WhatsApp message templates: types, rules, approval

A WhatsApp message template is a message Meta has approved in advance. On the WhatsApp Business Platform it's the only kind of message a business can send to someone who hasn't messaged it in the last 24 hours: order updates, appointment reminders, login codes and offers all go out as templates.

When you need a template

Every time someone messages your business, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and each new message from them restarts it. Inside the window you can reply with anything: text, photos, buttons. Once it closes, only an approved template gets through, so templates are how you start a conversation, follow up days later or send a broadcast.

Whoever starts the conversation, the person must have agreed to hear from you. Meta asks for an opt-in that names your business and makes clear what they're signing up for, collected on your website, by text, in a chat, by phone or in person.

The three template categories

You pick a category, but Meta decides it from the text. A utility template with anything promotional in it, even a discount line at the end, is approved as marketing, and Meta keeps re-checking approved templates and can move them later. Businesses that keep labelling marketing as utility can have their utility messages limited.

Authentication templates are the strictest: they use Meta's own wording from the template library, with a button to copy the code, and no links, media or emojis.

What a template is made of

• Header (optional): a short title, or an image, video, document or location.
• Body (required): the message itself, up to 1,024 characters. It can use emojis and WhatsApp formatting like bold and italics: try WhatsApp text formatter.
• Footer (optional): a short line under the message, such as how to opt out.
• Buttons (optional): up to 10 quick-reply buttons, up to 2 website buttons, 1 phone number button and 1 button that copies a coupon code.

Variables fill in each person's details. Write them as {{1}}, {{2}} and so on (or with names, like {{first_name}}), and give Meta a sample value for each when you submit. For example: Hi {{1}}, your table for {{2}} people is booked for 8 pm.

How to create a template and get it approved

1. 01Open WhatsApp Manager in Meta Business Suite, or the template editor in your WhatsApp tool.
2. 02Choose the category and language, and give the template a name: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores, such as order_shipped.
3. 03Write the header, body, footer and buttons, using variables for what changes from person to person.
4. 04Add a sample value for every variable, then submit.
5. 05Meta reviews it automatically, usually within minutes and at most 24 hours. Only approved templates can be sent.

Each language is a separate version of the template that's reviewed on its own, and Meta doesn't translate anything for you. An approved template can be edited once a day and up to 10 times in 30 days; you can't change its category.

Why templates get rejected

• The message starts or ends with a variable, two variables sit side by side, or the numbers are out of order ({{1}}, {{3}}).
• There are too many variables for the amount of text, so Meta can't tell what the message is about.
• It asks for full card numbers, bank account numbers or ID numbers.
• It breaks WhatsApp's Commerce or Business Policy, or reads as threatening, spammy or a scam.
• It's the same as a template you already have.

If you think a rejection is wrong, you can ask for another review in WhatsApp Manager; appeals are also decided within 24 hours. Often it's quicker to fix the wording and submit again.

Template quality and pausing

Each approved template gets a quality rating (high, medium or low) from how people respond: blocks, reports and how many people read it. When a template drops to low quality, Meta pauses it: for 3 hours the first time and 6 hours the second. The third time it's disabled. Messages sent with a paused template fail and aren't charged.

What templates cost

Meta charges for each template that's delivered. The price depends on the category and the country of the person's phone number, and marketing usually costs the most. When someone messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad and you reply within 24 hours, a free window opens in which your messages, templates included, aren't charged. Meta's pricing page has the current rates.

Template examples

Sending templates with MuChat

MuChat runs on the WhatsApp Business Platform. You write marketing and utility templates under Settings › WhatsApp templates and MuChat submits them to Meta, then you use the approved ones in broadcasts, with each person's details filled into the variables. When people reply, keyword replies and flows answer them straight away. See WhatsApp automation. Using the WhatsApp Business app instead? See WhatsApp broadcast lists and WhatsApp auto replies.