WhatsApp Marketing

Prepare consent-based WhatsApp templates for private rollout and readiness-gated delivery.

Overview

WhatsApp marketing is built into Omniops, but live sends are currently private-rollout and readiness-gated. Do not treat WhatsApp as a generally available outbound channel until Meta setup, webhook verification, an approved text-only template, an explicit smoke recipient, and a live delivery proof have all passed.

Once enabled and proven for your business, Omniops can manage consent-based order updates, cart recovery messages, and marketing communications through Meta-approved WhatsApp templates.

Message Templates

WhatsApp requires pre-approved templates for business-initiated messages. In the private rollout, Omni helps you prepare and track these:

  • "Show me my WhatsApp templates"
  • "Create a new order confirmation template"
  • "What's the approval status of my templates?"

Template Types

You can create templates for different purposes:

  • Order status updates — shipping confirmations, delivery notifications, return updates
  • Cart recovery — reminders for customers who left items behind
  • Manual sends — promotional messages, announcements, seasonal offers

Each template goes through Meta's approval process before it can be used. Your dashboard shows the status of each one, so you know when a template is approved, rejected, or needs changes.

Sending Messages

Sending is available only after WhatsApp readiness has passed for your business. When the channel is enabled and an approved template is available, the intended workflow is:

  • "Send the shipping update to the customer on order #1234"
  • "Send an order update to Sarah about her delivery"

Omni matches the right template to the situation, fills in the customer-specific details, and prepares the send through the approved WhatsApp path. Until readiness passes, Omniops should report the missing setup step instead of sending.

WhatsApp marketing is opt-in only. Customers must consent to receive messages from your business before you can reach them:

  • Consent is tracked per customer
  • Customers can opt out at any time
  • Omni respects opt-out requests automatically
  • No messages are sent to customers who haven't opted in

This protects your customers' preferences and keeps your WhatsApp Business account in good standing with Meta.

Message Logs and Delivery Tracking

After the private rollout is enabled and live delivery is proven, you can keep track of what was sent and whether it was received:

  • "Show me recent WhatsApp messages"
  • "Did Sarah receive the shipping update?"
  • "How many WhatsApp messages did we send this week?"

Omni logs WhatsApp message attempts with delivery status when the channel is active, so you can see what reached customers and what failed.

Template Approval Process

Meta reviews every template before it can be used. Here's what to expect:

  1. Create — write your template in the dashboard
  2. Submit — send it to Meta for review from the dashboard
  3. Review — Meta typically responds within minutes to a few hours
  4. Approved — the template is ready to use
  5. Rejected — the dashboard shows you the reason so you can adjust and resubmit

Common reasons for rejection include promotional language in transactional templates, missing required elements, or content that doesn't match the template category.

Real Scenarios

Intended rollout flow: a customer orders on Monday. On Wednesday, after WhatsApp readiness has passed, they get a WhatsApp message with their shipping update. They reply "Thanks!" and that reply appears in your conversation dashboard.

You create an abandoned cart template. After Meta approves it and delivery readiness passes, a customer who left items in their basket can receive a gentle WhatsApp nudge with a link back to their cart.

What You Can Ask

  • "Send the shipping update to the customer on order #1234"
  • "Has this customer opted in to WhatsApp?"
  • "Opt this customer out of WhatsApp messages"