WhatsApp Business templates: create, get approved, use

WhatsApp Business templates (message templates) are messages pre-approved by Meta. They are the only legal way to start a conversation on the API or to reopen a chat after the 24-hour window has closed.

Without templates there is no WhatsApp Marketing, no appointment reminder, and no “still interested?” three days later. This guide covers categories, copy, approval and day-to-day use.

Why Meta requires templates

WhatsApp does not want to become unthrottled mass email. Templates exist to:

• See the content before it reaches thousands of people.
• Classify the message (marketing, utility, authentication) and bill accordingly.
• Cut accounts that dress offers up as “system notices”.

If you try to skip them with free text outside the window, the API simply does not send.

Categories (2026)

Do not tag a promo as utility. Meta catches it and rejects it, or it drops the number’s quality.

Service replies inside 24 hours are not a template. There you write normally.

Anatomy of a template that gets approved

• Clear internal name: visit_reminder_v1, not template3.
• Language (en, es, es_ES, etc.). One language per template.
• Body with variables {{1}}, {{2}}. Few of them. Each variable must make sense in context.
• Optional header: text, image or document.
• Optional buttons: URL, call or quick reply.
• Short footer (brand or “reply STOP”).

Bad example: “Hi {{1}} {{2}} {{3}} {{4}} offer {{5}}”. That looks like phishing.

Good example: “Hi {{1}}, your test drive of the {{2}} is on {{3}} at {{4}} at {{5}}. Can you confirm?”

How to write so they pass review

1. Say what the message is in the first sentence.
2. No ALL CAPS and no three exclamation marks.
3. One CTA.
4. Variables cannot be the entire message.
5. Match the category. If there is a discount, it is marketing.
6. Opt-out on marketing: “Reply STOP to stop receiving offers.”
7. Do not copy bank SMS copy or another brand’s text.

Have a minimum set on day one:

• Welcome / opt-in confirmation.
• Appointment reminder (utility).
• 48-hour follow-up (marketing).
• Cart or “still available” (marketing).
• Incident closed (utility).

The approval process

In ManyContacts (and at any partner) you create the template, send it to Meta and see the status: pending, approved, rejected.

If they reject it:

• Change category or drop the promo.
• Reduce variables.
• Remove suspicious URL shorteners.
• Make the company identity clear in the body.

Do not resubmit the same one 15 times. Iterate.

You cannot edit an approved template: you create …_v2.

Number quality and templates

Meta scores quality from blocks and reports. An aggressive campaign to a cold list sinks the number and limits sending. Then it does not matter that the template is approved.

Rules:

• Only contacts with a real opt-in.
• Segment. Do not send the same promo to the whole list.
• Space it out. A blast of 20,000 at 22:00 is a bad idea.
• Stop if quality drops to low or red.

More tactics in the campaigns guide.

Templates + inbox + AI

The template opens. The inbox and AI continue. Typical flow:

1. Campaign: “Your place is held for 24 h.”
2. The student replies “does finance work?”
3. You enter the 24-hour window. AI or the advisor continues in free text.

Do not try to fit the whole sale into the template. The template is the key. The conversation is the close.

Variables and data: do not improvise

Variables come from your CRM, the order or the calendar. If {{1}} is sometimes a name and sometimes a coupon, Meta and the customer get equally angry. Define the order and do not change it between versions.

Minimum library by type of business

Academy: welcome, trial reminder, “places left”, no-show follow-up, enrolment confirmation.

Dealership: “still available”, test-drive confirmation, “finance is ready”, after-sales “your car is in”.

Shop: cart at 1 h, cart at 24 h, “order shipped”, “did it arrive ok?”.

Clinic: 24 h reminder, “confirm or reschedule”, post-visit survey (with permission).

You do not need a catalogue of 80 templates. You need the 8 you use approved, with stable variables and an owner who does not let the copy go stale.

Who should be allowed to create templates

Not the whole team. One admin (marketing or operations) writes and submits to Meta. Agents use them; they do not invent pirate versions in a doc. Each new version is a rejection risk and a brand inconsistency.

Next step

List the 5 conversations you reopen by hand today. Turn them into templates. Create the account or book a demo and we get them approved with your brand.