WhatsApp Templates are used to send notifications after 24 hours window. All templates structure must be pre-approved by WhatsApp before using it. WhatsApp Templates are also known as HSM (Highly Structured Messages).

Every templates approved by WhatsApp will carry a unique template id and you need to pass the unique template id along with value of dynamic variable in order to send a templated message. Please note template messages are billed based on your destination country and plan opted and you will be billed after the free credit is exhausted. Once a template is approved currently it’s not possible to edit.

Understanding Templates

WhatsApp has some specific guidelines to be followed for requesting and sending templated messages.

Template Category

WhatsApp will check whether the templates requesting by you is relevant to your business category, below are currently supported category , please select the appropriate category

ACCOUNT_UPDATE
PAYMENT_UPDATE
PERSONAL_FINANCE_UPDATE
SHIPPING_UPDATE
RESERVATION_UPDATE
ISSUE_RESOLUTION
APPOINTMENT_UPDATE
TRANSPORTATION_UPDATE
TICKET_UPDATE
ALERT_UPDATE
AUTO_REPLY

Please make sure the template message context is relevant to the category you selected

Template Name

You have to mention the name of the templates, please make sure the template name

Can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores ( _ ). No other characters or white space are allowed.

Make your message template name clear. Instead of using a name like “template_014,” use “bus_ticket_details”.

Dynamic Variable

Dynamic variable is one of the important part of the templates which allows you to pass dynamic contents to the message, while requesting message templates you can specify the dynamic variable like {{1}} , {{2}}

Your One Time Password (OTP) to {{1}} is {{2}}

In the above template you can replace {{1}} and {{2}] with your own value when sending message.

Please dont request template with floating variables i.e lines with just variables not any text , in the below example {{3}} and {{4}} are floating variables and similar templates will be rejected

--TICKET NO: {{1}}PASSENGER NAME: *{{2}}*--{{3}} - {{4}}

New Lines, Tabs, 4 consecutive spaces are not allowed in the dynamic variable actual message content.

Template Types

Currently WhatsApp Supports only following template types , you need to specify the type of template you want to request

Text Templates This is a plain text templates, you can specify links, emoji’s as well, maximum characters for text template is 1024

Media Templates Media templates are structured messages where you can pass header, body and footer , currently only images, video, documents are allowed in media templates.

Sample Image with Body & Footer

For images you must pass body text along with variables while requesting templates, footer is optional , if you use footer then the body text character is limited to 160 and footer text is limited to 60 characters. You can’t pass dynamic variables in the footer text.

Sample PDF Document with Header, Body & Footer

For Documents only PDF is supported now , header and footer is optional but if you are passing header and footer then body text character is limited to 160 and header and the footer character limit is 60,

Language

You can specify the language of the template, one template can be requested in many languages supported by WhatsApp, WhatsApp will not translate your templates into any local languages instead you need to specify the language so that WhatsApp approval team can easily review and approve the same.

For multiple languages you don’t need to request multiple templates, you can request multiple languages through a single template by specifying the language.

Template Limitations

1. Currently it’s not possible to edit an approved WhatsApp template
2. Maximum number of the template can be requested from a WhatsApp Business Account is limited to 250
3. Only full funnel promotional messages are allowed to request as template, Read More
4. All templates are subjected to manual approval from WhatsApp and we don’t have any role in this process.
5. New Line, Tabs, 4 consecutive spaces are not allowed in the dynamic variable actual message content.
6. Text message type character is limited to 1024 and for document type when you pass Header & Footer , body character is limited to 160 and header & footer is limited to 60 characters,
7. Only Image, Video & Document (PDF) is supported in the media template.
8. Footer is fixed and no option to pass dynamic data (Footer is optional) If a template carries a footer it will auto append with messages.