WhatsApp only lets a business message first, or reply more than 24 hours after the customer’s last message, with a template Meta has approved.
Write a template
- Go to Texa AI → Campaigns → WhatsApp templates, and open Write a template.
- Choose the Inbox: your WhatsApp number.
- Give it a Name in
lower_case_with_underscores, such aspayment_reminder. - Choose the Kind: Meta’s category for it, such as utility for an update about something the customer asked for, or marketing for an offer.
- Choose the Language.
- Write the Message. Variables are
{{1}},{{2}}and so on, in order. For example: “Hello {{1}}, your payment of {{2}} is due on {{3}}.” - Under Examples, comma separated, give an example for each variable, as Meta asks:
Ada, ₦25,000, 25 Oct. - Add a Footer (optional), such as “Reply STOP to stop these messages”.
- Choose Submit to Meta.
The template shows as pending until Meta decides, which can take up to 24 hours. Once it’s approved, it appears in campaigns.
Get templates approved
- Make utility templates about one specific thing the customer asked for or did, such as an order, a payment or a ticket. Meta moves templates that read like offers into marketing.
- Don’t use a template only of variables. Write real words around them.
- Give realistic examples.
Where templates are used
- Campaigns: the first step on WhatsApp. See Campaigns.
- After the 24-hour window: the template Texa AI sends in an inbox after the window has closed. See Choose how Texa AI works in each inbox.
- Ticket messages: updates to a customer outside the window, with the reference and the update. See Set up ticket types, states and promises.
- Satisfaction surveys on WhatsApp. See Satisfaction surveys.
Do-not-disturb list
The same page has your Do-not-disturb list: numbers that must never get a campaign message or call, such as the NCC’s DND list, or your own. Upload a file of numbers, one per line.