A WhatsApp template is a prepared message registered at Meta for your number and reviewed by Meta. Only such messages can QoCRM send to a customer by itself, at any time. Managers still write regular replies from the phone, in the WhatsApp Business app.
Do not confuse them with WhatsApp texts (from the phone): your own drafts for the «Write from the phone» button (settings). They are free, Meta does not review them, and you send the message yourself.
Owners and admins manage templates: channel page → «WhatsApp templates». Everyone who may edit a customer can send: owners, admins and the project's managers.
Create a template
Press «Create template» and fill in the form. On the right you see how the message will look in WhatsApp.
- Name — lowercase latin letters, digits and «_» only. The customer does not see it. Write what the template is about and we suggest a name.
- Header — an optional line of up to 60 characters.
- Message text — up to 1024 characters.
- Footer — an optional line of up to 60 characters, no variables.
- Buttons — optional: quick replies (up to 10), links (up to 2) and a phone (1). Quick replies must stand together.
Press «Submit for Meta review». If Meta does not take the template right away, it stays a draft: the form opens with the reason; correct it and submit again.
You can edit a template that is «Approved», «Rejected» or «Paused»; name and language do not change. Meta allows editing an approved template at most once a day and 10 times in 30 days; its category cannot change. After an edit the template is reviewed again.
Deleting removes the template at Meta in this language only; messages already sent stay in the conversation. The name of an approved template cannot be reused for 30 days. Meta does not allow deleting a «Disabled» template.
Languages
Choose a language from Meta's list. Armenian is not on it, so a template in Armenian cannot be registered. When there is no template in the customer's language, the send window shows templates in all languages.
Categories
- Utility — a message about a specific order or agreement: the order is ready, delivery is scheduled. No promotion.
- Marketing — offers, discounts, greetings with an offer. Goes only to customers who agreed (see below).
Meta reviews the content and may move a template to another category; the new category appears in the list. The price depends on the category.
Variables
Variables are the places where a customer's data goes when sending. The «Add variable» button inserts the next one: {{1}}, {{2}}…
Meta's rules: numbers go in order without gaps; the text cannot start or end with a variable; too many variables for a short text is a reason for rejection. A header can have one variable, a button's link one, at its very end.
For each variable give an example — Meta's reviewer sees it — and what fills it when sending: the customer's name, the recipient, the name and date of an occasion or holiday, the latest order number, or your own text.
Statuses and why templates get rejected
- Draft — Meta has not taken the template yet;
- In review — Meta's decision comes within 24 hours;
- Approved — can be sent;
- Rejected — the reason is next to it. Common reasons: promotional text in the utility category, a wrong category, an invalid format. Correct the template and submit again;
- Paused — Meta stopped the template because of complaints or a low read rate; it cannot be sent;
- Disabled — Meta disabled the template for good; create a new one with a different text;
- Deleted — the template is no longer at Meta.
The status updates by itself; until you open the page, a new status of your template is marked on the channel page. «Refresh from Meta» loads templates and statuses at once; QoCRM also does it once a day. Templates made in WhatsApp Manager appear in the list too, except those QoCRM does not support yet (with an image header and other special kinds).
Send to a customer
The «Send template from QoCRM» button is on the customer's card (in the header and on the «Conversation» tab), on the inquiry card and in the calendar. It appears when the project has a working channel and at least one approved template.
In the window choose a template; the values come from the customer's and the occasion's data and can be corrected. Check the preview and press «Send». One press, one message.
QoCRM does not let you send when the customer is marked «Do not contact», has no phone, the channel is not working, the template is not approved, or a marketing template goes to a customer without consent. The reason is written in the window.
Sending from the calendar marks the reminder as done, and the holiday as offered to this customer.
Who pays
QoCRM does not charge for messages and does not resell them. Your WhatsApp account pays Meta directly, at Meta's rates: the price depends on the template's category and the customer's country, and you pay for delivered messages. Meta publishes its rates on its site and may change them at the start of a quarter.
For templates to be delivered, add a payment method to the WhatsApp account: Billing Hub → Payment methods. Without one, sending ends with a payment method error that links to this page.
Marketing consent
Marketing templates can go only to a customer marked as agreeing. Set the «Marketing consent» field on the customer's card. Without consent, including when it is not set, QoCRM does not send a marketing template. Utility templates do not depend on it; «Do not contact» forbids any.
Delivery statuses
On the «Conversation» tab a message from QoCRM shows who sent it and its status:
- ✓ — sent;
- ✓✓ — delivered;
- blue ✓✓ — read;
- ⚠ — not delivered, with the reason next to it.
If the customer turned read receipts off, there may be no blue ticks.
Limits
- A WhatsApp account can create up to 100 templates an hour; Meta limits the total number of templates.
- Meta may not deliver a marketing message to a customer who has recently received many of them; try again in at least 24 hours.
- You cannot send too many messages in a row to one customer.
- Image headers, sending to a list and free-form replies from QoCRM are not available yet.