How to create a WhatsApp message template
Templates are the gate between you and every message sent outside an open conversation. Writing one that passes is mostly about four mechanical rules and one honest judgement about category.
Before you start
- A connected WhatsApp Business Account
- The message you actually want to send
- Realistic sample values for each placeholder
The steps
- 1
Pick the category honestly
Utility is about something the customer already did. Marketing is anything you want them to do next. Authentication is passcodes only. Remove the promotional sentence and ask whether the message still needs to exist — if yes, it is utility.
Marketing costs roughly 7.5x utility in India, which is why the temptation exists and why Meta re-categorises.
- 2
Write the body with placeholders
Use {{1}}, {{2}} and so on in order with no gaps. Never start or end the message with a placeholder, and never put two next to each other — all three are documented rejection causes.
- 3
Give realistic sample values
Meta reviews the message with the placeholders filled in. Samples like "test" or "abc" get rejected. Use a real-looking name, a real-looking order number, a real date.
- 4
Add buttons if they help
Quick replies for a decision, a call-to-action button for a link or phone number. If you add a URL button, keep the domain fixed and let the variable carry only the path — a domain built from a variable is rejected.
- 5
Submit and watch the status
Review is often minutes, sometimes up to 24 hours. Check the category you were given as well as the approval, because a re-categorisation changes what it costs without changing the text.
Where this usually goes wrong
-
A reminder with an offer in it
The single most common category mistake. It makes the whole template marketing, at roughly 7.5x the price.
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Re-creating a rejected template under a new name
Edit and resubmit the original instead. Re-creating reads as evasion.
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One unbroken 800-character paragraph
Reviewers read these, and so do customers. Break it up.