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.
