> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.eat-now.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Preparing your templates

> Before you can send a campaign you need a message — a Marketing email template, or an approved Marketing WhatsApp template. Here's how to create each one.

A campaign is a segment plus a **template**. The template is the message itself: subject, text, images, buttons. It lives in your settings, not in the campaign, so you can reuse it and improve it over time.

<Warning>
  Campaigns only accept **marketing** templates. An email template of type *Reservation*, or a WhatsApp template in the *Transactional* stream, will not appear in the campaign dropdown — that's intentional, not a bug.
</Warning>

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Email template">
    ## Create a marketing email template

    **Where:** left sidebar → **Settings** (gear icon) → **Notifications** tab → **Email templates**.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Click Add an email template">
        Bottom of the template list.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Choose the Marketing type">
        Three families are offered — **Reservations**, **Activities**, **Marketing**. Pick **Marketing** ("Templates dedicated to marketing campaigns").

        <Frame>
          <img src="https://mintcdn.com/eatnow/5x7LGoI0C2epW1cz/images/screenshots/marketing-email-type-en.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=5x7LGoI0C2epW1cz&q=85&s=6953f2f4e868c0709274a0ce0a9e563e" alt="Choosing the Marketing template type" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/screenshots/marketing-email-type-en.png" />
        </Frame>
      </Step>

      <Step title="Choose the language, then click Next">
        Create one template per language you want to send in. There's no automatic fallback for email — a campaign sends one template to everyone.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Fill in the essentials">
        * **Template Name** — internal only, your customers never see it. Name it after the campaign ("Summer offer — newsletter").
        * **Email Subject** — what lands in the inbox. This one matters.
        * **Preview Text** — the grey line shown under the subject.

        <Frame caption="The marketing email editor, with a live inbox preview on the right.">
          <img src="https://mintcdn.com/eatnow/5x7LGoI0C2epW1cz/images/screenshots/marketing-email-editor-en.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=5x7LGoI0C2epW1cz&q=85&s=014dcebc76e81f053620eeaa1a5d4432" alt="The marketing email template editor" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/screenshots/marketing-email-editor-en.png" />
        </Frame>
      </Step>

      <Step title="Edit the content">
        Click **Edit Content** to open the visual editor and replace the placeholder text with your message, image and call-to-action.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Save">
        The template becomes available in the campaign form immediately. If it doesn't show up, use **Refresh templates** on the campaign form.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    ### Personalisation variables

    Type these between double braces and EatNow replaces them per recipient:

    | Variable                                                                  | Becomes                         |
    | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
    | `{{guestName}}`                                                           | The customer's name             |
    | `{{restaurantName}}`                                                      | Your restaurant's name          |
    | `{{restaurantAddress}}`, `{{restaurantPostalCode}}`, `{{restaurantCity}}` | Your address                    |
    | `{{restaurantPhoneNumber}}`, `{{restaurantEmail}}`                        | Your contact details            |
    | `{{portalLink}}`                                                          | The link to your booking portal |
    | `{{primary_color}}`, `{{secondary_color}}`                                | Your portal's colours           |

    The **Available Variables** panel in the editor lists them and tells you how many you're currently using.

    <Note>
      **The unsubscribe link is added for you.** Every marketing email carries one automatically — you don't need to insert it, and it is deliberately excluded from click tracking. See [Quota & deliverability](/marketing/deliverability#unsubscribes-and-suppressions).
    </Note>

    ### Link tracking

    Every `http(s)` link in your email is automatically rewritten so EatNow can count clicks. Anchors, `mailto:` and `tel:` links, and the unsubscribe link are left untouched. You don't have to do anything — just put normal links in your content.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="WhatsApp template">
    ## Create a marketing WhatsApp template

    WhatsApp is stricter than email: **every** message must use a template approved by Meta before you can send it.

    **Where:** left sidebar → **Settings** (gear icon) → **Notifications** tab → **WhatsApp templates** → **Marketing** tab.

    <Frame caption="The WhatsApp templates page, on the Marketing tab.">
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/eatnow/5x7LGoI0C2epW1cz/images/screenshots/marketing-whatsapp-templates-en.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=5x7LGoI0C2epW1cz&q=85&s=f9ee50326915bfca90f3158dbf4dc0e8" alt="The Marketing tab of the WhatsApp templates page" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/screenshots/marketing-whatsapp-templates-en.png" />
    </Frame>

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Open the Marketing tab">
        Two tabs sit at the top of the list: **Transactional** and **Marketing**. Templates created under *Transactional* can never be used by a campaign.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Click Add a template">
        Write your message following the usual rules — see [Add templates](/whatsapp/add) for the full editor guide.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Wait for Meta approval">
        A new template goes to Meta with the status **Pending**. Approval usually takes minutes, sometimes hours. Only templates marked **Approved** can be selected in a campaign.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Create the second language">
        Use **Duplicate** on the template and pick the other language — EatNow can even translate the content for you with AI while keeping the structure. Read on to see why the English version matters.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    ### Why you want both French and English

    A WhatsApp campaign lets you attach **one French template and one English template**. At send time, each recipient gets:

    | Customer language                         | Template used                                                        |
    | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | French                                    | Your French template (or English if you didn't provide a French one) |
    | Anything else (English, Spanish, Arabic…) | **Your English template**                                            |

    So English is the fallback for every non-French customer. If your audience contains non-French recipients and you have no English template, EatNow blocks the launch and tells you exactly how many people are affected — this is a guard, not an annoyance.

    <Note>
      Marketing WhatsApp templates have their own constraints: a different variable set, a single EatNow smart action — **Book now**, which opens your portal through a tracked link — alongside plain website links, and Meta bills them as *Marketing* conversations. See [WhatsApp Templates](/whatsapp/templates#special-template-types).
    </Note>

    ### Prerequisites

    Before a WhatsApp campaign can be sent at all:

    * your [WhatsApp integration](/whatsapp/onboarding) must be connected and **active**;
    * your display name must be [approved](/whatsapp/verification) and a payment method registered with Meta;
    * at least one marketing template must be **Approved**.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Next step

<Card title="Create a campaign" icon="send" href="/marketing/campaigns">
  Your segment and your template are ready — time to send.
</Card>