Viber

Maximum text message length: 1000 characters

Viber does not allow you to automatically retrieve the client's phone number.

How to Connect Viber

Old Version

This version is only applicable to users who created their chatbot before February 5, 2024.

If you have not yet created a Viber bot (after February 5, 2024), please proceed to the New Version section.

First, follow the link below and log in to the website.

https://partners.viber.com/login?returnUrl=%2Faccount

Next, create a Public Account for your bot.

Choose an image and complete all the required fields.

Field Description
Account name Bot name. It can be changed later.
Uri Bot username. Used to generate bot links.
Category Specify your business category (for example, Local Business).
Subcategory Specify the business subcategory (for example, Automotive Business).
Language Bot language.
Account description Bot description visible to all subscribers.
Website Address Your website.
Email Address Contact email address.
Location Business location.

There is a switch in the registration form called "The account contains adult content."

DO NOT ENABLE THIS OPTION!

Otherwise, all users will see a warning before opening your bot indicating that it contains adult content.

Accept the license agreement and click Create.

If everything has been completed correctly, you will receive your bot token.

You will need it for the next step.

Your bot is now ready.

The only remaining step is to connect it to Salebot.

Go to the Channels section and select Viber.

Enter the token you received.

Click Done to connect the bot to Salebot.

You will receive a notification in the Viber mobile application confirming that the bot has been created along with the information provided during registration.

New Version (Available from February 5, 2024)

Starting from February 5, 2024, Viber changed the conditions for creating and connecting chatbots.

The service is now paid.

Chatbots created before this date continue to operate under the previous conditions.

Read more here.

According to Viber's commercial offer, a €100 fee is charged for each chatbot created or connected.

Each message sent by the bot is included in the monthly fee paid by the customer.

The price of each message depends on the destination country.

For example:

  • Russia — €0.0196
  • Belarus — €0.0138
  • Ukraine — €0.0196
  • Kazakhstan — €0.0137

If the number of messages exceeds the limit covered by the €100 monthly fee, additional charges may apply.

For more information, see the Rate Card and Fees sections of the Viber documentation.

To connect a chatbot to Viber, you must submit an application under the commercial terms.

The application form looks as follows.

The application form must be completed in English.

The translated example form (Figure 2 above) is provided for reference only.

In the Your inquiry field, specify that you would like to connect an already created chatbot.

After submitting the application, Viber specialists will review it individually and provide instructions for the next integration steps.

Before submitting the application, please read Viber's commercial offer regarding chatbot creation and connection.

How to Get a Link to Your Viber Bot

The bot link becomes available immediately after the bot is connected.

Due to Viber limitations, bots cannot be found through Viber search.

Users can only open a bot using its direct button or link.

Internal viber:// links are not recognized by many browsers or applications.

If you want to distribute your bot, you can:

  • use MaviBot mini landing pages;
  • shorten the link using a service such as:

https://tinyurl.com/

How to Create a Carousel in Viber

  • Viber supports up to 6 cards in a carousel.
  • Viber allows you to use colored buttons.

Supported image formats

  • JPEG
  • PNG

Maximum image size

  • 500 KB

Let's look at an example of a carousel containing 3 cards.

To create the cards, enter the following code in the Calculator field:

p =[{"title":"TITLE 1", "description": "DESCRIPTION ", "image": "IMAGE LINK 1", "buttons":[{"text":"BUTTON TEXT 1","color":"#4BB34B"}]}, {"title":"TITLE 1", "description": "DESCRIPTION ", "image": "IMAGE LINK 1", "buttons":[{"text":"BUTTON TEXT 1"}]}, {"title":"TITLE 2", "description": "DESCRIPTION ", "image": "IMAGE LINK 2", "buttons":[{"text":"BUTTON TEXT 2", "url":"LINK"}]}, {"title":"TITLE 3", "description": "DESCRIPTION", "image": "IMAGE LINK 3", "buttons":[{"text":"BUTTON TEXT 3"}]}]

r = send_carousel(p, '')

First, save the array containing title, description, image, and buttons into the variable p (you may use any variable name). Then use it in the send_carousel(p, '') method.

To make a button colored, add the additional parameter "color":"#4BB34B" to the buttons array.

The color must be specified as a hexadecimal value beginning with #.

You can choose any color using a color picker, for example:

https://htmlcolorcodes.com/

You can insert URLs into carousel card buttons using the url parameter. When the client clicks the button, they will be redirected to the specified link, and the link will also be received as a message.

Carousel card buttons may also include the payload parameter. This parameter is not displayed to the client but allows you to analyze the client's selection.

[
{
"title":"TITLE 1",
"description":"DESCRIPTION",
"image":"IMAGE LINK 1",
"buttons":[
{
"text":"BUTTON TEXT 1",
"color":"#4BB34B",
"url":"BUTTON LINK",
"payload":"1"
}
]
}
]

If you use buttons with identical text, you can use the payload parameter. It is not visible to the client but allows you to analyze the option selected by the user.

Viber Bot Tips and Best Practices

When creating Viber bots, there are several important особенности you should be aware of.

Understanding these will save you time and help you make full use of Viber's capabilities.

How to Set the First Message and Create a Call-to-Action Button

When contacting a user for the first time, Viber allows bots to send only one message until the user replies.

Therefore, as soon as a user opens your bot using the bot link, they automatically receive the first message.

In this message, you should ask the client to either:

  • press a button; or
  • send any message.

Otherwise, none of your subsequent messages will be delivered.

Once the user replies, you can send them an unlimited number of messages.

The motivational first message for Viber is configured in the project settings.

Buttons embedded inside the message text are not sent when the user opens the bot.

Only keyboard buttons should be used.

After the user's first action, you may send any content without restrictions.

Example of how the first message looks after opening the bot:

How to Test the First Message Again

Perform these steps every time you test the first message.

To do this:

  1. Delete the conversation from the Clients section in the builder.
  2. Delete the conversation with the bot by clicking Delete and Unsubscribe.

After that, opening the bot again using the link will trigger the welcome message once more.

Possible Viber Errors

If you see the following notification in the conversation with a client in the Clients section, it may mean one of the following:

  • The user unsubscribed from your messages (blocked the bot in their Viber account).
  • You sent the second (or subsequent) message before the user replied to your first message.
  • Your first message contains buttons inside the text.

Build your conversation flow so that after the first message the user either replies or configure the Reply to the user's first message field in the builder settings.

Ask the user to send you a reply or press a button.

The first message may contain keyboard buttons only.

Buttons inside the message text are not allowed.

How to Start a Conversation Correctly

The block containing #{none} is required.

It activates the bot without consuming the limit for sending the first Viber message.

Next, compare the value of the client_type variable, which stores the internal numeric identifier of the messenger.

For Viber:

client_type = 2