This page is part of the Customer.io documentation. For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt.

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WhatsApp: create & approve templates in Design Studio

You can create and submit WhatsApp templates for approval in Customer.io if you send messages through your Facebook Business Account. If you send through Twilio, you have to manage your templates on their site.

How it works

To manage WhatsApp templates in Design Studio, you must integrate directly with your Facebook Business Account.

Then you can create WhatsApp templates and submit them for approval from Design Studio, instead of having to leave your workspace to create them with Meta.

The process goes like this:

1. From Design Studio, create a WhatsApp message from scratch and add your content including any relevant liquid syntax.

2. Submit it for approval from Meta. You can track the approval status from the Design Studio dashboard!

   Unlike Meta-created templates, you don’t need to take the extra steps of assigning liquid variables to your template variables!

3. Add the template to your campaign.

If you’re familiar with Design Studio, you know there are Global styles—variables for fonts, colors, etc that apply across your emails and in-app messages. These styles do not influence WhatsApp messages, since they’re simple text or image-based messages.

Any templates you created outside of Design Studio are not visible from the dashboard.

Limitations compared to building within your Meta account

We’re working to close the gap between Design Studio and Meta’s template builder, so you can do more in Customer.io.

Currently, you can’t create Authentication templates in Design Studio, but you can make Marketing or Utility templates.

Create a WhatsApp template

Go to Design Studio in your left-hand navigation to get started.

1. Click Create > New WhatsApp.
2. Add a message name—this helps you find it when adding it to a campaign.

   

   
3. (Optional) Save to a folder.
4. Choose a category of template. Learn more about template types in Meta’s docs.
   • Marketing—Content that may include promotions (Note, people in North America must be opted into receiving marketing messages via WhatsApp to get this type.)
   • Utility—Non-promotional messages related to transactions, like order updates
5. Select the language of your message. Note, you have to create a template for each language you want to support.
6. Click Create.

   

   
7. Edit the From field if you need to change your sender number.
8. Edit the To field to target the right customer attribute for phone numbers.
9. Edit your message’s body content.
10. (Optional) Click Insert to add components like a header, media, or button.
11. To personalize the message, add liquid. Open the personalization panel or use the agent to help you write liquid (Ask Agent). Learn more in our Design Studio Liquid doc.

Once your template is complete, your next step is to Submit for approval from Meta.

Add components to your WhatsApp template

You can add headers, footers, media, and buttons to your WhatsApp template. Learn more about their parameters and limitations below.

To add a component, click Insert and select the component you want to add.

Media

You can add an image, gif, or PDF file to your WhatsApp template, but not videos. Any file in your assets library is available to use in your WhatsApp message and other message channels.

You can add either a header OR media component, not both.

The media component always appears at the top of your message.

Buttons

You can add up to 10 buttons to your WhatsApp template.

If there are more than two, your recipient will see the first two buttons followed by “See all options”. Click Preview to see the grouping:

Visit website

A recipient clicks this to open a link in their browser.

You can add up to two of these buttons per template.

To edit the copy, type in the text box on the canvas.

Click the button to open the properties menu and add a link. You can add liquid to parameters, but the link value can’t exclusively be liquid.

• Correct: https://customer.io
• Correct: https://customer.io?tracking={{event.id}}
• Incorrect: {{event.link}}

Call phone number

A recipient clicks this to call a phone number.

To edit the copy, type in the text box on the canvas.

Click the button to open the properties menu and add a phone number. The number must follow the international format, like +15551234567. The phone number can’t be liquid.

Copy offer code

A recipient clicks this to copy an offer code to their clipboard.

You can’t edit the copy, just the code value. Click the button to open the properties menu and add a code. The code can be plaintext or liquid, like {{event.custom_code}}.

Quick reply

A recipient clicks this to reply to your message. The reply is sent to the original sender number, but you can’t reply back at this time.

To edit the copy, type in the text box on the canvas.

If you add more than one quick reply, your message groups them together either at the beginning or end of your buttons. You can drag the group to reorder them, but not place them in the middle of other buttons.

Submit for review

After you complete your template, you’ll submit it for approval. If your template contains liquid syntax, add example data. Then click Submit for approval.

If you added liquid to your template, you must Add variable samples before submitting. You provide a sample value for each liquid variable in your template. Make sure these values respect your customers’ privacy.

Then double check that your template is complete. Once you submit, you can’t change anything while Meta reviews your submission. If your template is rejected, you can edit it and resubmit for approval. If your template is approved, you’ll have to submit a new template with your changes.

You can check the status of your WhatsApp templates from the Design Studio dashboard.

Resubmitting a WhatsApp template for approval

If your WhatsApp template is rejected, you can edit it and resubmit it for approval. Adjust your template based on the information returned from Meta.

Connect to a campaign

You can connect a WhatsApp template to a campaign at any time—you don’t have to wait for approval. However, make sure the template is approved BEFORE you activate your campaign. Your complete audience might not receive the message until it’s approved, due to some of Meta’s regulations.

From your campaign’s workflow, follow these steps:

1. Drag in a WhatsApp block from the Add menu.
2. Click Add Content.
3. Choose your template under Design Studio.

   

   
4. Preview your message with sample data as you see fit.

Unlike Meta-created templates, you don’t need to take the extra steps of assigning liquid variables to your template variables!

If you realize you want to use a different template, click Change template to start over.

To edit the From or To fields, go back to Design Studio and modify your template there.

Translate WhatsApp templates

If you want to translate your WhatsApp messages, you have to create a separate template for every translation and submit them for approval.

This means you may have to set up a separate WhatsApp message for each translated template and branch your audience based on their language preferences.