Introduction to Message Templates

Learn how to use WhatsApp Message Templates in Intercom

Mohamed Elbadwihi avatar
Written by Mohamed Elbadwihi
Updated over a week ago

Templates are reusable messages that you can send to your customers, with a few variables that you can customize. These are useful for notifications, and can be sent directly from the Octopods Intercom Inbox app/widget.

Once the 24-hour customer service window has expired, Message Templates are the only way you'll be able to reestablish contact with your customer. Click here for more information on the customer service window.

Here’s an example of what a template looks like:

Applying for a New Message Template

For each of the providers we support (360dialog, Twilio, and MessageBird), you can submit templates for approval directly from the Octopods dashboard. Once submitted, applications are reviewed and approved/rejected by Facebook.

Note:

  • The above links contain information on how to add approved templates into Octopods, so you can send them to your contacts from Intercom.

  • The template review process can take as little as 1 hour, or as long as a few days, depending on the complexity of the template.

How Do I Send a Message Using a Template?

There are two ways:

Using the Octopods Inbox app

In your Intercom Inbox, ensure that you have the Octopods Inbox app enabled. If it's not, here's how to add it:

Click on any WhatsApp conversation, and notice that the Octopods Inbox app displays a few options:

Clicking on Send a Template Message will list the pre-approved message templates that you have on your WhatsApp Business API account, as shown below:

In the above example, there are a few templates registered in my account. Selecting the template named reminder allows me to fill in the required variables, as shown below:

I can then send this message to my WhatsApp customer, even after the 24-hour service window has expired:

Using the Octopods Chrome browser extension


The Octopods Chrome browser extension allows you to send message templates directly from the user profile, as shown below:

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