WhatsApp Business Platform

New Template Guidelines

Date: May 22nd, 2023

Route Mobile Limited © 2023. All rights reserved

© 2023 Route Mobile Limited. All rights reserved
None of the sections of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Route
Mobile Limited.

Route Mobile Limited

3rd Floor, 4th Dimension Building, Mind Space,
New Link Road, Malad (W), Mumbai-400 064, India.

info@routemobile.com

www.routemobile.com

+91-22-40337676

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 WhatsApp – Template Guidelines
Template Category
Template Category options are:

1. Utility
2. Marketing
3. Authentication

Guidelines for creating utility, authentication and

marketing templates
Utility templates

Utility templates relate to a specific, agreed-upon transaction and accomplish one of the following:
Confirm, suspend, or change a transaction or subscription.Any template that has a mix of utility and
marketing content will be classified as a marketing template.

Definition Examples

Confirm or suspend an · "Your order #0021 is confirmed"

existing transaction
· "Thank you for your reservation! See you next week"

· "Your payment was received! We hope you enjoy the

concert!"

· "Thank you for visiting the doctor, here is your treatment

plan"

· "Your order has been cancelled; your refund will be

processed in 7-10 days"

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 Change or update a · "You have successfully checked in! Here’s your boarding
transaction pass for your flight"

· "Your order has shipped! It will be delivered on Friday"

· "Reminder: Your appointment is at 1pm on Tuesday"

· "Your password was changed"

· "Your profile was updated"

Account, billing, or payment · "Here is the monthly statement you requested"

notification
· "Your payment was accepted” / "Your payment failed"

· Reminder: your payment is due on Tuesday"

· "Here is your low-balance warning for account ending in

-XXXX"

· "Your pre-paid balance is low; click here to top up"

Marketing templates

Marketing templates are our most flexible – they do not relate to a specific, agreed-upon transaction
and instead may relate to the business and/or its products/services. These templates may include
promotions or offers; welcoming / closing messages; updates, invitations or recommendations; or
requests to respond or complete a new transaction. Any template that has a mix of utility and
marketing content will be classified as a marketing template.

Definition Examples

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 Promotions or offers · "If you buy 2 or more coffees, you’ll get $5 off!"

· "Thanks for your order! Use code SAVE20 for 20% off your
next order!

· "Your pre-paid balance is low; click here to top up! Get a

10% bonus with code EXTRA10"

· "Hey members join us tonight for this event"

Welcoming or closing · "This is Vinny’s Bakery and we are now on WhatsApp!"

messages
· "Hello, welcome to our profile on WhatsApp!"

· "I'm sorry for the delay, my name is XX, how can I help
you?"

· "Thank you, have a good day"

· "A question for you - how much time are you spending doing
your hair?"

Updates, invitations, · "Our store has moved. Come and check us out!"
newsletters, or
recommendations · "We will be closed next Monday for the holiday"

· "Good news! The product you saved is back in stock."

· "Join us for our upcoming holiday gala!"

· "Here are this month’s coupons – happy shopping!"

· "We think you will love this – check out our new ice cream
flavor"

Requests to respond or · "Thank you for your order. We’d love your feedback. Please
complete a new transaction click here."

· "Forgot something? We kept your items, click to check out"

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 · "Your application is waiting for you. Click here to complete"

· "You missed your recent appointment, tap here to rebook."

Authentication templates

These requirements will apply to authentication templates starting May 29, 2023.

Authentication templates enable businesses to authenticate users with one-time passcodes (usually
4-8 digit alphanumeric codes), potentially at multiple steps in the login process (e.g., account
verification, account recovery, integrity challenges).

Authentication templates are our most restricted. Businesses must use WhatsApp’s preset
authentication message templates, which includes optional add-ons like security disclaimers and
expiry warnings. In addition, authentication templates must configure a one-time password button
(copy code or one-tap).

URLs, media, and emojis are not allowed for authentication template content or parameters.
Additional length restrictions of 15 characters also apply to parameters.

Definition Examples

Provide an authentication ● "{{1}} is your verification code."

code to the user ● "{{1}} is your verification code. For your security,
do not share this code."
● "{{1}} is your verification code. This code expires in
15 minutes."

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Key Updated Authentication Template Guidelines:
Content and Parameters: Emojis, links, and parameters exceeding 15 characters are not
supported.
Buttons: Include a single copy code or auto-fill button with a verification code.
Media: Media content is not supported.

If your mobile app offers users the option to receive one-time passwords or verification codes via the
WhatsApp app or WhatsApp Business app, you must use an authentication template with a one-time
password button (OTP) to deliver the password or code.

Authentication templates with OTP buttons consist of the following:

Preset authentication message template fixed text:
<VERIFICATION_CODE> is your verification code.
Security disclaimer (optional): For your security, do not share this code.
Expiration warning (optional): This code expires in <NUM_MINUTES> minutes.
Button: Either a copy code or one-tap autofill button.
URLs, media, and emojis are not supported. Because authentication templates with OTP buttons
only consist of preset text and buttons, their risk of being paused is significantly minimized.

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Other Guidelines (for all templates)

● Button: PHONE_NUMBER, URL (static and dynamic), and QUICK_REPLIES

● Messages that have been sent but not delivered (e.g., if the customer's device is offline) will
attempt to be delivered for 30 days.
● Templates can be added in multiple languages under the same template name. If that message
template name exists in multiple languages, all languages will be deleted.
● Once a template is deleted, the name of an approved template cannot be used again for 30 days.
Use a different name to create future templates.
● Only deterministic policy available— Deliver the message template in exactly the language and
locale asked for. Fallback is deprecated.
● The number of parameters passed into the payload must match the number of parameters in
the hsm object. If not, you will get a callback informing you that there was an issue displaying
the message template.
● Never to add links in templates. Always add it as a variable parameter.
● Media content is not supported.
● Content and Parameters: Emojis, links, and parameters exceeding 15 characters are not
supported.
● Templates created before May’23 would be migrated to the new categories inorder to comply
with the new pricing.

Rejections

If your message template(s) have been rejected, it may have been for one of the following reasons.

Formatting is incorrect

● Proofread your content for spelling and grammar before submitting it for review. Messages with
misspellings or grammatical errors may prompt customers to view these message as spam or a
hoax.
● Make sure to use variable parameters (e.g., {{1}}, {{2}}, etc.) and that they have the correct
number of curly brackets (i.e., 2 on the left side of the number and 2 on the right side).
● Make sure the parameters are not used with an unknown purpose based on the context. Your
template will be rejected if we do not know what goes into a specific parameter —this includes
not knowing what media you plan to send in a media message, for example. To avoid this
scenario, we strongly recommend that you add a sample.
● Make sure the language selected matches the content of your message template.
● If you select Spanish as the message template language but the content is in English, your
message template will be rejected.
● Ensure that your content is in a supported language. A mixture of languages such as "Hinglish" or
"Spanglish" will not be approved.

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 ● If you’re going to submit a message template for testing your API connection, please ensure it’s
in the correct format. Any other variation will be rejected.
● Message template name: test
● Content: Hello {{1}}
● Refrain from using a URL shortener for your links (e.g., bit.ly, tinyurl, or goo.gl) because they
obscure the intended link destination.
● The URL domain in your links should belong to your business.

The message template(s) contain content that violates WhatsApp’s Commerce

Policy

When you offer goods or services for sale, we consider all messages and media related to your goods or
services, including any descriptions, prices, fees, taxes and/or any required legal disclosures, to
constitute transactions. Transactions must comply with the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.

The message template(s) contain content that violates WhatsApp’s Business

Policy

● Do not request sensitive identifiers from users. For example, do not ask people to share full
length individual payment card numbers, financial account numbers, National Identification
numbers, or other sensitive identifiers. This also includes not requesting documents from users
that might contain sensitive identifiers.
● A survey after an experience is fine, but do not submit a survey or poll to collect unrelated data
from users.
Example: “Hi, we're interested in knowing how you feel about certain food groups. Do you mind
participating in a survey?”

The message template(s) contain potentially abusive or threatening content

Some examples of this include the following:

● Message templates that threaten customers with a legal course of action will be rejected.
● Message templates that threaten to add customers to a WhatsApp group with their friends and
family to shame them if they don't pay back their loans will be rejected.

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Quality Rating and Template Status

The template quality rating and status for your WhatsApp business account are listed in the Message
Templates tab in WhatsApp Manager.

Quality Rating

The quality rating shows how messages from your template have been received by your customers in a
rolling window of the past 24 hours. We show it in three different states:

● High (green)
● Medium (yellow)
● Low (red)

Status

There are different statuses for templates:

● Pending: This is when a business first submits a template that hasn’t yet been on-boarded and
approved.
● Approved: The template is approved to be sent on our platform.
● Rejected: The template is rejected to be on-boarded to our platform.

Occasionally, a template may show one of two particular statuses that are related to
quality: Flagged and Disabled.

● Flagged: This is a warned state. When the quality rating reaches a low (red) state, the template is
moved to a Flagged status.

● If the quality rating improves to a high (green) or medium (yellow) state over 7 days, the
template will return to an Approved status.
● Disabled: After a template enters Flagged Status, if the quality rating does not improve within 7
days, the template across all languages will be Disabled.

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 ● During a disabled state, the template will be unable to be used for sending messages or be
edited.

Notifications

You will receive an email notification if a template status from your WhatsApp business account(s)
changes to Flagged or Disabled.

Adding a Sample

During message template creation, you can add a sample message template by clicking the Add
Sample button. This helps META better understand the use case during the review process.

After clicking on Add Sample, a dialog helps you add the information:

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 Tips

In addition to the above, please consider the following to accelerate the approval process.

● Make your message template name clear. Instead of using a name like "template_014," use
"bus_ticket_details".
● Remember that someone outside of your business will be reviewing your message templates.
Providing more clarity gives reviewers context around how the message template will be used.
● All appeals for rejected message templates require a sample. You can appeal a rejected message
template through Direct Support.
● If you need to write a message template to reopen the 24-hour window, we suggest starting with
some mention of the previous conversation thread:
Example: “I'm sorry that I wasn't able to respond to your concerns yesterday but I’m happy to
assist you now. If you’d like to continue this discussion, please reply with ‘yes’.” or “I was able to
do some follow-up based on our previous conversation, and I’ve found the answer to your
question about our refund policy. If you’d like to continue our conversation, please say ‘yes’.”

Limitations
● The character limit of the BODY component is 1024 characters, while the character limits of
the HEADER and FOOTER components is 60 characters each.
● HEADER type: TEXT, IMAGE, DOCUMENT, VIDEO
● Session text has character limit of 4096 characters
● Call to Action can have maximum to 2 buttons, Phone number (Static) and URL (Static/Dynamic)
● URL should begin with http:// or https:// and end with file extension
● You can have up to 3 text based Quick Reply buttons
● Caption describes the specified image, video, or document media. Do not use
with audio or sticker media.
● Filename describes the filename for the specific document. Use only with document media.

Formatting in Text Messages

Formatting Symbol Example

Bold Asterisk (*) Your total is *$10.50*.

Italics Underscore (_) Welcome to _WhatsApp_!

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Strike-through Tilde (~) This is ~better~ best!

Code Three backticks (```) ```print 'Hello World';```

Supported Content-Types

Media Supported Content-Types

audio/aac, audio/mp4, audio/amr, audio/mpeg,
audio audio/ogg; codecs=opus
Note: The base audio/ogg type is not supported.

document Any valid MIME-type

image image/jpeg, image/png

sticker image/webp

video/mp4, video/3gpp
video
Note: Only H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec is supported.

Post-Processing Media Size

Media Type Size

audio 16 MB

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document 100 MB

image 5 MB

sticker 100 KB

video 16 MB

Contact Card Message

Name Description

addresses Full contact address(es)

birthday YYYY-MM-DD formatted string

emails Contact email address(es)

name Full contact name

org Contact organization information

phones Contact phone number(s)

urls Contact URL(s)

The addresses object
Name Required Description

street No Street number and name

city No City name

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state No State abbreviation

zip No ZIP code

country No Full country name

country_code No Two-letter country abbreviation

type No Standard Values: HOME, WORK

The emails object
Name Required Description

email No Email address

type No Standard Values: HOME, WORK

The name object
Name Required Description

formatted_name Yes Full name as it normally appears

first_name Optional* First name

last_name Optional* Last name

middle_name Optional* Middle name

suffix Optional* Name suffix

prefix Optional* Name preffix

* At least one of the optional parameters needs to be included along with

the formatted_name parameter.

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 The org object
Name Required Description

company No Name of the contact's company

department No Name of the contact's department

title No Contact's business title

The phone object
Name Required Description

Automatically populated with the wa_id value as a formatted phone

phone No
number.

type No Standard Values: CELL, MAIN, IPHONE, HOME, WORK

wa_id No WhatsApp ID

The urls object
Name Required Description

url No URL

type No Standard Values: HOME, WORK

For the objects which contain a type field, the values listed are simply considered the standard values
that might be seen, however, you may set the field to any descriptive value you choose.

Location Message

Name Required Description

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longitude Yes Longitude of the location

latitude Yes Latitude of the location

name No Name of the location

address No Address of the location. Only displayed if name is present.

Supported Languages

Language Code

Afrikaans af

Albanian sq

Arabic ar

Azerbaijani az

Bengali bn

Bulgarian bg

Catalan ca

Chinese (CHN) zh_CN

Chinese (HKG) zh_HK

Chinese (TAI) zh_TW

Croatian hr

Czech cs

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Danish da

Dutch nl

English en

English (UK) en_GB

English (US) en_US

Estonian et

Filipino fil

Finnish fi

French fr

German de

Greek el

Gujarati gu

Hausa ha

Hebrew he

Hindi hi

Hungarian hu

Indonesian id

Irish ga

Italian it

Japanese ja

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Kannada kn

Kazakh kk

Korean ko

Lao lo

Latvian lv

Lithuanian lt

Macedonian mk

Malay ms

Malayalam ml

Marathi mr

Norwegian nb

Persian fa

Polish pl

Portuguese (BR) pt_BR

Portuguese (POR) pt_PT

Punjabi pa

Romanian ro

Russian ru

Serbian sr

Slovak sk

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Slovenian sl

Spanish es

Spanish (ARG) es_AR

Spanish (SPA) es_ES

Spanish (MEX) es_MX

Swahili sw

Swedish sv

Tamil ta

Telugu te

Thai th

Turkish tr

Ukrainian uk

Urdu ur

Uzbek uz

Vietnamese vi

Zulu zu

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