What to Decide Before Hiring Someone to Build Your Kakao Channel

“Please make us a Kakao Channel” leaves too much for a designer to guess. The work goes more smoothly when you decide why customers should add the channel, what it should be called, what they should see on the home page, and when someone can answer a message. Those decisions belong to the business before the work is handed over.

Imagine a neighborhood café whose guests need to find the booking details and the entrance. The channel name, home cards, welcome line, and chat setup should all serve that purpose. If the brief leaves gaps, someone may add “free parking” without checking, or turn on a coupon the café does not offer.

Start with one clear promise to the customer

Try a line such as: “Find our booking information and directions in KakaoTalk.” It tells customers what the channel is for and helps the designer choose what belongs on the home page. Leave out services the shop does not provide and offers that are not confirmed. Before writing “Free parking,” verify that parking is available and that the conditions really are free. Claims like “the best,” “the only,” or “No. 1” need evidence and a clear basis for comparison.

Choose the name and search ID before design begins

Use a channel name that matches the storefront and registered business name. Prepare a few search-ID options, then have the business owner choose the final one. Kakao’s channel management guide says a search ID cannot be changed. A channel name can be changed once while the channel has 100 or fewer friends. Check spelling before it appears in a design proof.

Send the original profile image or logo and write an introduction using facts the shop can confirm. For example: “Hand-drip coffee on the second floor. Closed Mondays.” Kakao recommends a 640 × 640 px profile image; see its profile image and channel settings guide when preparing the artwork.

Make the home page and inbox match the real shop

Put useful, current details first: opening hours, directions, and a working phone number. Remove an expired closure notice, and leave coupon or booking cards turned off if the shop does not use them. A Monday-closure notice and a basic-information card may help; a coupon card for a shop with no coupon only confuses people. In the proof, check the words and open each link or phone button to make sure it goes where it should.

A chat brief should say who replies and when. Give the real hours—for example, Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.—and write the after-hours message too. Stable answers such as hours and directions can be quick replies. A person should check booking changes, remaining seats, and refunds. Tell the designer who takes over those conversations and how the team will hand them off.

For example: “Directions quick reply: Take the stairs beside the flower shop to the second floor. There is no elevator. / Table availability: do not confirm automatically; a staff member checks and replies.” When you review the proof, check the hours, try the chat button, and make sure an automatic reply will not block a question that needs a person.

Keep AlimTalk messages tied to their purpose

A booking confirmation and a return-visit coupon have different purposes. “Your table for two on October 20 at 2 p.m. is confirmed” confirms a booking. “Enjoy a free drink on your next visit” promotes an offer. Do not combine them in one template without checking that the channel and template type allow it. AlimTalk templates go through review, so check Kakao’s AlimTalk review guide against the message you plan to send. For promotional messages, verify consent and labeling requirements separately under Article 50 of Korea’s Network Act.

A café brief, filled in

Purpose: Help customers find booking details and directions.

Channel name and ID: “Corner Roastery,” matching the storefront. The owner reviews two search-ID options and chooses the final ID.

Introduction: “Hand-drip coffee on the second floor. Tue–Sun, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; closed Mondays.” Update it if the hours or location changes.

Home cards: Profile, a Monday-closure notice, and basic information with the shop phone. Keep coupons off unless the café actually offers one.

Chat: 1:1 chat, Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Quick replies cover hours and directions. A staff member handles bookings, table availability, and refunds.

AlimTalk: Keep the booking confirmation separate from any return-visit offer. Confirm the appropriate template and consent process before launch.

If a business-channel review needs supporting documents, decide who submits them and through which channel. Kakao’s review-document guide says personal details such as resident registration numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers must be masked. Check the instructions and do not pass an unmasked file around in chat.

When you commission the work, send the purpose, verified shop details, image files, home cards to enable, chat hours, quick replies, and the questions that need a staff member. In the proof, check the search ID, hours, links, and any claim about an offer. With those decisions made up front, the channel can look like the shop and tell customers exactly what they can do there.