How to get WhatsApp templates approved the first time

Every message your business sends first on the WhatsApp Business API must be an approved template. Meta reviews each one, usually within 24 hours. Most rejections come from a handful of avoidable mistakes.

Pick the right category

• Utility: about something the customer did or asked for, such as an order, payment, booking or delivery.
• Marketing: offers, promotions, announcements and anything meant to sell.
• Authentication: one-time codes for logging in or verifying.

The content must match the category. An “order update” that also announces a sale is a marketing template, and Meta can change the category when it approves it. Marketing messages cost more, so keep utility messages strictly about the customer’s transaction.

Use variables carefully

• Number them in order: {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}.
• Give a realistic example for each one, such as “Nadeesha” or “Order 1048”.
• Don’t start or end the message with a variable, and don’t put two variables next to each other.
• Keep enough fixed text around the variables that the purpose of the message is clear.

Write like a real business

• Say who you are and why you are writing.
• Avoid shortened links; use your own website address.
• No threats, misleading claims or content that breaks WhatsApp’s Business and Commerce policies.
• Check spelling, and use the language you choose for the template.

If a template is rejected

Read the reason, fix that part, and submit it again with a new name or as an edited template. If a template is often reported or blocked by customers, Meta can pause or disable it, so keep marketing templates relevant and send them only to people who opted in.

In WhatsRay, the template editor shows a live preview, checks that variables are in order and have examples, and supports images, video, documents, buttons, carousels and forms.