How to create a multilingual WhatsApp campaign using Smart Translations

How to create a multilingual WhatsApp campaign using Smart Translations

Estimated 4 minute read

Updated Feb 12, 2026, 12:00 AM EST

Table of contents

Before you begin
Create a multilingual WhatsApp campaign
Editing original content after translating
Translations for cloned messages
Best practices
Next steps

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

Smart Translations is available for paid Klaviyo accounts.

Enable Smart Translations from your account settings.

In your translation settings, select the profile property that stores your recipients’ preferred language, then click Save. Klaviyo uses Locale by default.

Before submitting templates or sending messages, connect your WhatsApp Business account to Klaviyo.

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 WhatsApp campaign or edit an existing draft WhatsApp 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.
On the Message step, create a new template or choose an existing one.
If you chose an existing template, click Manage template > Edit template. In the template editor, 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.

If the template already has translations, the button shows the number of translations instead. Click it to open them and continue with “Review and submit translations” below. If the Edit template confirmation appears, click Edit to continue; changes need Meta approval again.

Set up translations

Under Written in, 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.
Review the Default language for recipients whose preferred language is unknown or unavailable. Select your original language or one of your additional languages.

Click Translate.

Review and submit translations

Review the translated WhatsApp message for the selected language. 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. Use the back arrow to return to the list of translated elements.
If you selected multiple languages to translate into, click the arrows at the top or use the dropdown to switch between languages.
To add or remove languages or change the default language, click Manage languages, make your changes, and click Save.
Once you’re done, click Done to return to the template editor.
Click Submit for review, review the submission details, then click Submit.

You cannot edit a translation’s content while Meta reviews that language version. Once the review is complete, you can edit it and submit your changes for review again.

Review and send the campaign

Only approved, available language versions can be sent. If a recipient’s preferred version is unavailable or unapproved, Klaviyo uses the Default language, then the original language if the default version is also unavailable. If none of these versions can be sent, the message is not sent to that recipient.

Return to the campaign’s Review step and check the approval status of each language. To send recipients their preferred versions, wait until the versions you plan to use are approved. Resolve any errors shown before scheduling.
Click Schedule or send, choose Send now or set a send date and time, then click Send now or Schedule message to confirm.

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.
To update all out-of-sync elements highlighted in yellow for the selected language, click Update translations. To handle individual elements instead, use the options in the next step.
To update an individual element, open its three-dot menu. The available options depend on the element:
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
Switch languages and repeat for any other translations affected by your edits.
Click Done to return to the template editor, then click Submit for review and Submit to send the changes to Meta. Check the language approval statuses before sending your campaign.

Translations for cloned messages

If you clone a WhatsApp campaign within the same account, the new campaign uses the same template and translations as the original. Changes to that template or its translations also affect other campaigns and flows using it. To make independent changes, create or select a separate template for the cloned campaign and translate that template. Learn how to clone a campaign.

Best practices

Keep messages concise. The WhatsApp message body has a 1,024-character limit, including in translated versions.
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.