About WhatsApp keywords

Learn about WhatsApp keywords, including how compliance and subscribe keywords work, and how autoresponders and notifications handle incoming WhatsApp messages.

What are WhatsApp keywords

WhatsApp keywords are words that trigger specific actions in Klaviyo when someone sends them in a message. These keywords help you meet compliance standards, manage customer preferences, and automate common responses.

WhatsApp uses the following keywords and automatic responses:

• Subscribe keywords — used for voluntary opt-ins
• Autoresponders — reply to unrecognized keywords or messages when enabled
• Compliance keywords — to manage opt-ins and opt-outs

These features play a role in maintaining deliverability and trust with your audience.

Subscribe keywords

A subscribe keyword allows someone to opt in to your WhatsApp messages (for example, JOIN).
These differ from compliance keywords because they are a marketing opt-in method, not a legal requirement.

When a person sends your active subscribe keyword, they are added to your specified list and can start receiving campaigns or flows. If the keyword uses double opt-in, they must confirm their consent before they are subscribed and added to the list.

You can create custom subscribe keywords that:

• Contain between 3 and 20 characters
• Use only letters and numbers (A–Z, 0–9)
• Exclude spaces and special symbols
• Avoid overly common words (such as “the,” “that,” or “and”)

Autoresponders

When enabled, autoresponders reply to incoming WhatsApp messages that don’t match a recognized keyword. These replies are separate from subscription confirmations.

In Helpdesk, you can edit:

• The autoresponder message itself to match your brand tone
• The email notifications associated with incoming unrecognized keywords

Compliance keywords

Opt-out keyword responses are enabled by default. Opt-in keywords such as YES and Y work when WhatsApp double opt-in is enabled for your account. These keywords help ensure legal compliance and support double opt-in workflows.

Keep in mind: Keyword and response pairs are available in multiple languages.

Compliance keywords include:

Double opt-in

Double opt-in is a 2-step consent process: subscribers submit their number or send a subscribe keyword, receive a confirmation message, and reply YES (or a supported local-language equivalent) to complete enrollment. When WhatsApp double opt-in is enabled for your account, YES or Y can also confirm marketing consent without a pending double opt-in request. The reply must contain only the keyword, without extra words or punctuation; capitalization does not matter. Learn more about WhatsApp double opt-in.

Opt-out keywords: when they remove consent

Klaviyo offers 2 options for how messages with opt-out keywords are handled:

Contains word (default)

If an opt-out keyword appears as a whole word anywhere in a message, or the message is an exact match, the subscriber is opted out. For example, if someone sends “I want to cancel my order” on WhatsApp, this removes WhatsApp consent.

Exact match

When a message only contains an opt-out keyword and nothing else, the subscriber is opted out. For example, someone must send CANCEL on its own (not case-sensitive) for consent to be removed.

Change opt-out matching

The matching option applies to each keyword for the selected country and language. Changing it does not update every country and language. Some keywords cannot be changed to exact match.

With exact match, messages such as “Please unsubscribe” do not trigger an opt-out for that keyword. Regularly review incoming messages so you can honor these requests.

1. Go to Settings > WhatsApp > Keyword responses.
2. Select the Country preview and Language preview, then click Edit for the opt-out keywords.
3. Choose Contains word or Exact match for each editable keyword.
4. Click Save. Repeat for other countries or languages you want to change.

How language detection works

Klaviyo supports WhatsApp compliance keywords in the languages listed for each country below, including English. The keyword and the subscriber’s country code determine the response language, with the primary language used for English opt-out keywords.

For example, if someone in Switzerland sends OUI or JA via WhatsApp, Klaviyo can respond in French or German, respectively.

Languages and responses are determined by the subscriber’s country code. This means:

• A language available in one country may not be available in another.
• A compliance keyword’s response can vary by country, even when the language is the same.

For instance, French may be supported for Canada, France, and Switzerland, but not for Ireland. Additionally, editing the response for OUI in Canada does not affect the response for OUI in France or Switzerland.

The primary language

Each country has a primary language that serves as a fallback when the subscriber’s language cannot be determined. Klaviyo also uses this primary language for responses to English opt-out keywords, such as STOP.

For example, when double opt-in is required for a non-keyword signup, Klaviyo uses the primary language to select the confirmation template. If no template is configured for that language, Klaviyo uses your default confirmation template.

The default primary language for each country is shown in the table below (for example, German in Switzerland). You can update it to another supported language for that country, such as switching Switzerland’s primary language from German to French.

Available languages by country (WhatsApp)

Below are the languages supported for WhatsApp compliance keywords by country. An asterisk (*) indicates the default primary language.

Best practices

• Keep compliance responses concise and consistent across languages.
• Regularly test that opt-in and opt-out messages trigger correctly.
• Review autoresponder tone to align with your brand voice.
• Use a clear confirmation path when implementing double opt-in.