What's New? 🎈

Read more about new features, improvements, and bug fixes contained in the latest release of Clickatell's WhatsApp channel offering.

January-March 2024

Release Summary

Meta has introduced support for additional button formats, combinations, and types on WhatsApp message templates. With this release, we enhanced our existing capabilities to align with these newly supported features.

We also added support for WhatsApp Location Templates and Location Request interactive messages. These features allow businesses to share a location with their customers easily via WhatsApp as part of a workflow. Businesses can also ask customers to send their location, which they can do with the simple tap of a button.

We added support for displaying product catalogs to customers within the WhatsApp channel using Marketing templates.

Finally, we added support for various types of text formatting in WhatsApp and activated support for the conversation components icebreakers and commands.

Release Details

Button enhancements

Previously, Clickatell only supported one type of interactive button per template, i.e., either call-to-action buttons or quick reply buttons, not both. You could also add only three buttons per template.

With this release, you can now add up to 10 interactive buttons per template, and buttons in one template can include a combination of call-to-action and quick reply buttons.

You can add quick reply and call-to-action buttons to your message template.

Coupon templates

You can now add a Copy offer code button to any of your message templates. When tapping this button, the code is copied to your customer's clipboard and they can paste it wherever they want.

Only available on the shared model and not on the on-behalf-of model.

Example of the copy code button on a customer's device.

Catalog templates

You can now present a product catalog to your customers within WhatsApp by making use of Product messages under the Marketing template category.

Catalog templates display a product thumbnail header image of your choice and custom body text. The text header, sub-header, and button text are non-editable.

When a customer taps the View catalog button in a catalog template message, your product catalog appears within WhatsApp.

Location templates

When using a Media or Utility type template, you can now add location as a header. To your customer, this appears as a generic map at the top of the template reflecting a static location defined by the business for a particular use case. When tapped, the customer's default map app will open and load the specified location.

In Chat Flow, a location template can be selected on the Send Template node and can be sent as part of, or to initiate, conversations with customers.

Location headers can only be used in Utility and Marketing templates, and on the WhatsApp Cloud environment. Sharing of real-time (live) locations is not supported.

Clickatell now supports displaying this template type to customers on WhatsApp via Chat Flow.

Request location interactive message

Clickatell now supports interactive messages requesting customers to share a location. They contain body text and a Send location button that customers can tap. Tapping the button displays a location-sharing screen that the user can then use to share their location.

Businesses can also send these location requests as part of their automated workflows in Chat Flow.

The "Send Location" button text cannot be edited. Sharing of real-time (live) locations is not supported. Only available on the WhatsApp On-Prem environment.

Location request interactive message as seen by customers in WhatsApp

WhatsApp Conversational Components: Icebreakers and Commands

WhatsApp conversational components are special in-chat features that make it easier for customers to interact with your business on WhatsApp. These components can be set up and personalized per WhatsApp Business number, making user interactions more interesting and engaging.

Clickatell currently supports the following conversational components:

• Ice Breakers: Present pre-written, selectable text options to first-time customers to drive and guide their interactions with your business.

• Commands: Present a list of commands to customers when they type "/". A 'hint" gives the user an idea of what can happen when they use a specific command.

Examples of Icebreakers (left) and Commands (right) as seen by customers in WhatsApp.

WhatsApp Text Formatting

Additional text formatting options are now available for WhatsApp messages. These can be used when sending regular messages or when creating templates.

The following additional format options have been added:

• Numbered Lists

• Bulleted Lists

• Block Quote

• Inline Code

These new formatting options, along with the already available emojis and format options (bold, italics, strikethrough, monospace), can be used to make messages easier to read and more visually appealing.