Template Messages

A message template is required for the Business to start a new conversation with User. This is required if there was no interaction between the accounts previously or if the last message sent by the User has more than 24h. See more information about this here.

Template messages must be submitted to Meta for approval before they are available to use. These messages are stored on a WABA level, so multiple phone numbers in the same WABA can use the same template messages.

In addition, templates may be disabled automatically based on customer feedback. Once disabled, a template cannot be sent in a template message until its quality rating has improved or it no longer violates Meta Business or Commerce policies.

Each WhatsApp Business Account can have up to 250 message templates. That means 250 message template names, and each of them can have multiple language translations. For example, a message template called hello_world translated into two languages counts as a single message template in regards to this limit.

Create and manage Template Messages

Via API

Create new WABA template

POST https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates

The message template name field is limited to 512 characters. The message template content field is limited to 1024 characters.

Headers

Body Properties

Request body

Templates are composed of various text, media, and interactive components, based on your business needs. Refer to the Template Elements for a list of all possible components.

When creating a template, define its components by assigning an array of component objects to the components property in the body of the request.

For example, here's an array containing a text body component with two variables and sample values, a phone number button component, and a URL button component:

[
  {
    "type": "BODY",
    "text": "Thank you for your order, {{1}}! Your confirmation number is {{2}}. If you have any questions, please use the buttons below to contact support. Thank you for being a customer!",
    "example": {
      "body_text": [
        [
          "Pablo","confirmation_number"
        ]
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "BUTTONS",
    "buttons": [
      {
        "type": "PHONE_NUMBER",
        "text": "Call",
        "phone_number": "phone_number"
      },
      {
        "type": "URL",
        "text": "Contact Support",
        "url": "https://www.website.com/support"
      }
    ]
  }
]

Note that templates categorized as AUTHENTICATION have unique component requirements. See Authentication Templates.

{
  "category": "MARKETING",
  "components": [
    {
      "example": {
        "body_text": [
          [
            "Lorem"
          ]
        ]
      },
      "text": "Lorem {{1}} ipsum",
      "type": "BODY"
    }
  ],
  "created_at": "2024-06-25T09:42:33Z",
  "created_by": {
    "user_id": "360dialog_user_id",
    "user_name": "360dialog_user_name"
  },
  "external_id": "template_external_id",
  "id": "template_id",
  "language": "en_US",
  "modified_at": "2024-06-25T09:42:37Z",
  "modified_by": {
    "user_id": "360dialog_user_id",
    "user_name": "360dialog_user_name"
  },
  "name": "string",
  "namespace": "string",
  "partner_id": "string",
  "quality_score": null,
  "rejected_reason": null,
  "status": "submitted",
  "updated_external": true,
  "waba_account_id": "string"
}

{
  "meta": {
    "success": false,
    "http_code": 400,
    "developer_message": "There was an error with your request",
    "details": [
      "string"
    ],
    "error_data": {
      "code": "string",
      "message": "string",
      "real_message": "string",
      "status": 0
    }
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "success": false,
    "http_code": 400,
    "developer_message": "There was an error with your request",
    "details": [
      "string"
    ],
    "error_data": {
      "code": "string",
      "message": "string",
      "real_message": "string",
      "status": 0
    }
  }
}

Get WABA templates

GET https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates

Request example

curl --request GET --url https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates --header 'D360-API-KEY: ' --header 'Content-Type: application/json'

See Template Statuses

Query Parameters

Headers

{
  "count": 0,
  "filters": [],
  "limit": 1000,
  "offset": 0,
  "sort": ["id"],
  "total": 0,
  "waba_templates": [
    {
      "category": "string",
      "components": [
        {
          "format": "string",
          "type": "string"
        },
        {
          "text": "string",
          "type": "string"
        }
      ],
      "external id": "string"
      "language": "string",
      "name": "string",
      "namespace": "string",
      "rejected_reason": "string",
      "status": "string"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "meta": {
    "success": false,
    "http_code": 400,
    "developer_message": "There was an error with your request",
    "details": [
      "string"
    ],
    "error_data": {
      "code": "string",
      "message": "string",
      "real_message": "string",
      "status": 0
    }
  }
}

Remove a WABA template

DELETE https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates/{template_name}

Request example

curl --request DELETE --url https://waba.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates/{template_name} --header 'D360-API-KEY: ' --header 'Content-Type: application/json'

Path Parameters

Headers

{
    "meta": {
        "developer_message": "template name=`<template_name>` was deleted",
        "http_code": 200,
        "success": true
    }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "success": false,
    "http_code": 400,
    "developer_message": "There was an error with your request",
    "details": [
      "string"
    ],
    "error_data": {
      "code": "string",
      "message": "string",
      "real_message": "string",
      "status": 0
    }
  }
}

There are multiple ways to submit a Template Message for approval and manage your approved templates. Use the Create new WABA template endpoint to submit new template for approval.

You can also retrieve or delete template messages from a specific account.

To see the different elements that can be used in a Template Message, read Template Elements.

In the WABA Management UI

The Template Management feature in the 360Dialog WABA Management UI supports both text and media templates. To see all functionalities available, please access this document.

Edit WABA template

POST https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates/{external_id}

Request example

curl --request POST --url https://waba.360dialog.io/v1/configs/templates/{external_id} --header 'D360-API-KEY: ' --header 'Content-Type: application/json'

Path Parameters

Headers

Template Categories

A template message can have three different categories:

• MARKETING

• UTILITY

• AUTHENTICATION

Marketing templates

Marketing templates are the 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.

Also considered marketing templates are:

• Templates with mixed content (e.g. Both utility and marketing, such as order update with a promo or offer).

• Templates where contents are unclear (e.g., contents are only “{{1}}” or “Congratulations!”).

Utility templates

Utility templates are typically triggered by a user action or request. They must include specificity about the active or ongoing transaction, account, subscription, or interaction to which they relate. For example, an order confirmation must contain an order number.

Authentication templates

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).

For a template to be classified as authentication, a business must:

• Use WhatsApp’s preset authentication message templates, which include optional add-ons like security disclaimers and expiry warnings.

• Configure a one-time password button (copy-code or one-tap)

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

See Authentication Templates.

Customizing Time-To-Live

You can customize the default time-to-live (TTL) for authentication, utility and marketing template messages by setting a custom TTL on the template body.

Defaults, Min/Max Values, and Compatibility Table

How to Customize TTL for Your Template

To set a custom TTL on an authentication, utility, or marketing template, include and set the value of the message_send_ttl_seconds property in your sending template endpoint.

You can change the TTL on a previously configured template using this method, as well.

TTL can be customized in 1 second increments.

Valid message_send_ttl_seconds property values

• Authentication templates: 30 to 900 seconds (30 secs to 15 mins)

• Utility templates: 30 to 43200 seconds (30 secs to 12 hours)

• Marketing templates: 43200 to 2592000 (12 hours to 30 days)

Alternatively, you can set this value to -1, which will set a custom TTL of 30 days for either type of template.

Its recommended to set a TTL for all of your authentication templates, preferably equal to or less than your code expiration time, to ensure your customers only get a message when a code is still usable.

Example (line 6)

      {
        "name": "test_template",
        "language": "en_US",
        "category": "MARKETING",
      	// Configure your TTL in seconds below
        "message_send_ttl_seconds": "120",
        "components": [
          {
            "type": "BODY",
            "text": "Shop now through {{1}} and use code {{2}} to get {{3}} off of all merchandise.",
            "example": {
              "body_text": [
                [
                  "the end of August","25OFF","25%"
                ]
              ]
            }
          },
          {
            "type": "FOOTER",
            "text": "Use the buttons below to manage your marketing subscriptions"
          },
        ]
      }'

Template Statuses

These are the possible statuses of a Template Message:

• Pending: Indicates that the template is still under review. The review process is done by Meta and it can take up to 24 hours.

• Approved: The template has passed template review and been approved, and can now be sent in template messages.

• Rejected: The template has been rejected during our review process or violates one or more of Meta's Policies.

• Active - Quality pending: The message template has yet to receive quality feedback from customers. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers and will be monitored for rating. See Quality Rating.

  • Active - High Quality: The template has received little or no negative customer feedback. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers. See Quality Rating.

  • Active - Medium Quality: The template has received negative feedback from multiple customers but may soon become paused or disabled. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers. See Quality Rating.

  • Active - Low Quality: The template has received negative feedback from multiple customers. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers but are in danger of being paused or disabled soon, so it is recommended that you address the issues that customers are reporting. See Quality Rating.

• Paused: The template has been paused due to recurring negative feedback from customers. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to customers. See Template Pausing.

• Disabled: The template has been disabled due to recurring negative feedback from customers. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to customers.

• In Appeal: Indicates that an appeal has been requested. See Appeals.

Template Approval Process

Each template must be reviewed and approved by Meta, before you can send them to customers.

Category Validation

When you send a template creation request, Meta immediately validate its category using the template categorization guidelines.

• If Meta agrees with the category you selected, the template status is set to PENDING; the template will then go through template review.

• If Meta disagrees with your designation, the template will be created, but its status is set to REJECTED . This will trigger a message template status update webhook with reason set to INCORRECT_CATEGORY and the rejected_reason field will have the value TAG_CONTENT_MISMATCH.We recommend including the allow_category_change property set to true in your template creation request. This will prevent your template from being rejected due to miscategorization and ensure it continues to template review process. See Appeals.

In both cases, the template's initial status is returned as part of the API response with template ID, status, and category. For example:

Example Response

{
    "id": "572279198452421",
    "status": "PENDING",
    "category": "MARKETING"
}

Template Review

Templates with a status of PENDING are undergoing template review. Meta reviews the contents of each newly created or edited template to make sure it adheres to their content guidelines and policies.

The review process can take up to 24 hours. In case you encounter any delays with the approval process, please reach out to our Support Team.

Based upon the outcome of this review, it will automatically change its status to APPROVED or REJECTED, which triggers a message template status update webhook, that can have one of the listed statuses below.

Monitoring Status Changes

Based on the outcome of category validation and template review, Meta will set or change the template's status to one of the following values:

• APPROVED — The template has passed template review and been approved, and can now be sent in template messages.

• PENDING — The template passed category validation and is undergoing template review.

• REJECTED — The template failed category validation or template review.

Businesses can only send templates with an Active status. You can see the payload of every status when received the template_message_update via webhook here.

Automatic Category Updates

Since June 1, 2024, Meta implemented a recurring process to ensure accurate categorization of templates. This process automatically identify and update any marketing or utility templates that have been miscategorized, as per the guidelines.

Note that this process does not apply to templates with a PENDING or PENDING_DELETION status, and does not affect template status (i.e., if a template is already APPROVED it will stay APPROVED, even if its category changes).

On the first day of each month, Meta will inform the business of any miscategorized marketing or utility templates. These updates will take effect on the first day of the following month.

The notification process is described below:

• Emails will be sent to users with full control of the WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) that owns these templates. The email will include a link to the WhatsApp Manager > Message Templates > Manage Templates panel. Templates with category updates scheduled for the first day of the next month will have an "information" icon next to their name on WABA Manager. Hovering over the icon will display the new category and the update date.

• The WhatsApp Manager > Message Templates > Manage Templates panel will display a banner with a link to a downloadable CSV identifying these templates.

• Business Support will list the name and current category of these templates, as well as the categories they will be updated to on the first day of the following month.

• A template_message_update a webhook webhook will be triggered for each template whose category will be updated, with a correct_category property in the payload set to what the template's category should be.

Then, on the first day of the following month, Meta will automatically update the categories of these templates so they are consistent as per the guidelines, and inform the business of the changes:

• An email will be sent to any people in the business portfolio who have been granted full control of the WABA that owns the templates whose categories have been updated. The email will highlight the number of templates whose categories were updated and include a link to the WhatsApp Manager > Message Templates > Manage Templates panel, where you can download a CSV of the impacted templates.

• A template_message_updatewebhook will be triggered for each template whose category has been updated. The correct_category property will indicate the template's new category.

Requesting Review of Impacted Templates

If you feel that a given template's category should not be, or should not have been, updated, you can request a review.

New restrictions for businesses misusing template category guidelines

Meta will send written notice of this detection for businesses that are detected as misusing the template categorization system to secure the utility category for templates that should be categorized as marketing.

If a business is flagged for misuse:

• A written warning will be issued.

• If the issue continues after the warning, WhatsApp may:

  • Reject all approved Utility templates

  • Block new Utility template submissions and category reviews for 7 days

  • Extend the block to 30 days in more severe cases

Template Rejection

Submissions are commonly rejected for the following reasons, so make sure you avoid these mistakes.

Parameter Formatting

• Avoid starting or ending a template with parameters.

• Avoid having 2 parameters next to each other.

• Variable parameters are missing or have mismatched curly braces. The correct format is {{1}}.

• Variable parameters contain special characters such as a #, $, or %.

• Variable parameters are not sequential. For example, {{1}}, {{2}}, {{4}}, {{5}} are defined but {{3}} does not exist.

• Template contains too many variable parameters relative to the message length. You need to decrease the number of variable parameters or increase the message length.

• The message template cannot start or end with a parameter i.e. dangling parameters are not allowed.

Content and Policy Violations

• The message template contains 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 contains content that violates the WhatsApps 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. Requesting partial identifiers (ex: last 4 digits of their Social Security number) is OK.

• The content contains potentially abusive or threatening content, such as threatening a customer with legal action or threatening to publicly shame them.

Character Limits and Text Format

• The body component will have different character limits depending on the format and tag of the template. The number of emojis allowed in the body component may also be limited.

Duplication

• The message template is a duplicate of an existing template. If a template is submitted with the same wording in the body and footer of an existing template, the duplicate template will be rejected.

If your template is rejected, you have the following options:

1. Correct the error and re-submit: Edit the template so they align with Meta guidelines, and resubmit to review. You can do this from the 360Dialog Hub, or via WhatsApp Business Manager.

2. Request review via Account Quality: Appeal the rejection directly through Business Manager. Go to Account Quality > ‘Rejected message templates’, check the rejected template, and select Request review

3. Create a new template: Create a new template via API, 360dialog Hub or WhatsApp Manager to submit to the approval process. Make sure to create it with different name and content, otherwise it will be rejected immediately.

Template Pausing

If a message template reaches the lowest quality rating (a status of Active - Low quality), it will automatically be paused for a period of time. Pausing durations are as follows:

• 1st Instance: Paused for 3 hours

• 2nd Instance: Paused for 6 hours

• 3rd Instance: Disabled

When a message template is paused (status of Paused) it can't be sent to customers, so you should suspend any automated messaging campaigns that rely on that template. Although you won't be charged for attempting to send a paused message template to a customer, and the attempt won't count against your messaging limit, the API will reject such attempts. You should only resume these campaigns once the template's status has been changed back to Active.

You may wish to edit a paused template if you feel that editing its content will reduce the amount of negative feedback it may receive. Keep in mind, however, that once you edit a message template and resubmit it for approval, its status will change to In Review and it can't be sent to customers again until it has been re-approved and the status set back to Active.

Having Paused Templates won't impact the WABA from which the message template was sent, or cause the Messaging Limit to decrease. Other high-quality message templates can continue to be sent from the phone number. However, if a business consistently sends message templates that reach a Low quality status, the WhatsApp Business Account may eventually be impacted. See WABA Policy Enforcement.

Unpausing

A template will unpause on its own after satisfying the pause duration outlined above. Once unpaused, the template's status will be set to Active and you may begin sending it to customers again. If you haven't suspended any automated messaging campaigns that relied on a paused template, they should start working again. However, we recommend that you hold any campaigns that rely on a template that has been paused until it is unpaused, because the API will reject your requests anyway.

The template's quality rating will also be reset to a value based on the most recent customer feedback the template has received. You will receive a webhook once the template's status has been set to Active.

Unpausing Templates via WhatsApp Business Manager

You can unpause any paused template through the WhatsApp Manager by clicking the ‘manually unpause it’ link highlighted in the screenshots below:

Note that templates paused during Template Pacing must be manually unpaused before they can be used again.

Template Read Rates

How to track template message read rates?

In the WhatsApp Manager, you can monitor message read rates in real time via a dedicated dashboard with message template metrics.

Go to WhatsApp Business Manager > Left side menu in "Account Tools" > Template messages.

Select any message template, then click the template Insights tab to see additional metrics, including “Messages Read”. You also receive a read event webhook for each message (if the user has turned the “read receipts” setting on) via the messages webhook. See Webhook Events and Notifications.

Note that Meta system accounts for variations in user availability, analyzing read rate trends over an appropriate period, instead of solely relying on immediate response times, for example, in cases where the user may not check messages during work hours, which could result in low read rates. This ensures a fair and realistic assessment of message engagement.

How to improve template messages read rates?

Here are some strategies to improve template messages read rates:

Audience: Tailor your messages to specific user segments for more relevant communication.

Timing: To maximize chances of engagement with your templates, consider not sending on days when many businesses are competing for your customers’ attention, such as weekends or seasonal peaks.

Frequency of Messages: Monitor how many marketing conversations a customer receives per day and week to avoid overloading the customer.

Cool downs: Give customers that have stopped engaging with your templates a break. Always include the option to opt-out of marketing conversations on WhatsApp.

Relevance of the Message: Make sure the subject line or preview text clearly indicates the message's relevance. Similarly, if previous interactions have been negative, this may discourage people from reading messages.

Optimize the first 60-65 characters: This is what people see first in their message preview on WhatsApp. Make it engaging, convey the main point, personalize it, and test different approaches to see what works best.

Template Appeals

Businesses can submit Template Appeals from the WhatsApp Business Manager. Meta's team reviews the case against the appealed violation and decides the outcome, which typically takes 24 to 48 hours. The appealed violation will either remain Unchanged, or be set as Reversed

If the WABA was created through Integrated Onboarding, the appeal review decision can be sent via the Business Manager. This is how to request a decision review:

1. From the Account Quality page, click on Rejected Message Templates.

2. Choose from the list of rejected templates and click Request Review.

3. Enter Appeal Reason and click Submit.

4. After submission, the request and the issue are moved to the In Review tab.

5. The appeal review decision will be sent via the Business Manager and typically takes 24 to 48 hours. The appealed violation will either remain Unchanged, or be set as Reversed.

If the WABA was created with OBO (On Behalf Of) our Support Team can assist with this request. Please file a support ticket through the 360Dialog Hub and we will Appeal Templates for you.

Template Comparison Tool

The template comparison tool is available for Shared WABAs created through Integrated Onboarding in WhatsApp Manager. This tool allows businesses to gain insight into the performance of their templates by comparing their block rates, and quickly identifying which templates are resonating better with end users.

• Note on template eligibility: templates need to have a minimum of 1000 sends over the past 90 days to be eligible for the template comparison tool and show up in the dropdown. Templates that show up in the dropdown but are not selectable do not meet the send requirement in the selected lookback window. There is no restriction on template status.

Limitations

• Only two templates can be compared at a time.

• Both templates must be in the same WhatsApp Business Account.

• Templates must have been sent at least 1000 times in the queries specified timeframe.

• Timeframes are limited to 7, 30, 60 and 90 day lookbacks from the time of the request.

How to use Template Comparison Tool

From WhatsApp Business Manager, go to Template Manager, and click in "Compare". A pop-up will launch, and from there, you will be able to select the templates to compare.