This article covers some advanced topics related to WhatsApp messaging in the Inbox and assumes that:
Your DenGro Subscriber/Inbox Administrator has enabled the WhatsApp messaging channel in the Inbox for your practice (guide here).
You have approved WhatsApp templates ready to send in your Meta account (guide here).
The onboarding stage to connect your DenGro Inbox and WhatsApp account has been completed (guide here).
Once these steps are completed you're ready to start sending WhatsApp messages in the DenGro Inbox. Read on to see how this works. 👇
⚠️ Important: This feature is currently in beta, please contact support@dengro.com or via our live chat to request early access.
Sending WhatsApp messages to leads
There are two ways to send WhatsApp messages to leads from the Inbox:
1. Click on the SEND MESSAGE button on your lead contact tasks:
2. Click on the SEND MESSAGE button on the lead's profile page:
Because WhatsApp has strict messaging rules, there are a couple of important things to know before you get started.
Starting a Conversation
To initiate a conversation with a lead via WhatsApp, you must send an approved WhatsApp template message.
Once the lead replies to this templated it will open a 24-hour chat window.
During this 24-hour window you can continue the conversation freely with normal, free-form messages at no cost.
Continuing the Conversation
As long as the lead responds within the 24-hour chat window, you can chat back and forth without using another template.
If at any point the 24-hour window closes, you will need to send another approved template to reinitiate the conversation.
The 24-Hour Chat Window
When the lead responds, you’ll see a timer in the conversation.
This timer shows exactly how much time is left before the 24-hour chat window closes.
As long as the timer is running, you can freely exchange messages with the lead.
If the timer runs out, the chat window closes and you’ll need to send another approved template to reinitiate the conversation.
How to Send a message
Select 'WhatsApp' as the channel from the dropdown.
Then to start a conversation press 'Select Template'.
You can then select an approved template from your WhatsApp account and press 'Send Template'
💡Please note DenGro does not support templates that use variables, buttons, files or images. If you have a template that includes these elements this will not appear as an available template in the DenGro Inbox.
If a lead replies to a message using an element that is unsupported like an emoji it will display with 'Unsupported message type received'.
The templated message will then appear in the Inbox thread.
Once the lead replies the 24 hour chat window will open and a timer will display indicating how long you have to respond before needing to send another templated message to reinitiate the conversation.
👉 We strongly recommend starting off with a test run before jumping into messaging leads for real.
To do so, create a fake lead with your own contact details and use this to message yourself using the Inbox. This will allow you to preview what your messages will look like before sending them to leads.