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WhatsApp Templates - things to know

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Templates

Templates are used in template messages to open marketing and utility conversations with customers. Unlike free-form messages, template messages are the only type of message that can be sent to customers who have yet to message you, or who have not sent you a message in the last 24 hours.

Templates must be approved before they can be sent in template messages. In addition, templates may be disabled automatically based on customer feedback and engagement. Once disabled, a template cannot be sent in a template message until its quality rating has improved or it no longer violates our business or commerce policies.

Creation

Use the template creation API to create templates. 

Approval Process

Once you have created your template you can submit it for approval. It can take up to 24 hours for an approval decision to be made. Once a decision has been made, a notification will appear in your Broadcast Templates Manager.

If your message template is approved, its status will be set to ✅Approved and you can begin sending it to customers. If it is rejected, its status will be set to ❌Rejected. The template has to be deleted and wait for 24 hours to reapply again with the same template name.

Samples

If your template uses variables you must include sample variable values (media assets, text strings, etc.) with your submission. This makes it easier for us to visualize how your template will appear to customers.

To include a sample with your submission in the WhatsApp Manager, first create your template, add any variables that it requires, and then click the Add Sample button. The preview pane will render any sample media assets or sample text values you provide.

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If using our APIs to create templates, include the examples property for each template component object in your request that uses a variable.

Common Rejection Reasons

Submissions are commonly rejected for the following reasons, so make sure you avoid these mistakes.

  • Variable parameters are missing or have mismatched curly braces. The correct format is {{1}}.
  • Variable parameters contain special characters such as a #, $, or %.
  • Variable parameters are not sequential. For example, {{1}}, {{2}}, {{4}}, {{5}} are defined but {{3}} does not exist.
  • Template contains too many variable parameters relative to the message length. You need to decrease the number of variable parameters or increase the message length.
  • The message template cannot end with a parameter.
  • The message template contains content that violates WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy: When you offer goods or services for sale, we consider all messages and media related to your goods or services, including any descriptions, prices, fees, taxes and/or any required legal disclosures, to constitute transactions. Transactions must comply with the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.
  • The message template contains content that violates the WhatsApps Business Policy: Do not request sensitive identifiers from users. For example, do not ask people to share full length individual payment card numbers, financial account numbers, National Identification numbers, or other sensitive identifiers. This also includes not requesting documents from users that might contain sensitive identifiers. Requesting partial identifiers (ex: last 4 digits of their Social Security number) is OK.
  • The content contains potentially abusive or threatening content, such as threatening a customer with legal action or threatening to publicly shame them.
  • The message template is a duplicate of an existing template. If a template is submitted with the same wording in the body and footer of an existing template, the duplicate template will be rejected.
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