Templates help you design the content & message you want to send to your customers.
Users can easily customize content, incorporate dynamic elements, and ensure brand consistency across channels.
The design, approval process & capabilities of template vary for each channel. Let’s look at how templates work for WhatsApp, email, SMS & web push messages.
Templates are mandatory for you to start business-initiated conversations with your customers on WhatsApp. You can select the template category, design templates & submit them for approval to WhatsApp from your Bik dashboard. Once these are approved, you can start using them in your campaigns/chat journeys.
You can start designing your template in the ‘My templates’ section of the ‘Content’ tab.
You can choose to start from scratch or select an existing template as a reference & modify it as per your requirements.
WhatsApp templates can support images, videos and documents as media, and CTA buttons and quick reply buttons (QRBs) as user actions.
While changing the template category between Marketing & Transactional templates, any content you might have added would get reset.
Personalising your messages
In order to personalise your messages, you can use customer variables. We have a range of customer, order & store details which you can use
If you want to add a placeholder variable, which can be changed for each different campaign, you can add an editable variable in your template
You’ll have the option of changing the media, website CTA redirection links & editable variables while sending a campaign
Connecting QRBs with chatflows
If you are using quick reply buttons (QRBs) in your templates, you can connect them with published chatflows to engage customers on chat based on their response to the message.
In case you don’t want to trigger any chatflow but just capture the button clicks in a google sheet or as a segment then either:
Connect with a chat flow which has google sheet linkage
Connect the ‘none’ flow. The list of customers who clicked a particular QRB can be created as part of a segment for offline download
Template sub-categories
While saving a template name, you can add a sub-category to help you find them easily on you ‘My templates’ page
Templates you create with the sub-category as ‘Opt-out’ would be sent out along with the campaigns to allow users to stop receiving promotional updates from you
The latest created opt-out template which is ‘Active’ (not rejected) would be used
WhatsApp can reduce your phone number quality if a lot of your messages are blocked by your customers. Opt-out messages help mitigate this risk by allowing your customers to opt-out from receiving promotional updates instead.
We add a ‘Stop’ WhatsApp template to all accounts by default, which are sent along with campaigns. However, if you that template gets rejected by WhatsApp due to multiple blocks or if you are unable to find it on your account, please create a new WhatsApp template with a quick reply button with the text “STOP” and the sub-category selected as ‘Opt-out’
Approval process & best practices
Once you submit a template for approval, WhatsApp would review your template within 24 hours
In most cases, your template would get reviewed within a minute
WhatsApp might reject templates which are not in compliance with their policy guidelines
We would notify you in case a template is rejected by WhatsApp. You can view all rejected templates in the ‘My templates’ section under "Rejected" status filter.
When you click on ‘View details’ on a template, you’ll also be able to see the reasons due to which the template was rejected
Email templates do not require any approvals & you can use our drag & drop editor to design your templates or you can use import HTML file also.
You can create new templates from scratch or also use our library of curated templates as a starting point
You can find more details on how to use the drag & drop email editor here
You can see how your template would look like on mobile & desktop screens by clicking on the preview button (eye icon) at the bottom left corner of the screen
You can personalise your emails by adding customer variables using the ‘Merge tags’ option while adding any text (refer to the screenshot below)
We also have a set of pre-built blocks which can directly add in your email templates. You can add product blocks, social media icons, unsubscribe links & shipping address conveniently using these blocks
In order to add product(s) dynamically for abandoned checkout & order confirmation emails, you can use the ‘Product block’ available in the Content section.
Once you add the block, click on the ‘Product feed’ icon under the block to select the condition to populate the list of products (products which have been added to cart during an ‘abandoned checkout’ or in an ‘order’ and etc,.)
The email builder supports the following 30 fonts by default:
Andale Mono
Arial
Arial Black
Book Antiqua
Comic Sans MS
Courier New
Cabin
Crimson text
Georgia
Helvetica
Impact
Symbol
Tahoma
Terminal
Times New Roman
Trebuchet MS
Verdana
Lobster Two
Playfair Display
Rubik
Source Sans Pro
Open Sans
Crimson Text
Montserrat
Old Standard TT
Lato
Raleway
Cabin
Pacifico
Global font
You can request for custom fonts to be enabled on your template builder if you have the Google Fonts link for the font (for example: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lobster).
SMS
In India, under the DLT regulations, brands that want to send transactional or promotional messages to their customers will have to register themselves with telecom operators. You are required to register as a telemarketer or enterprise on the DLT platform.
Once you have registered & you receive a Unique Entity ID, you can add headers and templates for promotional & transactional messages on your DLT platform. These registered headers and templates then need to be added on your TrustSignal portal as well.
You can sync all templates added on your TrustSignal portal with Bik by using the ‘Sync templates’ option in the ‘SMS’ tab of ‘My templates’
If you are using another SMS provider and already have templates & headers approved with that platform, you can migrate the templates & header from your other SMS provider to your TrustSignal account. You can reach out to our team which will help you get your templates & headers migrated.
Template Library
Apart from designing your own templates for WhatsApp & email, we also curate a list of appealing templates on our ‘Template library’ section of the Content tab.
You can directly add them to your account or edit them as per your requirements.
FAQs
1) What happens when a variable value is unavailable for a particular customer in a campaign?
We do not send the message to a customer if a variable value is unavailable for that customer.
2) How can I re-submit templates rejected by WhatsApp?
You can view all rejected templates in the ‘My templates’ section. When you click on ‘View details’, you’ll also be able to see the reasons due to which the template was rejected.
3) How can I view/edit or create templates which can be used in my WhatsApp automations?
You can change the category to “Transactional” while creating a template. All approved transactional templates would be available in the automation/chatflow builder.
4) Can I edit a template being used in an active automation/chatflow?
Yes, you can do this from the ‘My templates’ section. However, edited templates need to be reviewed again by WhatsApp, during which the active flows might be affected. We advise you to verify your automations/chatflows once you edit a connected template to make sure there are no issues arising because of this.
5) Why is WhatsApp rejecting my templates?
If your message template(s) have been rejected, it may have been for one of the following reasons:
The body text should not contain variable parameters at the beginning or end.
The body text should not contain variable parameters next to each other.
The body text should not contain too many variable parameters relative to the length of the message.
Spelling or grammatical errors. Messages with misspellings or grammatical errors may prompt customers to view these message as spam or a hoax.
Variable parameters are missing or have mismatched curly braces. The correct format is
{{1}}.Variable parameters are not defined. All parameters must have a known purpose, for example, the type of media you plan to send in a media message. Your template will be rejected if we do not know what goes into a specific parameter. We strongly recommend adding a sample with your submission.
Variable parameters contain special characters such as a
#,$, or%.Language defined does not match content. For example, English(US) was selected but the content is Hindi or Kannada or the content is a mixture of languages containing both Hindi and English.
The URLs for your links are shortened. Short links obscure the intended link destination.
The message template(s) contains content that violates WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy: When you offer goods or services for sale, we consider all messages and media related to your goods or services, including any descriptions, prices, fees, taxes and/or any required legal disclosures, to constitute transactions. Transactions must comply with the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.
The message template(s) contain content that violates WhatsApp’s Business Policy: Do not request sensitive identifiers from users. For example, do not ask people to share full length individual payment card numbers, financial account numbers, National Identification numbers, or other sensitive identifiers. This also includes not requesting documents from users that might contain sensitive identifiers.
The content contains potentially abusive or threatening content, such as threatening a customer with legal action or threatening to publicly shame them.
In addition to the above, please consider the following to accelerate the approval process.
Make your message template name clear. Instead of using a name like "template_014," use "bus_ticket_details".
Remember that someone outside of your business will be reviewing your message templates. Providing more clarity gives reviewers context around how the message template will be used.
All appeals for rejected message templates require a sample. You can appeal a rejected message template through Direct Support.
If you need to write a message template to reopen the 24-hour window, we suggest starting with some mention of the previous conversation thread:Example: “I'm sorry that I wasn't able to respond to your concerns yesterday but I’m happy to assist you now. If you’d like to continue this discussion, please reply with ‘yes’.” or “I was able to do some follow-up based on our previous conversation, and I’ve found the answer to your question about our refund policy. If you’d like to continue our conversation, please say ‘yes’.”
6) Can I use the same template for multiple channels, such as WhatsApp and email?
No, templates for each channels need to follow the relevant template structure & comply with channel-specific guidelines. Hence, you would have to create separate templates for each channel.
7) How many templates can I create for each channel?
WhatsApp has a limitation of 6,000 templates per account. Other channels do not have any such limitations.
8) Can I edit a template after it has been approved by WhatsApp?
Yes, you use the ‘Edit’ option available on a template in the ‘My templates’ section to do this. WhatsApp would however, re-review the template after editing.
9) Is there a limit to the number of media elements I can include in a WhatsApp template?
You can only include 1 media element in a single template. If you want to add multiple media elements, you could consider using a video or a PDF document based on your requirement.
10) Can I use emojis in my templates for all channels?
Yes, emojis are supported in templates across channels 😊.
11) Can I use HTML and CSS to customise my email templates?
Not right now, we only support templates created on the dashboard using our drag-&-drop builder. Ability to create templates using HTML & CSS is in our roadmap.
12) Are there any restrictions on the type of content I can include in my templates, such as prohibited products etc.?
This again depends on the channel. WhatsApp & SMS in India have their own guidelines about message contents. While email & web push do not have such restrictions, we recommend you to exercise caution & be responsible while drafting your content.
13) Can I create templates in languages other than English?
Yes, you can select the language of your template & then add the contents in the particular language while creating a template.
14) Can I test my template before using it in a live campaign?
Yes, you can start creating a campaign, select the desired template & use the “Test” button in the ‘Review & schedule’ screen to see how the template would look like. Soon, we would also add an option in the ‘My templates’ section to directly test a template.
15) Can I edit the pre-designed templates on the Template Library?
Yes, templates in the Template library can either be added directly or edited as per your requirements.
16) Does Bik offer pre-designed templates for SMS and web push?
We only offer pre-designed templates for WhatsApp & email. Because SMS templates first need to be added separately on the DLT platform, they cannot be added from the Bik Template library and have not been provided. Template library for web push notifications
17) I’m using a different SMS provider (not TrustSignal) currently and already have templates & headers added. Can I migrate them to Bik?
If you are using another SMS provider and already have templates & headers approved with that platform, you can migrate the templates & header from your other SMS provider to your TrustSignal account. You can reach out to our team which will help you get your templates & headers migrated. Once these are migrated to TrustSignal, you can sync & use them in your Bik dashboard as well
18) Can I create my own sub-categories?
We do not have the option of adding you other sub-categories.
19) What are special characters & formatting that can be used in WhatsApp templates?
WhatsApp templates support emojis & other special characters available on a conventional keyboard (characters like &, $, ₹, #, @ etc.)
However, WhatsApp also allows 4 types of formatting in the message body:
Italic: Place an underscore on both sides of the text to italicize your message (text)
Bold: Place an asterisk on both sides of the text to bold your message (text)
Strikethrough: Place a tilde on both sides of the text to strikethrough your message (~text~)
Monospace: Place three backticks on both sides of the text to monospace your message (
text). An example is shown below:
Please note that the formatting works only when these characters are placed at the ends of the selected texts without any spaces in between. If copying from elsewhere, we recommend you to paste it as plain text & use the formatting options available within our text editor to format text as required.
Monospace formatting is currently not available, but would be be launched shortly.
For further assistance or to raise feature requests related to Managing Templates on BIK, please contact [email protected].