Creating a WhatsApp Campaign
Once a WhatsApp integration has been set up in your license, you can start creating a WhatsApp campaign.
From the Apps center, select 'WhatsApp campaigns'.
Then 'Create a Whatsapp campaign'
Choosing the integration
First, you need to select the integration, which is the link to the CM account from which the WhatsApp messages will be sent.
Each integration is tied to an entity, which will directly determine the entity on which the created campaign will be stored.
However, if you have multiple senders because your are managing multiple brands, this is also thanks to the integration that you are able to differentiate them.
Changing the integration after choosing it is not possible.
It is currently only possible to create mass campaigns.
Step 1: General data
Give a name to your campaign and choose the language(s) in which the campaign will be created.
Select the profile database that will be targeted.
The database can be on another entity than the campaign, as long as you have access to both, but it must contain the 'gsmNumber' standard attribute, as this is the ID used by WhatsApp.
The entity of the campaign is tied to the integration and cannot be modified.
Step 2: Target group
At step 2, you must choose a subscription which represent the consent given by profiles to be contacted through WhatsApp.
While you can technically choose any subscription of your DB, we strongly recommend that you created a new dedicated subscription for WhatsApp campaigns and collected specific consent for this channel. Indeed, this consent collection also helps you determine which profiles are WhatsApp users, as you cannot contact profile who have not set up the app on their mobile device.
Next, you can select a default language, to target profiles speaking other languages than the main ones of the campaign.
Finally, you can refine your target selection by applying targeting filters, like for any Actito channel.
Step 3: Message
At step 3, you can write the message of your campaign. Just like for SMS, this is a plain text message, without any additional formatting like you would have in an e-mail.
However, WhatsApp campaigns benefit from a much bigger character limit than SMS, with a max of 1024 characters.
You can use the full extent of personalizations to directly insert data stored in your data model and create a highly personalized message. However, due to META rules, there are restrictions in the placement of personalizations: two personalization cannot appear in a row and they cannot appear at the start or the end of the campaign.
Indeed, META enforces a set of guidelines regarding the content and the format of messages sent through WhatsApp. Each campaign must undergo validation before being sent to the target.
Before writing your first message, we invite you to consult the 'Following META guidelines' page and strictly follow the instructions.
Make sure to write the message in all the languages of the campaign before moving on to the next step.
Step 4: Check and test
You can preview the rendition of your campaign for members of your testing group by clicking on the 'eye' in the 'Actions' column at step 4.
Because of META's validation process and the rule against submitting duplicate messages, it is indeed not possible to send a test message directly to your phone.
Step 5: Sending
At the final step, you can view an overview of the previously defined 'General data', 'Target group' and 'Message', allowing you to double check all parameters of the campaign.
After reviewing these parameters, you can send the campaign immediately or schedule it for later.
Once you have chosen the sending time, a sample will be sent to META for validation. This validation is carried out by an automated system and usually takes only a few minutes. However, by META's terms of use, it can take up to 24h.
We found that in practice, it is never so long, granted that you follow the META guidelines.
The validation process starts as soon as a campaign is scheduled. To guarantee sending the campaign at the time of your choice, we advise to schedule it at least 24h in advance.
As soon as the validation is finished, the user who created the campaign will receive a WhatsApp validation report.