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What do the words "Marketing" and "Utility" mean in the Guest journey builder?

When we send out messages to guests, without them having initiated the conversation, we need to have a very good reason to do so. That's what we believe, and also what META, the mother company behind Whatsapp, believes.

Every message we make in the Guest journey builder, becomes a "Whatsapp template".We automatically send them to META and they decide whether it's a Marketing or an Utility Template. (Technically, there is also an Authorisation Template, but we don't need that).

What is the difference?

  • Marketing Template
    • Enable businesses to achieve a wide range of goals, from generating awareness to driving sales and retargeting customers.
    • These messages cost ±€0.13 per sent message
  • Utility Template
    • Enable businesses to follow up on user actions or requests, since these messages are typically triggered by user actions.
    • These messages cost ±€0.05 per sent message

What does this mean? Utility Templates always get delivered, as they are service-based. Marketing templates sometimes get declined by META to be sent, and this tends to happen for guests with a US phone number. 

We advice, when changing the templates in the Guest journey builder, to keep the message as service-oriented as possible, so META will recognise it as Utility Templates. Some tips:

  1. Additional variables further showing that the message is intended for a specific individual, such as transaction IDs, customer IDs, timestamps, names, etc
  2. Reducing any languages that can be considered as promotional
  3. Avoiding using imperative language, as Utility templates are meant to inform the customer, and not demand an action from them (call-to-action falls under marketing, such as 'please click on this link to confirm your order', whereas Utility would be 'if you'd like to confirm your order, you can follow this link:...')
Our recommendation is to not mix information in these templates. These are our default messages. Don't copy-paste these as the template works with double ({{) brackets instead of ([).
  • After reservation (MARKETING)
    Dear [guest_name], this is a confirmation of your reservation in [hotel_name]. If you have any questions related to your stay, feel free to reach out.
  • Evening Before Checkin (UTILITY)
    Your check-in at [hotel_name] is tomorrow. We are looking forward to welcoming you. Feel free to reach out in case you have any questions.
  • After Checkin (UTILITY)
    Welcome to [hotel_name]. You are now checked in. In case you need any assistance with our facilities or have questions about the things to do in [hotel_city], just let me know.
  • After first night (UTILITY)
    Good morning! I hope your first night at [hotel_name] was comfortable. If there's anything we can do to make your stay even better, please let me know.
  • Before Checkout (UTILITY)
    Dear [guest_name], tomorrow is your last day at [hotel_name]. We hope you had a wonderful experience in [hotel_city] and that your stay was comfortable. Wishing you safe travels!
  • After Checkout (UTILITY) 
    Dear [guest_name], we hope you had a wonderful stay at [hotel_name]. Did everything meet your expectations?