WhatsApp message templates: categories, approval and best practices

On the WhatsApp Business Platform, every conversation a business starts, and every message sent more than 24 hours after the customer's last reply, has to use a message template. Templates are reviewed by Meta before use, and their category decides what they cost. Getting them right is the difference between campaigns that go out on time and a queue of rejections. Here is how they work.

Why templates exist

Templates let Meta check business-initiated messages before they reach anyone. That keeps WhatsApp free of the unsolicited bulk messages that ruined SMS and email for many people, and it gives every message a clear purpose. Inside the 24-hour customer service window, which opens whenever a customer messages you, you can reply freely without templates.

The three template categories

Meta checks the category you choose. If a "utility" template contains promotional wording, Meta can re-categorise it as marketing, which changes its price. Keep utility templates factual and specific to a transaction, and put offers in separate marketing templates.

Anatomy of a template

• Header (optional): short text or a media file: image, video or document. A PDF invoice or product photo in the header gets noticed.
• Body (required): the main message, up to 1,024 characters, with formatting such as bold and italics.
• Variables: placeholders such as {{1}} for a name, order number or date. Each needs a realistic sample value for review.
• Footer (optional): a short line such as "Reply STOP to unsubscribe".
• Buttons (optional): quick replies (for example "Track order" or "Talk to an agent"), a website link, a call button or a copy-code button for coupons and passcodes.

Templates are created per language. If you serve customers in English and Hindi, create the same template name in both languages and send each customer the version that fits.

How to get templates approved

1. Be specific. Say who you are and why the customer is receiving the message. Vague bodies such as "Hi {{1}}, check this out {{2}}" are often rejected.
2. Give good samples. Samples should look like real data ("Priya", "#48213", "12 Oct"), not "test" or "xyz".
3. Do not start or end with a variable, and avoid several variables in a row with no text between them.
4. Keep links on your own domain and avoid link shorteners that hide the destination.
5. Match the category to the content, as described above.
6. Follow the policies: nothing that breaks the WhatsApp Business and Commerce policies, such as restricted products.

Common rejection reasons

• Variable formatting errors, such as missing or mismatched {{n}} numbers.
• Content that looks like spam, threats or pressure ("last chance or your account will be closed").
• Requests for sensitive data such as full card numbers or passwords.
• A template that duplicates an existing one with different wording only.
• Promotional content submitted as utility or authentication.

Template quality and pausing

After approval, each template has its own quality signal based on how recipients react: blocks, reports and a lack of engagement pull it down. When a template's quality drops sharply, Meta can pause it for a few hours so you can fix the audience or wording, and repeated problems can disable it. Paused templates cannot be sent until the pause ends.

Naming and organising templates

Template names are permanent and can only contain lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. A simple convention helps a lot as the list grows:

• order_shipped_v2, appointment_reminder_24h, diwali_offer_2026
• Put the purpose first and a version or date last.
• Delete templates you no longer use so your team picks the right one.

In Broadchat you create templates under CRM → WhatsApp Templates, preview them live, submit them to Meta and sync their status. Our help article Create a message template walks through it.