WhatsApp templates that get approved — and get replies

For many service businesses, WhatsApp is where customers actually answer. It's also the channel with the most rules: to start a conversation, a business has to use a message template that Meta has approved. Get the templates right and they become the backbone of your reminders, updates and campaigns. Get them wrong and messages sit in review, or never leave at all.

This guide covers how templates work in klerc, how to write ones that pass review, and how to send them to the right people at the right time.

One library for every message you send twice#

Templates live in a single library shared by the inbox, workflows and broadcasts. Filter it by channel — WhatsApp, SMS, Email and Chat — and every sender picks from the same approved wording.

The demo brokerage's library shows the range a service business needs: renewal reminders for three points in the cascade, Claim registered and Claim settled, Endorsement completed, Health checkup booked, Policy document dispatched, a payment reminder, a welcome note, birthday and festival greetings — plus a policy copy by email, a renewal link by SMS and a greeting for the website chat.

The life of a WhatsApp template#

SMS, email and chat templates are simply Draft or Active. WhatsApp templates also carry their standing with Meta:

1. Write it in klerc. A new WhatsApp template is saved locally — marked LOCAL — and you can edit it as often as you like.
2. Submit it to Meta. One button in the template editor sends it for review.
3. Refresh the status. Meta's decision comes back into klerc. An approved template is marked APPROVED, and workflows and broadcasts can send it.

Each template also names the WhatsApp account it belongs to, so a business with more than one number keeps its wording where it belongs.

Choose a category, a language and a layout#

Every WhatsApp template has a category, and Meta uses it to decide how the message is treated — so match it to the content. A renewal reminder or a claim update is a utility message about something the customer already has; a festive offer is marketing.

Pick the language the customer reads — one template per language — and a layout:

• Standard — a header, body, footer and buttons. Right for most reminders and updates.
• Carousel — several cards the customer can swipe through.
• Limited-time offer — for promotions with a deadline.

Everything except the body is optional. The body supports bold, italics, strikethrough and monospace; the footer is a good home for "Reply STOP to opt out"; and buttons give the customer one tap to act. The editor previews the message as you type.

Let merge fields do the personalising#

Templates speak in merge fields that klerc fills from the CRM as each message goes out:

Dear {{contact.firstName}}, your policy {{policy.policy_number}} expires on{{policy.expiry_date}}. Renew early to keep your benefits.— {{agent.name}}, {{agent.phone}}

The fields come from the contact, the record the message is about and the person sending it, so one template serves every customer and every advisor. Two habits help: keep each field inside a sentence that still reads well if the value is short, and never paste a name into a template — that's what the field is for.

Writing templates that pass review#

Meta reviews every template before it can be sent. A few principles keep that process smooth:

• Say who you are and why you're writing. "Your policy expires on…" is clearer than "Important update".
• Match the category to the message. A promotion filed as a utility update is asking for trouble.
• Keep variables inside real sentences. A body that's mostly placeholders tells a reviewer nothing.
• Give people a way out of promotional messages, in the footer.
• Write one template per purpose. Stretching a renewal reminder into a festive offer blurs both.

Broadcast to lists that stay current#

A broadcast sends one template to many people — by WhatsApp, SMS or email — now, or at a time you schedule. Each broadcast shows its status (Draft, Scheduled or Sent) and how many messages were sent and how many failed.

Who receives it depends on the list you choose, and klerc has two kinds:

Dynamic lists suit anything tied to a date or a status: the list keeps itself up to date, so next month's broadcast reaches next month's renewals. Frozen lists suit one-off sends where you want a fixed audience you can review before it goes.

Watch what happened — and what comes back#

After a broadcast goes out, look at the failed count first. Common causes include a template that isn't approved for the account sending it, or a number that can't receive WhatsApp messages — both worth fixing before the next send.

Replies don't go to a separate campaign tool. They land in the inbox, threaded with everything else you've said to that customer, where assignment, SLA timers and AI drafts take over.

Reuse everywhere#

The same templates power a 90-day renewal cascade, a claim-registered update sent by a workflow, and the Templates button in the inbox composer. Write them once, get them approved once, and every channel and every sender stays consistent.

The templates guide walks through every field in the editor; Broadcasts and Lists cover sending at scale.