WhatsApp Templates

WhatsApp doesn't let a business send whatever it likes. Anything you send to someone who hasn't just written to you has to use wording that was approved in advance. WhatsApp templates is where you set that wording up, submit it, and watch for the verdict.

You'll find it under Emails then WhatsApp Templates.

Your WhatsApp number

At the top of the page, Your WhatsApp number shows the number your campaigns send from. It belongs to your account alone, which means your own sender identity and your own quality rating rather than a shared one.

What you'll see:

• No number yet. Click Provision a number to get one. If a payment is needed you're taken to checkout first, and the number appears here once it's set up.
• Provisioning in progress. Setup is running. Click Refresh after a moment to check again.
• Active, with the number and a green badge. You're ready to send.
• Connect a social profile first. WhatsApp numbers are set up through your connected messaging profile, so head to Social then Accounts, connect a profile there, and come back.

Creating a template

1. Click New template in the top right.
2. Fill in the fields below.
3. Click Submit for approval.

Name

An internal handle for the template, in lowercase letters, numbers and underscores only, for example order_update or tour_announcement. Recipients never see it. It's how you'll recognise the template in the campaign composer, so make it descriptive.

Language

Pick the language the wording is written in. A template covers one language, so if you write to fans in two languages, make two templates.

Category

Three choices, and they matter:

• Marketing for promotion, announcements, offers, invitations.
• Utility for messages about something already happening, like an order or a booking.
• Authentication for codes and verification.

The category affects both the per-message price and how strictly the wording is reviewed. Pick the one that honestly describes what the message does. A promotional message dressed up as a utility one gets rejected.

Body

The message itself, up to 1024 characters. Use numbered placeholders where a value should be filled in at send time:

Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} has shipped!

Number them in order starting at 1. Everything else is fixed wording that can't change per send.

Example values

If your body has placeholders, an Example values box appears with one field per placeholder. These are required: the reviewer needs to see a realistic message rather than a skeleton. Put in something typical, like a first name and an order number. They're only used for the review, not for your actual sends.

Waiting for approval

Once submitted, the template appears in the table with a status:

• Pending review: sitting with the reviewers. This usually takes minutes to a few hours.
• Approved: ready to use in a campaign.
• Rejected: the wording didn't pass. Write a new template rather than editing this one, and consider whether the category was right, whether the tone was too promotional for the category you picked, or whether the placeholders made the message unclear.

Click Sync status at any time to pull the latest verdict for every template at once. A toast tells you how many were updated and how many new ones were imported.

The table also shows each template's body, language, category and when it was created.

Using an approved template

Approved templates are the only ones that appear when you write a WhatsApp campaign:

1. Go to Emails then Messaging and click New message.
2. Choose the WhatsApp channel.
3. Pick your template under Approved template. Its wording appears below so you can double-check it.
4. Fill each placeholder in order. A placeholder can take a fixed value, or a merge tag like {{firstName}} that resolves per recipient.

The rest of the campaign works exactly like any other message. See messaging for the audience, scheduling and cost.

Deleting a template

Click the bin icon on a template's row and confirm. The template is removed here and withdrawn from review. Campaigns you've already sent are unaffected, but any draft campaign pointing at it will need a different template.

Tips that save a rejection

• Write it as you'd say it. Reviewers reject wording that reads like a machine or hides what it's really for.
• Don't stack placeholders. A body that is almost entirely {{1}} {{2}} {{3}} looks like a blank cheque and usually fails.
• Say who you are. A recipient who can't tell which artist or business this is will report it, and reports hurt your number's quality rating.
• Make one template per purpose. A vague catch-all template is harder to approve than three specific ones.
• Get approval early. Approval takes as long as it takes, so submit the template well before the day you want to send.

Where to go next

• Ready to send? See messaging.
• Need an audience that can actually receive WhatsApp? See segments.
• Want to check your credit balance first? See billing.