Introduction

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).

Change Log April 19 2022

1. It's possible to request video templates

2. It's possible to pass one dynamic variable in header of the message

3. It's possible to pass sample contents and sample media url for speedy approval of WhatsApp templates

4. Character limit of the body when passing header and footer is removed, now you can pass 60 characters in header and footer also 1024 characters in body

5. Dynamic value for the Interactive Template Button (Call to Action Website) is not mandatory

Full Funnel Promotional Messages

From September 15,2021 onwards WhatsApp supports sending full funnel promotional messages to opt-in customers i.e brands can send marketing or promotional pre-approved messages to opt-in customers after 24 hours window. Read More

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, there are no free template messages included in any of the plan so your account should have enough balance to send templated messages. Once a template is approved currently it's not possible to edit.

Understanding Templates

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

Template Category

WhatsApp will check wether 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}}

Starting from April 2022 onwards it's possible to pass one dynamic variable in Header text.

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, videos & documents are allowed in media templates. Refer Media Size Limitations

Interactive Buttons WhatsApp Template supports sending message with Interactive buttons mainly with Quick Replies & Call to Action, Read More How it Works

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 footer text.

Sample PDF Document with Header, Body & Footer

For Documents only PDF is supported now

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 dont need to request multiple templates, you can request multiple languages through a single template by specifying the language. Please go through the supported language by clicking the below URL.

Languages

Template Limitations

1. Currently its not possible to edit an approved WhatsApp template however can add new language variation to an existing template

2. All templates are subjected to approval from WhatsApp and we dont have any role in the this process.

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

4. Character in the body of the template is limited to 1024, Header & Footer character is limited to 60 and buttons character is limited to 20, emoji is support only in the body text.

5. Only Video, Image & Document (PDF) is supported in media template.

6. 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.