Operations, Setup, Communication Templates. The library of outbound message bodies. You need the automation capability.
Templates live in Operations rather than Comms because their main consumer is the automation builder - they are building blocks, not inbox state.
What Uses Them
- Automations. The Send Email and Send WhatsApp actions do not take a message body. They take a template from this library.
- Platform flows. Signup, staff welcome and similar messages.
This is why a template is the first thing to write when building an automation that sends. See Automation Actions and What They Need.
Three Channels
| Channel | Notes |
|---|---|
| The most flexible. Subject and body. | |
| Must correspond to a template approved by the provider. | |
| SMS | Short. Count your characters. |
Caution
WhatsApp is not free text. Business-initiated messages require a template approved by the provider, and approval takes time and can be refused. Write and submit the WhatsApp template before building the automation that depends on it, not after.
Languages
Templates carry a language, including English with US and UK variants, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Spanish. Write the same template in each language your customers actually read - a workspace operating in the Gulf sending only English is leaving the message half-understood.
Variables
Templates carry variables that are filled from the workflow's context automatically when sent - the deal name, the person's name, the amount. Any variable can be overridden per step in the builder if you need something specific.
Two habits worth forming:
- Always provide for the empty case. A template opening "Hi {name}," reads badly when the name is missing. Check what the message looks like when the record is incomplete, because some of your records are.
- Do not put anything in a template that changes often. Prices and dates in a template body become wrong quietly. Pass them as variables.
Writing One
- Pick the channel.
- Pick the language.
- Name it for what it does, so it is recognisable in the automation builder's picker. "Deal won - thank you" beats "Template 4".
- Write the body, inserting variables where the message needs record-specific detail.
- Set the category, so the library stays navigable as it grows.
- Save, and for WhatsApp, submit for approval.
Keeping The Library Usable
Templates accumulate. The library is grouped by channel and category and is filterable, but that only helps if names are meaningful. Review quarterly and delete what nothing references - an unused template is a message somebody will eventually send by mistake.
Common Questions
My automation says the template is missing. The name it references does not match a template in the library, or the template is in a different channel than the action expects.
Can I preview how it will look? Compose and check the variables resolve as expected before relying on it in a live automation. Then dry run the workflow.
Why did my WhatsApp message not send? Either the template is not approved yet, or the recipient has not opted in. Both are listed as prerequisites on the action.
Do these affect emails my team sends by hand? No. Personal signatures are set per person in account settings. These are for platform and automation sends.
Did this answer your question?
No, ask a person