What is a Message Template?

On the KakaoTalk channel, there are several APIs that allow you to send messages in a conversation initiated by a company:

Friends Talk : Allows sending messages to users who have added the company as a friend on KakaoTalk.

Alim Talk : Allows sending informative messages and services to users, without them needing to add the channel as a friend.

Natively, Friends Talk (unlike WhatsApp) doesn't offer a message template with an approval system. To streamline a brand's communications with its customers, we've replicated the system found on WhatsApp.

In contrast, Alim Talk is more restrictive and does have a message template system. These templates are sent to KakaoTalk and manually approved.

Rules

1. Friends Talk imposes time restrictions on sending messages. Generally, sending messages via Friends Talk is limited to the hours between 9:00 AM and 8:00 PM (Korean local time) to respect users' privacy. Messages sent outside of this time range will be blocked.

2. When sending a service template with AlimTalk, the “Contact Customer Service” button type is the only way to ensure the reconciliation of conversations and therefore to see the service templates appear in the processing page.

3. AlimTalk allows template creation only in EN and KR languages.

4. AlimTalk templates are intended to be automatically sent to clients via API calls. The technical documentation is available here: https://developers.alcmeon.com/reference/get_v1-KakaoTalk-templates

Create a Message Template

In Alcmeon, you can create your message templates by going to the “Settings / Message Templates” section to find the list of your templates and the approval status. This status is “OK” by default for messages sent via Friends Talk.

To create a new template, click the “Add New Template” button.

Defining your Model

Choose :

• Your Model Name : Only lowercase alphanumeric characters and the underscore (_) character are accepted. Maximum 512 characters .
• One or more languages : this is what will allow you to decline the same Model in several languages since in the following interface a tab per language will be displayed.
• KakaoTalk Account : The KakaoTalk account that will send this Template
• The category of your Model.
• Usage : Choose who in Alcmeon can use this template. Friends Talk templates can be made available in chatbots, available to advisors, or visible through APIs. When the AlimTalk category is selected, the only available usage is “API.”

When AlimTalk is selected, 2 new blocks are displayed:

• “Review status”
• Template Content

Since AlimTalk templates are manually approved, it is recommended to provide elements (in English or Korean) to reassure the approver that it is legitimate to send this template to users who are not “friends” with the brand. For example, “We want to inform the client of the brand that the product he ordered has arrived at the nearest store.”

The "Review Status" block also allows you to track potential exchanges with the person responsible for approval on the KakaoTalk side. Sometimes, a template isn't accepted immediately and changes need to be made.

Regarding the content of the template, it is divided into 3 subsections: the header, the body and the buttons.

The header

Above your Template text message, you can add a text header or an image .

For an image header, you can force your advisors or your bot scenario to use the file you download here; or on the contrary, let them choose a different file each time they use this Template, and in this case the file you download here serves only as an example.

The body

The body of the message is a text that can contain variables and be up to 1024 characters long. Variables are expressed as {{variable}}. The list of detected variables is displayed below the text field.

The buttons

There are 2 types of buttons: “Contact Customer Service” and “URL”.

The “Contact customer support” button is used to send additional information to the CStalk API, enabling the full conversation history between a brand and a user to be displayed in the agent interface.

KakaoTalk supports three types of user identifiers:

• app_user_id (retrieved via KakaoLogin),
• user_key (unique internal ID),
• and the phone number.

Each messaging channel relies on a different ID:

• CStalk returns only the user_key,
• AlimTalk uses the phone number,
• FriendTalk is based on the app_user_id.

To reconcile conversations across different IDs, the button plays a crucial role by passing key identifiers when the message is sent. This ensures agents always have a complete view of the customer context, allowing them to respond with greater relevance and accuracy.

How it works:

• In an AlimTalk template, the button transmits the user’s phone number. When the user replies, KakaoTalk sends back both the user_key and the phone number.
• In a FriendTalk template, it transmits the app_user_id. Upon reply, KakaoTalk provides both the user_key and the app_user_id.

“URL” is a button that redirects to a URL.

It is possible to add up to 5 different buttons.

Model validation and verification process

Once you have completed all the required sections of your template, you can click the “Save” button at the top right of the page. It will then enter the verification process.

When a message template is created for Friends Talk, it is automatically approved. This is because, as explained above, it is an “Alcmeon” template and not KakaoTalk.

When a message template is created for AlimTalk, manual review begins. This can take several days during which your template will be in “Pending” status.

• If it is validated by KakaoTalk, its status will become “Accepted”: you can use it to send it to your customers.
• If you are rejected, you can edit your template and fill in the text field in the “Review Status” section. This will be sent along with the template for further review.