> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ycloud.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Marketing templates
> Recognize marketing content, choose an appropriate format, and plan permission-based campaigns.
Use a marketing template when your message promotes a product, encourages a purchase, announces an offer, or re-engages a customer.
Choose the category from the message's actual purpose. A message does not become utility because it mentions an order or an existing customer.
## Recognize marketing content
Typical marketing use cases include product launches, discounts, recommendations, abandoned-cart reminders, and invitations to buy again.
Mixed content also belongs in marketing. For example:
| Message intent | Category decision |
| - | - |
| Tell a customer that a specific order has shipped. | Can qualify as utility if it remains non-promotional. |
| Announce shipment and add an offer for the next purchase. | Marketing: the message includes a promotion. |
| Ask the customer to complete an abandoned purchase. | Marketing: the goal is to encourage a purchase. |
| Send a login verification code. | Authentication, not marketing. |
These are illustrative decisions, not pre-approved templates. Meta reviews the complete content, including variables and buttons. See [Meta's category guidelines](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/updates-to-pricing/new-template-guidelines/).
## Design for a clear customer action
Start with the audience and reason for contacting them. Then write one clear message with a useful next action.
For a fictional business:
```text theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
Northstar Books: The reading event you subscribed to is open for booking.
See the schedule and reserve your place below.
Reply STOP to stop event updates.
```
Before submitting, check that the audience actually requested these updates. Avoid vague greetings followed by unrelated offers, misleading urgency, or variables that replace nearly the whole message.
Source: [Meta official example](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/marketing-templates/custom-marketing-templates/).
## Turn a campaign idea into a precise template
| Campaign idea | Information the message should contain | Appropriate action |
| - | - | - |
| An event the customer subscribed to | Business name, event, dates, and what registration does. | **View schedule** or **Register**. |
| A relevant product promotion | The actual offer, applicable product, conditions, and real deadline if one exists. | **View offer**. |
| An abandoned checkout reminder | The unfinished purchase context and a route back to that checkout. | **Continue checkout**. |
| A new collection announcement | Why this audience receives the update and what is new. | **Browse collection** or a carousel. |
Use a landing page that delivers the action promised by the button. If an offer excludes certain products or requires a minimum spend, make those conditions accessible before purchase. Do not use a transactional-sounding button to disguise a marketing destination.
### A useful launch sequence
1. Select customers whose recorded permission covers this campaign.
2. Exclude opt-outs and contacts already receiving a conflicting promotion.
3. Fill variables from a reviewed data mapping, then preview a sample from each audience segment.
4. Send a controlled initial batch and examine delivery, responses, and complaints.
5. Expand only if the observed results support it; stop or narrow the audience when negative feedback rises.
Choose the batch size and frequency for your business, not from a promised “safe” universal volume. Meta's recipient-level marketing controls can prevent delivery even to customers who consented.
When a marketing send is blocked, do not reclassify the same promotion as utility or move it to another number to bypass the control.
## Choose the format after the purpose
Marketing content can use text, media, buttons, and eligible specialized formats. A carousel suits several visual choices; a coupon button helps customers copy a promotion code; a catalog entry point helps customers browse products.
Use [Template components and formats](/en/documentation/whatsapp-business-platform/messaging/message-templates/template-components-and-formats) to choose the presentation. The format does not override the category or make an otherwise prohibited offer acceptable.
## Plan consent and frequency
Collect permission for the messages you intend to send and provide a clear way to stop them. Coordinate campaigns across teams and business numbers so that one customer does not receive overlapping offers.
Useful campaign checks include:
* Is the audience recent and relevant to this offer?
* Does the message match what customers subscribed to?
* Have opt-outs been applied to the final audience?
* Are several automations contacting the same customer?
* Is the landing page consistent with the promise in the message?
See [Customer opt-in](/en/documentation/whatsapp-business-platform/consent-policies-and-account-health/customer-opt-in) and [Customer opt-out](/en/documentation/whatsapp-business-platform/consent-policies-and-account-health/customer-opt-out).
## Approval is not a delivery guarantee
A marketing template can be approved while an individual message is delayed or not delivered. Quality controls, recipient-level limits, account restrictions, or market-specific availability can affect delivery.
Use [Quality and delivery controls](/en/documentation/whatsapp-business-platform/pricing-limits-and-quality/quality-and-delivery-controls) to diagnose these cases. Do not repeatedly resend or switch numbers to evade a delivery restriction.
Marketing charges follow [WhatsApp pricing](/en/documentation/whatsapp-business-platform/pricing-limits-and-quality/whatsapp-pricing), including any qualifying free-entry-point exception. An ordinary open service window does not by itself make a marketing template free.
## Start in YCloud
* [Create a template](/en/documentation/channels/whatsapp-accounts-management/template-management/create-template/index)
* [Create a WhatsApp campaign](/en/documentation/campaign/create-a-whatsapp-marketing-campaign)
* [Send through the API](/en/api-reference/guides/whatsapp-platform/send-whatsapp-message)
YCloud also documents a [marketing API integration](/en/documentation/integrations/mm-lite-api). Its availability and behavior are a separate integration choice, not a new template category.
This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.