Message templates

Send WhatsApp Messages with Templates.

According to WhatsApp regulations, Outside a 24-hour customer service window, your business only can send template message that has been pre-approved by WhatsApp.


Contents of the message template

Message templates include the following:

  • Header: This section can include a logo or other branding elements, as well as a title or a video.
  • Body: The body is the main content of your message. It should include all relevant information and be written in a clear and concise manner.
  • Footer: The footer can include additional messages, such as a call-to-action or contact information.
  • Buttons: Buttons are an optional element that can be included in your message to encourage the recipient to take a specific action, such as visiting a website or making a purchase.
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Create a message template

To create a template, go to YCloud Console > Home > Templates. Click on New template:

On the next screen, you will be able to fill out the information to submit your template to WhatsApp. WhatsApp's team will use the information you submit to approve or reject your template submission.

Template Name

The template name must be unique and can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores. Use a descriptive and meaningful name that helps WhatsApp's reviewers understand the purpose of your message. For example, instead of "template_1," use "order_delivery."

Template Category

Select the category that best fits your use case:

  • Marketing: Use this category to send promotional offers, product announcements, and other marketing-related messages to increase awareness and engagement.
  • Authentication: Use this category to send secure codes that allow your customers to access their accounts.
  • Utility: Use this category to send account updates, order updates, alerts, and other important information.

Message language:

Select from the languages provided by WhatsApp.

Header(Optional)

Headers are optional. You can use headers to provide additional information to end users.
Headers can contain the following:

  • Image (Recommended size: 1125px * 600px)
  • Document
  • Video
  • Text (maximum of 60 characters, can include 1 placeholder)

Body

Enter the text for your message in the language you've selected. You can edit text formats, add emojis, or include variables.

Footer(Optional)

Add a short line of text to the bottom of your message template.

Buttons(Optional)

Select from the drop-down menu to create buttons that let customers respond to your message or take action:

  • None: If you don't want to add any buttons, select this option.
  • Call to Action: Create up to two buttons that allow your customers to take action. The types of action include "Call Phone Number" and "Visit Website." This lets you add a phone number or website URL to your message. If you choose "Visit Website," you can choose from a Static (fixed) website URL or a Dynamic website URL, which creates a personalized link for the customer to view their specific information on your website by adding a variable at the end of the link.
  • Quick Reply: Create up to three buttons that let your customers respond to your message.

Before using any templates to message users, they must be approved by WhatsApp. Click the Submit button to send your template for approval.


Approval Period

Once you have created your template you can submit it for approval. It can take up to 24 hours for an approval decision to be made. Once a decision has been made, a notification will appear in your WhatsApp Manager and we will send an email to your Business Manager admins.

If your message template is approved, it's status will be set to Active - Quality pending and you can begin sending it to customers. If it is rejected, you can edit it and resubmit for approval, or appeal the decision.


Common Rejection Reasons

To ensure that your submissions are not rejected, please take note of the following guidelines:

  • The catagory is not
  • Make sure all variable parameters are present and correctly formatted, using double curly braces {{ }}.
  • Avoid using special characters such as #, $, or % within the parameters.
  • Ensure that variable parameters are sequential and none are skipped. For example, {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}, {{4}}.
  • Ensure that none of the message templates contains content that violates WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy: When you offer goods or services for sale, we consider all messages and media related to your goods or services, including any descriptions, prices, fees, taxes, and/or any required legal disclosures, to constitute transactions. Transactions must comply with the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.
  • Ensure that none of the message templates contains content that violates the WhatsApp Business Policy: Do not request sensitive identifiers from users. For example, do not ask people to share full-length individual payment card numbers, financial account numbers, National Identification numbers, or other sensitive identifiers. This also includes not requesting documents from users that might contain sensitive identifiers. Requesting partial identifiers (ex: the last 4 digits of their Social Security number) is OK.
  • Avoid content containing potentially abusive or threatening content, such as threatening a customer with legal action or threatening to publicly shame them.
  • The message template is a duplicate of an existing template. If a template is submitted with the same wording in the body and footer of an existing template, the duplicate template will be rejected. A rejection notification that includes the rejection reason will appear in Account Quality on WhatsApp Manager and be sent via email. You may refer to the Account Quality notification to see the name and language of the existing template with the same content as the rejected duplicate template. You may also choose to edit the template and resubmit. Please note that this check does not apply to OTP templates.

If you believe the template that is rejected should be proved, you can request a review in Account Quality.

https://business.facebook.com/accountquality/


Template Statuses

The following are the statuses that a WhatsApp template can have:

  • In review: Indicates that the template is still under review. Review can take up to 24 hours.
  • Rejected: The template has been rejected during our review process or violates one or more of our policies.
  • Active - Quality pending: The message template has yet to receive quality feedback from customers. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers.
  • Active - High quality: The template has received little to no negative customer feedback. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers.
  • Active - Medium quality: The template has received negative feedback from multiple customers but may soon become paused or disabled. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers.
  • Active - Low quality: The template has received negative feedback from multiple customers. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers but are in danger of being paused or disabled soon.
  • Paused: The template has been paused due to recurring negative feedback from customers. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to customers.
  • Disabled: The template has been disabled due to recurring negative feedback from customers. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to customers.
  • Appealed - In review: Indicates that an appeal has been requested.

Paused Templates

If end users repeatedly report spam or block messages associated with a message template, WhatsApp will pause the template for a period of time to protect the quality rating of senders who have used the template. Pausing durations are as follows:

  • 1st report: Paused for 3 hours
  • 2nd report: Paused for 6 hours
  • 3rd report: Disabled

During the hours that your template is paused, you can choose one of the following actions:

  • Edit the template content: If you think the template content might be perceived as spam or phishing by end users, edit the content. For example, remove specific words in the template.
  • Reshape the target audience: If you think the messages are not relevant to the current target audience, change the audience. For example, if the template content is relevant only to a specific loyalty group, send the template message only to that group and not to all end users.
    After you make the changes, the updated template is live within two minutes. You do not need to wait for the three-hour period to be complete before using the template again. Meta will continue to track the end user block rate for the updated template.
  • Do nothing: The template will be live again after the three-hour period. However, there is a potential risk for the template to be paused again. If a low-quality template is constantly used after being paused, the sender quality, and eventually, the messaging limit may be affected.

Send a WhatsApp message using a template

YCloud offers two convenient ways to send template messages:

  • API: Use our easy-to-use API to send message templates with just a few lines of code.
  • Campaign: Upload a WhatsApp customer list and immediately broadcast your message templates, all without any development required.