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HSM Templates for Whatsapp 💬

Alessandro Pinelli Updated by Alessandro Pinelli

What is a HSM Template?

HSM Templates (HSM stands for Highly Structured Messages) are proactive messages that companies can send via WhatsApp to their subscribers after 24 hours from their last contact.

This messages need to be requested directly to WhatsApp, who can approve or reject them!

That's why it's very important to learn all about them before the request!

This is how they look like in Landbot:

And in WhatsApp:

These are their main characteristics and rules:

  1. They can only contain text, emojis and variables (e.g. "Hello {{1}}").
  2. You cannot add promotional or advertising content.
  3. If you plan to use templates in +1 language, they all need to be multi-language.
  4. Templates cannot be modified once requested or approved.
Formatting the text

You can format the text like this:

*Landbot* : Bold

_Landbot_ : Italic

~Landbot~ : Stricked out

```Landbot``` : Monospace

Here are some instructions to show you how to create templates!

Template name

The template name can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores ( _ ). 

No other characters or white space are allowed. 

Example: order_confirmation_3

Variables

Once you have your templates approved, you'll be able to set the variables any time you need to launch one.

Variables are displayed in the Templates like numbers in double brackets. Like {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}, ...

The variables allow you the flexibility of changing a part of your message and personalize it any time you need.

In the gif below, you can see how to add a variable to the message:

"Hey! 👋 Just checking in on your order of {{1}}. Did everything go smoothly? 🤗"

In this case we substitute the {{1}} with "a pair of shoes", but it can be any product the user ordered.

If you stored this information in a previous chat, for example in the variable @product, you can introduce the value @product.

Another example is having a variable for the user's name, like @name, to add more personalization to the message.

Example: "Hi {{1}}, just received the confirmation of your order {{2}} 🚀"

If you want to read more about Landbot's variables in general, please check this article!

How to request a template

You can request a HSM template from the Channels section in Landbot!

Click on Request new HSM and you'll speak with the official request bot, which is going to ask you all the necessary info.

Once we receive your request, we're going to take care of it: if the Template is approved ✅, you will see it reflected on your Landbot account in up to 48hours; if after 48 hours, you can still not see your Template, it means it was rejected ❌  by WhatsApp.

In case you need further information about formatting or general guidelines, please take a look at this link 🔗.

How to Contact users with HSM Templates

Once you have your templates approved by Whatsapp, you can use them to contact users proactively.

Campaigns

It is possible to do this using a Campaign to reach out to several users at once.

Please check this article for more information on how to set up a Campaign.

Chats section

If a conversation by Whatsapp in the Chats section has passed the initial 24h window, you will not be able to write to the user directly.

That means, you must use a HSM Template to contact the user proactively and have the possibilty of writing to the user again.

Please check this article for more information on how to send a template through the Chats Section.

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