Gem’s integration with WhatsApp allows you to send WhatsApp messages either within Sequences or as one-off messages, giving you another option - alongside emails, text messages and InMail - for how to communicate with prospects. In this article we’ll take you through how to set up a WhatsApp Business integration with Gem, and how to use WhatsApp in both Sequences and one-off messages.
Requirements
- This feature is available to all teams.
- Admin access is required to set up the WhatsApp Business integration, although all users can then use WhatsApp in sequences and/or one-off messages.
- This requires the SMS integration to be enabled (details of how to do this are included below).
- You need a WhatsApp Business account, as this feature does not work with a standard WhatsApp account.
Considerations
Before going any further it’s worth being aware that the following considerations apply when using the WhatsApp functionality:
- Messaging to US numbers is not supported, per Meta's WhatsApp messaging guidelines.
- According to Twilio, Meta has restricted initial outreach to US WhatsApp numbers for an unknown amount of time.
- You can’t use your own WhatsApp number to start communicating with prospects; instead you will need a number provisioned by Gem.
- Meta requires you to use use pre-approved templates for initial messages to candidates (until a candidate responds).
- Once a candidate responds, you then have a 24-hour window where you can freeform message the candidate via WhatsApp.
Setup
The process for setting up the WhatsApp functionality broadly involves these steps:
- Set up the SMS integration with the Gem support team.
- Connect your WhatsApp Business account to Gem.
- Talk to a CSM (or Support) to request a new WhatsApp sender.
- Create one or more message templates.
SMS integration
If you don’t already have an SMS integration set up with Gem, the first step is to get in touch with either your Customer Support Manager (CSM) or Gem’s Support team and ask for this to be set up.
For more information about using SMS stages in sequences, see our Text Message (SMS) Sequences article.
Connect a WhatsApp Business account to Gem
With an SMS integration set up, the next step is to connect your WhatsApp Business account to Gem.
- First, navigate to the WhatsApp section of your Admin settings’ Integrations tab. With nothing connected there should be an option to Connect WhatsApp Business Account:
- Select this to start the connection process. The following screen will take you through the steps required to connect your WhatsApp business account from your Meta business portfolio to Gem.
Request a new WhatsApp sender
The next step is to speak to either your CSM or the Gem Support team, and ask them to provision a new WhatsApp sender on your behalf.
Your CSM or Support will ask you for the following information:
- Your business name
- Your business address
- Your business email
- This is an optional field, and will be the email that WhatsApp users will see on your sender profile
- Your business description
- A URL to your official logo
- The link to your official website
Once they have that information, your CSM or Support will file a request with Gem’s engineering team to set up a WhatsApp sender on your behalf, and will let you know when your WhatsApp sender is ready.
Once ready, the details of your WhatsApp sender will display in the WhatsApp section of your Admin settings’ Integrations tab.
Create message template(s)
With the WhatsApp integration now set up, the last setup stage is to create one or more message templates for use with WhatsApp. Note that any new template needs to be approved by Meta before you can start using it, so we recommend you factor in time for approval.
To create and manage your WhatsApp templates, go to the Messages tab of the Templates page, then select WhatsApp - from here you can see all existing templates and create new ones.
Follow these steps to create a new template:
- First, select the + New WhatsApp template button to create a new template, then name it and populate the message body.
- You can drag tokens into the message body for where you’d like to automatically populate the message with customer details.
- Once you’re happy with the template, select the Submit for approval button then select Yes on the WhatsApp template will be sent to Meta for approval pop-up.
This immediately sends the template to Meta for approval, and sets the message Status to Pending approval (you can see this from the WhatsApp Templates list).
When a template is approved, its Status will change to Approved. If rejected, the Status will change to Rejected
Possible rejection reasons include, but are not limited to:
- If there are multiple tokens next to each other in the message (instead, we recommend spacing out tokens amongst the overall content of the message, and not starting or ending a message with a token).
- One or more tokens is missing or has mismatched curly braces (they should always show in the format {{xyz}} ).
- One or more tokens includes special characters (e.g. #, $, % etc.).
In use
With at least one WhatsApp template created and approved, you can start sending WhatsApp messages using Gem. There are two ways of doing this:
- In a Sequence
- In one-off messages
NOTE: When sending a WhatsApp message to a candidate, Gem uses the primary phone number from their candidate profile.
Creating Sequences
With the WhatsApp integration enabled, you can use WhatsApp as an option in Sequences, much as you would use Email or Text Message. For full details of the Sequence creation process see our Creating Sequences. Here we’ll just flag any WhatsApp-specific areas of note.
When creating a new Sequence stage:
- WhatsApp is available in the dropdown of message options.
- When selecting a template, only pre-approved templates will be available.
- The standard Sequence process applies for the remaining steps.
Talking to candidates
Once a candidate responds to a WhatsApp message, the Messages icon above the search bar will show a notification:
Select this icon to go to the Messages page, where you’ll be able to see the candidate’s message in the activity feed alongside any other messages.
There is now a 24-hour window (from the point at which the candidate initially responds) within which you can message the candidate as much as required, with no need any longer for pre-approved templates.
Sending one-off messages
With the WhatsApp integration enabled, WhatsApp is now an option for One-off Messages as well, whether sent via the candidate record (and subsequently the Messages page), or in LinkedIn via the Chrome extension, following the existing processes for each of those methods.
NOTE: The same principles apply to one-off messages as they do to Sequences - you have to send a pre-approved template message first, before you can send freeform messages.
When sending a one-off message, WhatsApp is available as an alternative to email or text message.
- With a new message pop-up open, select the Text message tab.
- Change the dropdown from Text to WhatsApp.
- If this is the initial message, select a pre-approved template from the dropdown.
- If the candidate has already responded to an initial templated message, select the Switch to freeform message view button to send a message without using a template.
The same 24-hour window (from the point at which the candidate initially responds) will now open, within which you can message the candidate as much as required, with no need any longer for pre-approved templates.
Common error codes
The following are some of the common error codes associated with failed WhatsApp messages, to assist in troubleshooting if you have any issues:
- 63049: Meta chose not to deliver this WhatsApp marketing message - see this Twilio HC article for more information.
- 63024: Invalid message recipient - see this Twilio HC article for more information.
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Setup
- SMS integration
- Connect a WhatsApp Business account to Gem
- Request a new WhatsApp sender
- Create message template(s)
- In use
- Creating Sequences
- Talking to candidates
- Sending one-off messages
- Common error codes