WhatsApp has become the preferred way for people to communicate with businesses. But plain old text-based messaging alone may not always deliver the ideal experience. That’s where WhatsApp’s interactive messages come into the picture.
An astonishing 68% of customers admit they prefer purchasing from businesses that offer modern, convenient communication. Interactive messages provide that sought-after convenience by allowing customers to access information, get recommendations, complete payments, and more right within a WhatsApp chat.
If you run a business, you must know how to create interactive buttons in WhatsApp, as they can directly impact your sales and customer experience.
Let’s start exploring!
What Are WhatsApp Interactive Messages?
WhatsApp interactive messages are a feature that allows businesses to send messages to customers with interactive buttons and menus. Here are some key things to know about WhatsApp interactive messages:
- They allow brands to send customizable messages to customers with interactive elements like buttons, menus, and quick replies. Customers can tap these to take action or respond without having to type out replies.
- Options like buttons, lists, and quick replies make conversations more efficient compared to plain text messages. For example, businesses can include buttons for common questions, product catalogs, appointment booking, and more.
- Interactive messages use the WhatsApp Business API to integrate these customizable components into messages programmatically.
- They help personalize engagements and guide customers to complete actions through intuitive taps rather than having to text back responses or search for information.
- These messages enable scalable two-way conversations between businesses and customers within WhatsApp. This facilitates more convenient customer support, notifications, order status updates, and other uses.
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WhatsApp offers five types of interactive messages to enable engaging customer conversations that drive action. These messages allow customers to conveniently provide information, browse offerings, complete purchases, and more – all within the WhatsApp chat. These are –
1. WhatsApp Reply Buttons
Reply buttons contain up to three predefined responses that allow customers to quickly indicate their needs or intents from a message. For example, reply buttons that say “Yes, I’m interested,” “No thanks,” and “Have a question” let you gather instant intent signals from a promotional message. You can send up to three choices with your text or media messages.
Reply buttons enhance interactivity and are useful for confirmation messages, shifting conversations to alternate channels, and transactional updates like booking confirmations and shipment notifications.
2. WhatsApp List Messages
List messages enable businesses to present a menu with up to 10 items that customers can browse and select from. Useful for self-service scenarios. A restaurant can showcase a food menu, a retailer can list store locations, and an airline can provide flight rescheduling options using list messages. Customers can explore information and tap an item to interact instead of having to type out responses.
3. WhatsApp Single-Product Messages
These interactive messages allow the showcasing of an individual product or item to customers with a preview. Useful in sales conversations when personalizing offerings. A furniture store can share a catalog, identify customer preferences through chat, and then display the ideal sofa as a single product message with an add-to-cart button prompting purchase.
4. WhatsApp Multi-Product Messages
Businesses can share a catalog preview with up to 30 products in one go through a multi-product message. Useful when showcasing promotions or new arrival batches. An accessories brand can display the top Diwali deals and enable adding products to the cart straight from the message.
5. WhatsApp Location Request Messages
Businesses can request user location by sending a location request message with a button to instantly share the location. User permission is required before the location can be accessed. Useful for food delivery, at-home services, dispatching resources, and more based on customer address.
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WhatsApp has standardized specifications for interactive message components to ensure consistency and reliability across platforms. Understanding specifications helps plan effective conversations and templates. The key specifications to keep in mind for various interactive message components are below:
- Messages with list or reply buttons cannot serve as notifications and are restricted to a 24-hour window from the user's last message. Attempting to send such a message beyond this timeframe will result in an error message.
- WhatsApp enables combining multiple interactive components like buttons, lists and cards within the same message. For example, a message can have quick reply buttons and a product catalog list picker to provide layered interactivity. This allows for guiding conversations effectively.
- Customers will be unable to choose multiple options simultaneously from a list or button message. However, they have the flexibility to revisit and reopen a previous message.
- WhatsApp has optimized interactive messages to work seamlessly across iOS and Android smartphones and the WhatsApp web experience.
Benefits Of WhatsApp Interactive Messages
WhatsApp’s interactive messages allow users to respond to businesses with quick replies and actions. These interactive messages provide enhanced and more efficient conversations and help meet customer needs faster while optimizing business workflows. There are several notable benefits to using WhatsApp’s interactive messages, as mentioned below –
1. Improved Customer Experience
Interactive messages enhance customer experience by providing quick response options and relevant recommendations. This creates an efficient, personalized, and seamless conversation where customers can get information fast without having to switch between apps.
2. Reduce Human Error
For businesses, interactive messages help minimize human error in conversations. By providing predefined response options, incorrect information is not accidentally relayed to customers. Automated messages also ensure consistency in answers. This increased accuracy builds trust.
3. Increase Conversions
WhatsApp API interactive messages make the purchasing process easier for customers by surfacing relevant products and enabling instant checkouts. This drives more conversions for businesses as friction is reduced in the buyer’s journey. More customers complete purchases instead of leaving.
4. 24×7 Availability
With predefined interactive messages set up, customers always have self-service options available when messaging a business on WhatsApp. Even outside working hours, customers can take actions like checking orders or booking appointments. This 24×7 Availability enhances service and increases customer satisfaction.
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WhatsApp allows businesses to make conversations more interactive and engaging through message templates with special buttons. These WhatsApp interactive message template buttons allow customers to not just passively read messages but also act on them with just a quick tap. This results in higher engagement, conversions, and customer satisfaction.
Interactive buttons transform standard text-and-media WhatsApp messages into two-way conversations. Customers get to conveniently indicate intents, browse information, and complete tasks within the chat instead of having to switch between apps.
Types of Interactive Buttons
There are two main types of interactive buttons for WhatsApp message templates:
1. Call-to-Actions
These buttons allow customers to directly call the business or visit the website or specific landing pages. Useful for enabling seamless transitions to other channels.
2. Quick Replies
These buttons contain pre-defined response options for customers. Useful for gathering instant feedback, confirming intents, guiding conversations, and more.
WhatsApp interactive buttons allow you to add call-to-actions and quick replies in your messages to customers. This enhances engagement and conversations. With ControlHippo, you can easily create templatized WhatsApp messages with interactive buttons.
Here are the key steps to add WhatsApp interactive buttons using ControlHippo:
- Step 1: Sign up on the ControlHippo dashboard and access the composer section.
- Step 2: Click on "Create Template" and give your template a name.
- Step 3: Select the template category - order updates, payment reminders, etc.
- Step 4: Add the header, body copy, and footer for your message.
- Step 5: Go to the buttons section and pick between call-to-actions or quick replies.
- Step 6: Design the buttons with relevant labels and actions.
- Step 7: Submit the template for WhatsApp approval.
- Step 8: Once approved, the buttons will show up automatically when you use the template.
With these simple steps, you can add engaging WhatsApp interactive buttons using ControlHippo’s easy-to-use template composer and get higher engagement.
Conclusion
WhatsApp API interactive messages are transforming how businesses have conversations on WhatsApp. They provide tangible benefits – enhanced customer experience, higher conversions, lower operational costs, among others.
Tools like ControlHippo make it easy to set up and manage WhatsApp API interactive messages at scale. With ControlHippo, you can send WhatsApp business interactive messages for onboarding flows, payment reminders, event updates, and more while reaching customers over multiple channels like WhatsApp. ControlHippo helps maximize customer engagement across the entire lifecycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
To create a list message on WhatsApp Business API:
1. Access the message composer in your business manager platform.
2. Add a text header and footer.
3. Click the [list picker] option to add up to 10 list items with a title, description, and callback actions.
You can make WhatsApp business interactive messages by using components like quick replies, call-to-action buttons, list pickers, and more available in the message composer. These components allow customers to directly tap to respond, browse information, share information, and complete actions.
To use WhatsApp list messages, first create a list picker in the message composer with up to 10 rows. Each row can have a title, description, and callback action. Send this as a template to customers. It will show as a list they can tap on to respond or browse. You get callbacks when a row is tapped.
Updated : July 10, 2024
Hiba Ali is a talented content writer focused on business communication solutions, including omnichannel strategies. With her extensive experience, Hiba produces insightful and easy-to-understand content that aids businesses in refining their communication practices. Her clear writing makes complex topics accessible.
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