Manage WhatsApp campaigns

WhatsApp is a valuable marketing tool with which, from Mailrelay, you can improve your marketing campaigns.

TABLA DE CONTENIDOS

• ÍNDICE
  • Manage WhatsApp campaigns
    • 1.- WhatsApp in Mailrelay 
    • 2.- Signing up for WhatsApp Business
    • 3.- Phone numbers
    • 5.- Campaigns
    • 6.- SENT Campaigns 
    • APPENDIX: Guidelines for Template Approval
      • A1.-  Template Structure
      • A2.- Use of variables and emojis
      • A3.- Language requirements
      • A4.- Prohibited content and common errors

Sending WhatsApp campaigns from Mailrelay is extremely simple, you just have to have a meta WhatsApp Business account associated with a mobile phone number with which to manage your campaigns and configure some simple aspects in the Mailrelay user interface. Let's get to it.

1.- WhatsApp in Mailrelay 

In the main Mailrelay interface, locate the WhatsApp option and click on it to discover the four options that will allow you to configure and launch your campaigns comfortably.

These are: Phone numbers, Templates, Campaigns and Sent campaigns.

To associate a phone number with your account and validate it in WhatsApp Business, the first thing you must do is enter the Phone numbers option, now click on +Add new phone number to begin the process of registering your phone number in WhatsApp Business.

We will see this process in detail now.

2.- Signing up for WhatsApp Business

On the screen that appears, click Start to begin the sign-up process.

Next, you'll need to provide some basic information about your company, such as its industry. Continue clicking Next until all the requested information is complete.

After having entered your company's data, it is time to create your account in WhatsApp Business, to do so in Choose a WhatsApp Business account select Create a WhatsApp Business account and click on Next.

Now, enter the phone number you want to use. Select Add a new number, then choose your verification method: Text message or Phone call. As an example, select Text message and click Next.

When you receive the SMS, enter the 6-digit code into the Verification code field and click Next.

If you have successfully completed the account validation, the next window will ask you to confirm if the data you have provided is correct and click on Continue.

This section is where you will add the phone numbers for your campaigns. If you're familiar with Mailrelay, this is the equivalent of the Senders section for email.

To add a phone number and use it in your campaigns, just click on +Add new phone number and the configuration wizard shown in the previous point (2.- Signing up for WhatsApp Business) will appear.

3.- Phone numbers

This section is where you will add the phone numbers for your campaigns. If you're familiar with Mailrelay, this is the equivalent of the Senders section for email.

To add a phone number and use it in your campaigns, just click on +Add new phone number and the configuration wizard shown in the previous point (2.- Signing up for WhatsApp Business) will appear.

At the top of this window you have a search area where you can filter between your different authorized WhatsApp numbers and just below it the results area where you will see the phones you already have validated.

4.- Templates

From here you can create and manage the different templates you create, all of them have to be validated by WhatsApp Business before you can use them.

At the top of this window you have a search area where you can filter between the different created templates and just below it the results area where you can see the created templates.

IMPORTANT: All templates must be approved directly by WhatsApp Business, check the Status column to know if it is already selectable or not. As a general rule:

In the results area, pay special attention to the Status column, since there you will see if you can use your templates or not. This column presents three states: Approved (you can use it now), Pending (in the process of approval by meta) and Rejected (rejected by meta and you cannot use it).

Right between both areas is the +Add button which is what we will use to create a template, click on +Add to create a template.

The New WhatsApp template window will appear. To create your template, enter the following information:

WhatsApp phone number: select one of the phone numbers that you have validated as a sender in WhatsApp Business.

Name: indicate a name to identify the template.

Category: indicate which category you want to associate the template with.

Language: indicate the language of the template.

Header (optional): define a header if you consider it necessary.

Body: add the body of the WhatsApp message.

Once that's done, you can see a preview on the right side of the window. Click Create WhatsApp Template to save it, and then simply wait for the template to be approved by WhatsApp Business.

At the same time you can add variables to the message by clicking on the Insert Variable button, in this case keep in mind that meta doesn't allow variables to be placed at the beginning or at the end of the message. In any case, click on the Insert Variable button and add the desired variables if you consider it necessary in your template.

5.- Campaigns

In each of the created campaigns you have four icons:

- To send the campaign (icon of a green envelope or Send).

- For a preview of the campaign (icon of a blue magnifying glass or Show).

- To edit the campaign (icon of a green notepad or Edit).

- To delete the campaign (icon of a red trash can or Delete).

To create a campaign, click the +Add button located between the two areas. This will open the New WhatsApp campaign window.

There indicate the name of the campaign in Name, as well as the template you want to use in WhatsApp Template and select if you are going to send it to a group (Groups) or to a segment (Segment) from the Who would you like to send this campaign to? area. After that, click on Create WhatsApp Campaign.

There indicate the name of the campaign in Name, as well as the template you want to use in WhatsApp Template and select if you are going to send it to a group (Groups) or to a segment (Segment) from the Who would you like to send this campaign to? area. After that, click on Create WhatsApp Campaign.

Now a new window will appear with four main tabs where you can review the information of the created campaign (Show campaign), modify the campaign (Edit campaign), see a log of the campaign (Log) or send the campaign (Send).

Click on the Send tab and select if you want to send the campaign right at that moment directly, by clicking on Immediately, or if you want to schedule its sending for a specific day and time, by clicking on Scheduled. When you click on Scheduled a calendar will appear where you can configure the schedule date.

In either of the two cases, you will only have to click on the blue Send button to send the campaign.

6.- SENT Campaigns 

6.- Sent campaigns

When you send campaigns it is necessary to check their results, you can do this easily from the Sent campaigns option of WhatsApp.

Click on Sent campaigns and you will enter the management window for your sent campaigns. This window has two main areas, at the top is the search area where you can filter between your different sent campaigns and below it, you have the results area where you will see the campaigns.

There next to the name of each of the campaigns you have a blue button with a magnifying glass icon (Show), click on it to access the detailed statistics of that campaign.

There next to the name of each of the campaigns you have a blue button with a magnifying glass icon (Show), click on it to access the detailed statistics of that campaign.

In this area there are three tabs and by default you will access the summary one (Summary), where you can see the number of phones to which you sent (Processed), the percentage of delivered (Delivered), the readings obtained (Read) and if there were any that could not be delivered (Failed).

The Sent messages tab shows the detailed status for each phone number, while the Log tab contains a log of the campaign.

APPENDIX: Guidelines for Template Approval

WhatsApp Business is committed to ensuring that messages sent on its platform are not malicious and don't violate its usage policies. Therefore, please keep the following guidelines in mind when creating your templates to ensure a smooth approval process.

A1.-  Template Structure

Each template can have up to four optional sections:

1. Header – Optional. It can be text, image, document or video. 
2. Body – Mandatory. It is the main text of the message and can include dynamic variables ({{1}}, {{2}}, etc.
3. Footer – Optional It is a fixed text that is placed at the end of the template.
4. Buttons – Optional Allows a maximum of 2 call to action (CTA) buttons

A2.- Use of variables and emojis

• Variables are fields of the type {{1}}, {{2}}... that are replaced by personalized values when the message is sent. They must be integrated grammatically and contextually into the message.
• Emojis are allowed and moderate use is recommended (no more than 1-2 per line). Ambiguous or offensive emojis should be avoided and they must be consistent with the message.

A3.- Language requirements

• Arabic, etc.).
• Languages should not be mixed without justification.
• Spelling errors, automatic translations or excessive informal language should be avoided.

A4.- Prohibited content and common errors

Meta reviews and may reject templates that include the following:

•  References to restricted products or services. Such as drugs, tobacco, alcohol, weapons, cryptocurrencies (unlicensed), betting, gambling, unapproved pharmaceutical products...
• Inappropriate content Sexual, violent or discriminatory material, as well as offensive language, incitement to hatred or sensitive political content.

• Deceptive or abusive practices.Exaggerated promises (earn easy money, lose weight in a few days, etc.), creating a sense of false urgency, sending Spam and using manipulative or threatening language.
  
  

LThe most common errors that cause a template to be rejected are:

• Messa: "Hello, we have an offer for you."
  ✅ Ex:: “Hola {{1}}, por visitar nuestra web, tienes un 15% de descuento en {{2}}.”
  
  
• Mezcla de idiomas sin sentido.
  ❌ Ex: “"Hola {{1}}, you have a discount today.".”
  
  
• Misplaced or misspelled variables.

  Emojis out of place or their excessive use.

A5.- Recommendations and best practices Always personalize with the user's name or relevant details.

Use a natural, close and direct language.

Include a clear call to action: button, link or phone number.

Check spelling and grammar.

Make sure that the images or multimedia files are appropriate and of high quality.