Integrating a WhatsApp channel with Zendesk signifies that your number is now incorporated into the WhatsApp Business Platform. This integration enables you to receive messages from your users and respond to them during what WhatsApp designates as the customer service window. This means reply to a customer within 24 hours of their last message. If the 24-hour window has passed, or if you want to proactively reach out for marketing or informational purposes, use WhatsApp templates.
The workflow includes the steps below.
- Step 1: Understanding WhatsApp templates
- Step 2: Creating templates
- Step 3: Sending templates to end users
Step 1: Understanding WhatsApp templates
Templates are pre-approved messages created in advance and approved by WhatsApp. Marketing templates may incur a cost, while utility templates are often free of charge. For more information about templates see the articles:
Step 2: Creating templates
Once your WhatsApp channel has been created, navigate to your Meta Business Suite settings page and log in to your WhatsApp business account to create templates.
To create the templates, see the article: Create message templates for your WhatsApp Business account.
Start sending the templates once Meta approves it.
Step 3: Sending templates to end users
Determine the purpose of the template:
- Do you want to reply to a user in a ticket 24 hours after their last message? Do this using a simple macro. To create the macro, see this article: Using WhatsApp template messages to bypass the 24-hour rule.
- Do you want to proactively reach out to users? To do this, you'll need a Suite Professional or Enterprise plan.
Use the following methods to send templates to end users. To do so, you’ll need to generate a Conversation API key in your Zendesk account.
- Apps
- The Zendesk Marketplace offers various apps that allow you to send templates, including our in-house developed app, Relay. For more information, see the article: Installing and using the Relay messaging app.
- Notification API
- Send templates directly using the Notification API. The Notification API provides more advanced customization options, allowing you to interact with the WhatsApp API to send templates. For more information, see the article: Outbound messaging with the notification API.