How to use eWebinar's Twilio integration to send messages over WhatsApp?

Set up our Twilio integration and send notifications to registrants as WhatsApp messages.

Keep in mind you can not use Twilio's WhatsApp features with a trial account. You must deposit at least $20 USD into your Twilio account to use the WhatsApp features.

Setting up the integration

First, you need to create a Twilio account and get it set up with a phone number and WhatsApp Sender. You can read Twilio's own help article if you need any help.

In Twilio, click the Account drop-down in the top-right of your screen next to your profile name, then go to API Keys & Tokens.

 

In API Keys & Tokens, copy your Account SID and Auth Token

In your eWebinar home page, click on your name in the top right, then go into Integrations.

Under Available Integrations, find and click on Twilio.


 

Paste your Account SID and Auth token into the relevant fields, then under Settings, select WhatsApp in the SMS or WhatsApp dropdown.

Pick your WhatsApp Sender in the Phone number dropdown, and enter in a testing phone number.

Press Connect, and the settings modal should close.

Setting up Messaging

On your eWebinar home page, find the webinar you want to set up WhatsApp messages for and click Edit.

 

Switch to the Notifications tab and find the notification you would like to send via WhatsApp, or create a new one one by clicking on Add a confirmation, reminder, or follow-up.

 

Write and configure the message you want to send, making sure to switch Send by to SMS or WhatsApp.

Before you add the notification, copy the message you wrote to your clipboard.

Click Add notification.

 

Setting up message templates in Twilio

In Twilio, click on Content Template Builder → Create your first content template.

Give the template a relevant name, select the language, set the Content Type as Text and hit Create.

Paste the notification message you copied into Body.

You will then need to replace the properties with Twilio's dynamic content braces, for example:

Hi { firstName },
You are registered for { webinarTitle }! Your session will begin on
{ sessionTime }.
When the time comes, you can join from any device with this link:
{ joinLink }

would become

Hi 1,
You are registered for 2! Your session will begin on 3.
When the time comes, you can join from any device with this link:
4

 

Click Save and submit for WhatsApp approval.

Add in samples to the variables, these should be as close to what the end message will end up looking like when it's sent to a user. Click Save with samples.

Select the template category that fits your template the best, and hit Submit.

Wait for the message template to be verified by WhatsApp

The verification process takes some time, so be patient. WhatsApp can reject your template, in which case you will have to submit a new template from scratch. Contact them directly if you have trouble getting a template verified.

In the notification settings of your webinar, hover over the notification you want to test, and click Send preview.

You will receive the test message in your WhatsApp, confirming that your message template works.

Due to certain restrictions set by Meta, Twilio can not send business messages to Turkish phone numbers.