Plain text still does the heavy lifting in most WhatsApp conversations, but it is rarely the fastest way to help a customer. WhatsApp Business supports a whole family of rich, interactive message types — reply buttons, list menus, media attachments, and shared locations — that turn a wall of text into a single tap. Used well, they cut back-and-forth, reduce typos, and make your automations feel effortless.
The catch is knowing when to reach for each one. A three-option question should never be a scrollable menu, and a store address should never be a paragraph of directions. This guide walks through every rich type Cliqtel supports, the limits that shape your choices, and the practical rules for picking the right one every time.
The rich message toolbox
Reply buttons — small, clear choices
Reply buttons let you attach up to 3 quick-reply buttons to a message. The customer taps one and their choice comes straight back to your flow — no typing, no ambiguity. This is the workhorse of good conversational design.
Reach for buttons whenever the answer is one of a handful of obvious options: Yes / Reschedule, Confirm / Cancel, or picking one of three plans. Because you only get three, buttons force you to keep the decision crisp, which is exactly what you want at a decision point. If you find yourself wishing for a fourth or fifth button, that is your signal to use a list instead.
List menus — more options, still one tap
A list menu is a single button that opens a scrollable list of up to 10 rows, organised into sections. Each row carries a short title plus an optional one-line description, so customers get context before they choose.
Lists shine for genuine menus: choose a department, pick a product category, or select a time slot. The section grouping lets you present "Morning" and "Afternoon" slots, or "Sales", "Support", and "Billing" under clear headers. Do not treat the 10-row ceiling as a target — a list of ten near-identical rows is harder to use than two buttons plus a follow-up. Group thoughtfully and keep descriptions to a genuinely useful phrase.
Media — show, don't tell
Media messages carry an image, a video, or a document, each with an optional caption (documents also take a filename). Some things are simply better shown than described: an order receipt, a product photo, an event ticket, a PDF statement, or a brochure.
Media is powerful but heavy, so use it deliberately. Compress images and video before sending, give documents a human-readable filename like invoice-2026-0142.pdf, and always pair a file with a short caption so the customer knows what they are looking at before it downloads.
Location — send them to the right place
A location message shares a latitude and longitude with a name and address. WhatsApp renders it as a tappable map pin that opens directly in the customer's maps app. It is the cleanest possible way to hand over a store or branch address, a meeting point, or a technician's service location — far better than pasting an address string and hoping it parses.
The 24-hour window and templates
One rule governs all of the above. Free-form rich messages — text, media, location, and interactive buttons or lists — are only allowed inside the 24-hour customer-service window, which opens each time the customer messages you and resets with every new inbound message. Inside that window you can send anything. Outside it, you must re-open the conversation with an approved template.
In practice: use a template to start a conversation (an appointment reminder, a shipping update), and once the customer replies, use rich interactive messages to carry it forward. Templates themselves can include buttons and media, so a well-designed reminder template with a "Confirm / Reschedule" button pair often does both jobs at once.
Quick comparison
| Type | Best for | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Reply buttons | A small set of clear choices — confirm, cancel, pick 1 of 3 | Up to 3 buttons; short titles |
| List menu | Menus with more options — department, product, time slot | Up to 10 rows in sections; title + description per row |
| Media | Receipts, brochures, product shots, tickets, statements | Image / video / document; caption; filename for docs |
| Location | Store or branch directions, meeting points, service sites | One pin: latitude/longitude + name/address |
| Template | Starting or re-opening a conversation outside 24h | Must be pre-approved by WhatsApp |
How to send rich messages with Cliqtel
There are two paths, and most teams use both.
No-code, in the portal. The Flow Builder lets you assemble buttons, lists, media, and location responses visually and wire them into automated conversations — no engineering required. It is the fastest way to build menus, confirmations, and branching support flows. Start from the WhatsApp workspace to connect your number and open the builder.
Via the API. For programmatic sending, POST /api/v1/whatsapp/messages with a type of text, template, media, location, or interactive. Here is a minimal interactive reply-button message:
{
"account_id": 5,
"to": "+31611398058",
"type": "interactive",
"interactive": {
"type": "button",
"body": { "text": "Confirm Thursday 10:00?" },
"action": {
"buttons": [
{ "type": "reply", "reply": { "id": "yes", "title": "Yes" } },
{ "type": "reply", "reply": { "id": "no", "title": "Reschedule" } }
]
}
}
}List, media, and location payloads follow the same envelope with a different type. Full field references and every payload shape live in the API documentation and the dedicated rich messages how-to.
Best practices that actually move the needle
- Label buttons with verbs. "Confirm", "Reschedule", and "Track order" tell the customer what happens next; "Option 1" and "Yes/No/Maybe" do not.
- Keep labels short. Button titles and list-row titles are truncated on small screens. A few words beats a sentence.
- Don't overload menus. Just because you can list 10 rows doesn't mean you should. Group into sections and split deep menus across steps.
- Always provide a text fallback. Some clients or edge cases won't render interactive elements. Make sure the body text alone still makes the choice clear.
- Respect the 24-hour window. If you're unsure whether the window is open, lead with an approved template rather than risking a rejected send.
- Use media sparingly and compress it. One well-chosen image lands; three heavy attachments annoy. Give documents a clear filename and a caption.
- Match the type to the decision. Two or three choices → buttons. A real menu → list. Something to show → media. A place to go → location.
Get these choices right and your WhatsApp conversations stop feeling like forms and start feeling like a helpful colleague. Ready to build? Head to the rich messages guide to see every payload in detail, then open the Flow Builder and ship your first interactive flow in minutes — all included with WhatsApp messaging on Cliqtel.
