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Sending one message into many different chats at once (a “scaled message”) can only be done over WhatsApp using what WhatsApp calls a “template”.  A template is a WhatsApp-approved, pre-written message that will be sent by your Coral API phone number into a single chat or many chats at one time.  
  • Create your first template that you can use to test scaled messaging.  The simplest template to create is a “Standard (text only)” template type, of the Marketing category, with simple text like “Hello, and welcome to our service!” in the content section.  Once you hit submit, it will be approved by WhatsApp automatically within seconds.   
  • Go to the Compose Message section, choose a chat from the SELECT CHATS button, and choose a template to send from the Choose Template drop down menu, and hit Send.  
Templates are shared across your organization, so other users of your organization’s account can see the templates that you make and vice versa.  Templates can have dynamic variables, such as starting the message with “Hi [first name of client]” and entering in your client’s name according to your contact database.   Some explanations of the required fields when creating a template:
  • Category: You will need to choose your template category; most of the scaled messages you will want to send will be considered a “Marketing template” by WhatsApp, such as a message that contains products for sale, has an event invitation, or even simply says “Hello!”.  You can read more about the different template categories here.  If WhatsApp believes you miscategorized your template after you create it, they will automatically re-categorize it for you as part of the template approval process.  
  • Template Type: the “Standard (text only)” template type is straightforward, but the “Media & Interactive” template type deserves more explanation.  Once you’ve selected this type, more options will display to the right.  
    • Header: Adding a header to your template is where you can attach an image, video, or other document.  
    • Buttons: Adding buttons can make it easier for your contacts to interact with your template message, and it usually has a bot or automations behind it to collect replies or take an action at scale when your contact responds by tapping a button in the template.  The maximum buttons that can be added to a template is 10.  The “Enter text” field is where you input what the button will say.  In the nearby dropdown, you can choose what you want the button to do when clicked: 
      • Quick Reply means the contact will simply reply to the bot’s question with that response, 
      • URL sends the contact to that URL when clicked, 
      • Phone Number opens up a WhatsApp chat with the phone number specified.  
Contact your Coral rep to discuss creating templates for your account, and we can guide you.