Send media with WhatsApp
You can include video, images and sound files in WhatsApp blasts via media type templates.
How it works
What you need to do before sending media with WhatsApp
- Host the media you want to send on your local server and copy the URL to the hosted media.
- Submit Media type templates for approval
To submit a media template you need to share the core url for the server domain where your media is uploaded. The most common places to host images, videos and files is AWS, your website asset library or in a dedicated media library hosted on the web.
Media templates are designed for media that can be played or forwarded in WhatsApp and so only allows for links to media hosted on a local server, rather than social media sites like Youtube or Facebook.
Upload the media you would like to share to your server and submit a template for approval using the approval sheet, adding the full URL of the media you would like to send.
You can also receive media back in reply to gather images, voice notes, videos and more from your supporters.
Note: If you submit a media template with an image, you can only use this template to send images. Likewise, if you use a video example you can only use this template to send videos.
File types supported for WhatsApp media:
- Images: JPG, JPEG, PNG
- Audio (voice note): AMR, 3GP, AAC, MPEG
- Documents: PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX
- Video: MP4 (with H.264 video codec and AAC audio)
- Contacts: vCard (.vcf)
Note: Your file size must be under 16MB. If your file size is bigger than 16MB, then your WhatsApp campaigns will not send.
Your template will be approved using the core URL with a variable at the end that allows you to add the URL slug (the bit of the URL after the /) to select the specific piece of media you want to send in each message using the template.
Tip: Make sure you use a real accessible image / video, otherwise it won't be approved
Find out more about approving template messages for WhatsApp.
How to build and send out a WhatsApp campaign with a media template
Select your template and enter the content as usual. The last variable content box is the box for you to add the URL slug for the specific media you want to send in the message. The URL will not appear in the text of the WhatsApp message but this will add the media to your message.
In the preview section, double-check the file name/server URL is correct. When sending media always check by sending a sample to yourself. If the sample isn't coming through it likely means WhatsApp has blocked the send because it couldn’t pull through the file via URL you provided in the template and editable content. Double check that you’ve added the correct full URL split across the template (core URL) and the editable content (slug) and haven’t got the / in both or neither field.
If something still isn't coming through, contact the support team and we can help you identify the issue.
Setting up a Zap for media uploads
You can get all the information about particular actions, like a call happening or a message being received, transported into Zapier.
You can then filter on any condition, for example, someone sending an image, which then allows you to do anything in any of the 1000s integrated products afterwards, like updating a tag in SalesForce, process the image or notify your team.