To learn more about how group messages are set up and sent, see our sending group messages article.
If you are using WhatsApp for Ivy messaging, you should be aware that group messages are considered to be business-initiated contact, and WhatsApp (Meta) requires the message content to be pre-approved before sending. This means that group messages must be sent in to Revinate for pre-approval before being sent or scheduled in Ivy. To use Group messages you will need to:
- Use templates that you have gotten pre-approved during implementation in your group messages. Merge tags can be used for minor message customization.
- Plan group messages in advance and get approval with the help of Revinate Support.
Customizing Group Message Templates
While WhatsApp (Meta) does not allow changes to approved campaigns, simple merge tags can be approved for use for messages. Theses editable parts of a message should be placed within Double Brackets like these {{1}}. An example of this would be an airport shuttle arrival message that you would want to change the number of minutes in.
Your submission for approval might look like this:
Your shuttle is departing in {{1}}. Please be in the lobby in {{2}}.
So that your sent message could look like this:
Your shuttle is departing in 1 hour. Please be in the lobby in 45 Minutes.
Using a Template when sending group messages in Whatsapp
To use a template in a group message click the Template icon under the message input box.
Select your desired message, and it will be posted in the message input box.
Update the merge tags with your desired information, leaving the brackets in place
Ivy will not stop users from sending group messages that were not approved from the group message page, but the unapproved message will only be sent to guests who have communicated with Ivy within the last 24 hours.
Filtering in group messages
Guests in Ivy who have given consent are tagged with the “opt-in” tag, This means that when you send a group message, you can filter for these guests to ensure you are not sending to anyone without consent. Click on the filter drop-down and select opt-in
You can use the selection drop-down to select all the guests in the list, select the guests checking in today or tomorrow, or disselect everyone on the list by clicking the none check box.
You can see how many people are in your send by looking at the blue bar above the text entry box.