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 you can 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, you can 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, you can navigate in your Meta Business Suite settings page and log into your WhatsApp business account to create templates.
To create the the templates, see the article: Create message templates for your WhatsApp Business account
Once Meta approves the template, you can start sending 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? You can do this using a simple macro, which is explained in this article.
- 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.
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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.
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Notification API
You can 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.