Send WhatsApp Notification Messages with Templates

WhatsApp message templates overview

A WhatsApp message template is a message format that you can use over and over again to message users once they have opted-in and given your app permission to send them messages. To use a message template, you must first submit it to WhatsApp. WhatsApp reviews and approves each message template, typically in 48 hours or less, to maintain high-quality content and avoid spam. Once WhatsApp has approved your template, you can use the message template to send notifications.

Templates use placeholder values that can be replaced with dynamic content inside double curly braces {{...}} when the message is sent:

  • Your login code for {{1}} is {{2}}.
  • Example of a message sent using this template: Your login code for AhaChat is 12345.

Think of your template message as a conversation starter; the goal is to convert this initial message into a two-way conversation when the user replies. Two-way conversations are considered higher value because you are engaging with your end-user. In addition, they reduce your spend because WhatsApp does not charge for outbound messages within the 24-hour session.

Sending non-template messages within a 24-hour session

If a WhatsApp user has sent your application a message — whether it’s a reply to one of your outbound messages, or they have initiated communication themselves — your application has a 24-hour window (sometimes called a “24-hour session”) to send that user messages that don’t need to use a template.

When your application sends a message to a WhatsApp user outside a 24-hour session, the message must use an approved template.

WhatsApp notification categories

Your WhatsApp message templates must fall into one of the following categories. Templates that do not align clearly with these template types are more likely to be rejected by WhatsApp in the template approval process described below.

  • Marketing: Send promotional offers, product announcements, and more to increase awareness and engagement.
  • One-time passwords: Send codes that allow your customers to securely access their accounts.
  • Transactional: Send account updates, order updates, alerts, and more to share important information.

Creating message templates and submitting them for approval

Customers interested in sending notifications outside of the 24-hour window need to create their own templates for these messages.

To create a template, go to WhatsApp Manager, go to Message Templates in your Account tools menu.

You will see the “Create template” button. Click it to create additional templates.

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

  • Template name: Must be a unique name and can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores.
    Tip Use a name that helps WhatsApp’s reviewer understand the purpose of your message, for example "order_delivery" rather than "template_1"
  • Template category: Select the one that best fits your use case.
  • Message language: Select from the languages provided by WhatsApp.
  • Message body: The text of the message that you want to send. Please note WhatsApp does not allow multiple sequential line breaks.
  • Buttons: 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 2 buttons that let your customers 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 3 buttons that let your customers respond to your message.

After you fill out the message template, click Submit for WhatsApp approval.

Template translations

WhatsApp supports multiple translations per template. If you need the same template in different languages, click approved template, choose to add a language, and re-type the content for that template in the language you selected. Translations have a higher chance of approval if submitted together.

Note: WhatsApp does not support editing or deleting individual translations within a template. If you need to resubmit a translation, you must submit it as another new template.

Removing WhatsApp message templates

To delete a message template, click on the template name on the WhatsApp Message Templates page and then click Delete in the upper right corner.

Per WhatsApp guidelines, you may not reuse the name of a deleted template for 30 days after deletion.

Common Rejection Reasons

WhatsApp most commonly rejects templates for the following reasons, so be sure to avoid the following:

  • Variables are placed in the beginning or end of the message.
  • Variables are placed next to each other, such as “{{1}} {{2}}”.
  • Variables have mismatched curly braces, or use words instead of numbers. The correct format is {{1}}, not {{one}}.
  • Variable parameters are not sequential. For example, {{1}}, {{2}}, {{4}}, {{5}} are defined but {{3}} does not exist.
  • Call-to-action button URL contains a direct link to WhatsApp, such as "https://wa.me/14154443344", which Meta no longer allows.
  • Template is a duplicate of an existing template. WhatsApp rejects templates submitted with the same wording with a different name. Please note that this check does not apply to OTP templates.
  • Template contains content violating the WhatsApp Commerce Policy or the WhatsApps Business Policy. Do not request sensitive identifiers from users, such as payment card numbers, financial account numbers, or National Identification numbers. Requesting partial identifiers (ex: last 4 digits of their Social Security number) is OK.
  • Template appears to encourage gaming or gambling. Including words such as "raffle" or "win a prize" almost guarantees template rejection by WhatsApp.
  • Template is overly vague, such as “Hi, {{1}}, thanks”. This type of template could be abused to spam users. You need to surround the parameters with information so that it’s clear what type of information will be inserted.
  • You are using the wrong language. For example, a template in English is submitted with Portuguese language selected.
  • Grammatical or spelling mistakes. Even minor spelling or grammatical mistakes are likely to be rejected by WhatsApp.

Template Statuses

Templates can have the following statuses:

  • Pending: Indicates that the template is still under review by WhatsApp. Review can take up to 24 hours.
  • Approved: The template was approved by WhatsApp and can be used to notify customers.
  • Rejected: The template has been rejected by WhatsApp during the review process.
  • Paused: The template has been paused by WhatsApp due to recurring negative feedback from end users, typically resulting from "block" and "report spam" actions associated with the template. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to end users.
  • Disabled: The template has been disabled by WhatsApp due to recurring negative feedback from end users or for violating one or more of WhatsApp's policies. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to end users.

Send a WhatsApp message using a template

AhaChat supports sending messages with WhatsApp message templates.

To send a template message, make sure that all message templates are synced to AhaChat. To sync, go to Settings → Message Templates → Synchronize

Create Block to send message templates

Go to the flow you want to send messages to customers and select Add Block → Message Template

Select the name of the message template, language and Variations, then click save changes and you can send this flow to the customer.