WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the channel your campaigns write on. Connect a number, get a template approved and your campaigns can open conversations with leads; everyone who writes to the number is answered by the campaign you choose.

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Before you start

The page lists what Meta asks for before you connect your first number:

• Admin access to Meta Business: you administer the Meta Business portfolio the number belongs to (or you create one during the connection).
• Verified WhatsApp Business account: the WhatsApp Business account is verified by Meta.
• Authorization via Facebook: the connection runs in a Facebook window where you log in and pick the business and the number.

You never type a phone number ID, a business account ID or an access token into Whappy: Facebook hands everything to Whappy once you authorize it.

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Connecting a number

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Keeping the WhatsApp Business app

A number connected with Connect existing WhatsApp Business app is marked Business app + Cloud API in the list. You keep using the app on your phone, and Whappy sends and receives on the same number. When you answer a lead yourself from the app, Whappy treats it as you taking over: the AI stops on that conversation and does not write over you. To let the AI continue, open the conversation in Chats and press Continue AI conversation.

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Several numbers

You can connect more than one number: the tab becomes Accounts (n). The Templates and Test tabs work on one number at a time; with several numbers an Accounts selector at the top of those tabs chooses which one.

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Each number’s menu

The menu at the end of each row offers:

• Check status: asks Meta for the number’s current status and shows it.
• Open in Meta Business: opens the WhatsApp account in Meta Business Suite.

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Who answers people who write first

When you have a campaign open, each number shows an Inbound switch. Switched on, people who write to that number first (without a campaign having written to them) are answered by that campaign. The campaign has to talk on WhatsApp (see its Options).

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Creating message templates

WhatsApp requires an approved template to open a conversation with a lead. Without one, campaigns cannot send the first message. Templates belong to a number: open the Templates tab (choose the number first if you have several).

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Adding a template

1. Press Add template. A new row opens at the top of the list.
2. Fill it in:
   • Template name: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores only, for example welcome_message.
   • Language: the language Meta reviews it in. A template exists per language.
   • Category: Marketing for promotions, Utility for updates about something the customer already did. Authentication is also offered.
   • Message template: the text, up to 1024 characters. Text that changes per person goes in double braces, for example {{name}}.
3. Give a sample value for every parameter under Parameters: WhatsApp uses it to review the template.
4. Optionally add a Header or a Footer (max 60 characters each, no parameters), a photo or file (see below) and Buttons: quick replies the customer can tap, up to 10, max 25 characters each.
5. Press Save template. The row’s status turns from New to Pending while Meta reviews it.

Insert variable lists the fields Whappy fills for you: the customer’s Name, Email and Phone, and on a Shopify store the order and cart fields (see Shopify). You can also write your own parameter names. A message cannot start or end with a parameter, and two parameters cannot sit next to each other: put a few words around them. Whappy tells you before anything reaches Meta.

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Opening with a photo or a file

A template can open with an image, a PDF or a video above the text. Press Add photo or file on the template and pick one from your file library (Assets).

• Image: JPEG or PNG, up to 5 MB
• Document: PDF, up to 100 MB
• Video: MP4, up to 16 MB

The file is part of what Meta approves, so it is fixed once the template is approved: to send a different one, create another template. Every message that uses the template carries the file, including an announcement, which is how a photo reaches your customers with the offer rather than after they reply.

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Generating a template with AI

Rather than writing a template and discovering at approval time that Meta rejects it, press Generate with AI. Whappy writes a WhatsApp-compliant template from what you describe. You review it before anything is sent to Meta: it lands as a draft at the top of the list, and nothing is submitted until you press Save template.

• What should the template say?: a plain-language brief, for example “Remind the customer about their appointment tomorrow and ask them to confirm”. This is the only thing the AI writes from unless you add a campaign below.
• Use a campaign’s business context (optional): pick a campaign to add its name, description and context documents to what the AI writes from. Any campaign works, whether or not it runs on this number. With a campaign selected you may leave the brief empty.
• Advanced options: include a header (max 60 characters, no parameters), a footer (max 60 characters, no parameters) or quick-reply buttons (up to three, max 25 characters each; you can add more in the editor afterwards).

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Translating an approved template

An approved template has a Translate… button. Pick up to five languages at a time and Whappy writes a draft in each one, keeping the words in double braces, the links and the phone numbers as they are. Check every draft and press Submit on it: each language is reviewed by WhatsApp separately. Only marketing and utility templates can be translated, and a template that opens with a photo or file may need that language added by hand with Add template.

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Template status

Each row shows its category and status: A saved template is read-only: to change it, create a new one. Delete template removes it from the number (and from Meta); WhatsApp does not allow a deleted name to be reused for a while.

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Using templates in your funnel

Templates are used in the WhatsApp template step, the first step of a campaign’s funnel: open Campaign → Funnel, click the first step and pick an approved template. The template text becomes the first message, and the preview shows exactly what leads will receive. Only approved templates can be chosen.

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Testing a number

The Test tab sends real messages from the number to a phone you type (with the country code, for example +393331234567):

• Test template message: choose an approved template, fill in its parameters, check the preview and send it. It needs at least one approved template.
• Test free message: send a plain text message to check that replies arrive both ways.

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Disconnecting a number

Disconnect is at the end of the WhatsApp page. With several numbers it reads Disconnect a number and the dialog asks which one. Before confirming, the dialog says what changes:

• With other numbers left, nothing else changes.
• With only this number and Instagram connected, campaigns stop writing first to leads; Instagram keeps answering messages.
• With only this number and no Instagram, running campaigns stop: there is no channel left.

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Reconnecting a number

The access Meta grants can expire or be revoked, for example when the person who authorized it leaves the business. A conversation that fails for this reason shows the error The access token for this WhatsApp number has expired or been revoked with the fix Reconnect the number in Settings > WhatsApp: go to Integrations → WhatsApp, press Add new number (or Connect existing WhatsApp Business app for a number marked Business app + Cloud API) and authorize the same number again.

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Troubleshooting

Need help? Check our FAQ or contact support.