can use these events to send customers down branches in journeys or to trigger other journeys.