Learn how to create a multilingual WhatsApp campaign in Klaviyo using Smart Translations. This feature helps you automatically translate and send your WhatsApp message in each recipient’s preferred language.
With Smart Translations, you can reach global audiences in multiple languages without creating separate campaigns for each one.
Smart Translations are also available for email, SMS and push campaigns.
Before you begin
Enable Smart Translations form your account settings.
If you haven't already, learn the basics of how to create a WhatsApp template. This article mainly covers translation features for campaigns.
Create a multilingual WhatsApp campaign
Keep in mind that WhatsApp messages and their translations need to be reviewed by Meta before being marked as approved, so make sure your message is fully edited and ready to send in your original language before translating it. Otherwise, you'll have to go through the translation and wait for approval again if you make edits to the original content.
- Create a campaign or edit an existing draft campaign.
- On the Recipients step of the campaign wizard, make sure to add lists or segments to your campaign’s audience that you know have multiple language preferences.
- Create a new template or choose from an existing one.
- On the Message step, write the message you want to send to customers. Add an image, links, buttons, rich text or multiple cards if desired.
- At the top right corner of the editor, click on the Translate button.
- Select the original language that the content was written in. This will default to your account language.
- Select what languages you want to translate your campaign into by selecting them from the Additional languages dropdown.
- If desired, choose a Default language for when a customer’s preferred language is unavailable. This can be different from the original language.
- Click Translate.
- On the next step, review the text message that will be translated. You can manually edit the text if needed. You can also click the edit button next to a listed image to change it to one appropriate for the selected language.
- Click the edit button next to the message text to see the full message.
- If you selected multiple languages to translate into, click the arrows at the top or use the dropdown to switch between languages.
- If you want to add more languages or remove the currently selected language, click the name of the language.
- Once you’re done, click Done.
Once you Submit for review, you won't be able to make any changes to the translations or add/delete any languages until the template is reviewed by Meta. Once reviewed, your template status will change and you will be able to make changes.
Editing original content after translating
If you edit the original content of the message after you’ve already translated, a warning will appear at the top of the editor notifying you that your edits will affect translation.
To correct any potential translation errors:
- Click Review translations next to the warning message.
- Click Update translation to update all out-of-sync blocks which are highlighted in yellow.
- To individually edit an element, click the pencil icon and choose from the following:
- Re-translate: translates any changed text
- Match source: matches image or URL to the original source
- Edit: manually modify the element
- Ignore: keep element as is
Translations for cloned messages
If you clone a campaign with translations, the new campaign will keep all translations from the original which you can freely edit. Learn how to clone a campaign.
Best practices
- Keep messages concise. WhatsApp messages have lower character limits than email or SMS.
- Avoid slang or idiomatic expressions that may not translate clearly.
- Always double-check punctuation and line breaks in translated versions.
- Use consistent formatting across all language versions.