WhatsApp message templates

Niina_P — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:20:11 GMT

WhatsApp message templates allow businesses to use pre-created and approved templates to send structured messages to customers who have agreed to receive notifications.

To start a conversation with a customer on WhatsApp, you need to first send a template message. You can't start a conversation on WhatsApp by sending a freeform message. All templates must be approved by WhatsApp before you can use them. Please make sure that your templates comply with WhatsApp’s guidelines .

Currently, templates can include text, multimedia content (PNG, JPG, MP4, PDF), and buttons. Multimedia files you add when creating a template are always variables, which means they're placeholders that users can replace when using the template.

Each template needs to belong to one of three categories: marketing, utility, or authentication.

Marketing templates are the most flexible – they aren't related to a specific, agreed-upon transaction. Instead, they may relate to the business and/or its products or services. These templates may include, for example:
- Promotions or offers
- Welcoming or closing messages
- Updates, invitations, or recommendations
- Requests to respond or complete a new transaction.
Utility templates cover a specific, agreed-upon transaction. They either confirm, suspend, or change a transaction or subscription.
Authentication templates enable businesses to authenticate users with one-time passcodes (usually 4-8 digit alphanumeric codes), potentially at multiple steps in the login process (for example, account verification, account recovery, or integrity challenges).

The template needs to also clearly serve a specific purpose in the selected category. A message template in the utility category could be, for example:

“Hello {1}, online check-in for your flight to {2} is now available“.

You cannot create a message template that is empty or only contains placeholders.

article WhatsApp message templates in Settings

WhatsApp message templates