Creating and Managing WhatsApp Business Templates

What are WhatsApp Business Templates?

Templates are standardized messages used to initiate marketing, service, or transactional conversations with customers. Unlike random messages, templates are the only type of message that can be sent to customers who have not messaged you yet or have not interacted in the last 24 hours.

Requirements and Approval for Templates

WhatsApp Business templates must receive prior approval before being used to send messages to customers, this approval ensures compliance with Meta’s policies and guarantees message quality, if a template receives negative feedback or Meta observes low engagement rates, it may be automatically deactivated. In such cases, it becomes necessary to improve quality ratings or address any policy violations before the template can be reactivated.

Steps to Create WhatsApp Business Templates

Templates can be created using two main methods:
• If approved: The template becomes active and can be used immediately.
• If rejected: Users can modify the template and resubmit it or appeal the decision.

After approval, it is crucial to track the template's performance using analytics tools that show interaction metrics such as read rates, clicks, and responses. Periodic reviews ensure templates remain relevant to customer needs. Before large-scale deployment, testing templates with a small group of customers can help gather feedback and make necessary improvements.

Common Reasons for WhatsApp Template Rejections

Templates may be rejected for several reasons, such as:

• Mismatched or missing curly brackets {{}}.
• Use of special characters like #, $, %.
• Incorrect arrangement of variables.
• Ending the template with a variable.
• Content violating Meta’s policies.

Creating and Managing WhatsApp Business Templates

Sending and Monitoring WhatsApp Templates

Once a template is approved and its status changes to “Active,” it can be sent to customers. However, monitoring the quality ratings of templates is essential:

• High-quality templates: Receive positive feedback.
• Medium-quality templates: May face minor issues.
• Low-quality templates:: Receive significant negative feedback, leading to temporary suspension or complete deactivation.

If a template’s quality drops significantly, it may be suspended temporarily for increasing durations (e.g., 3 hours for the first suspension, 6 hours for the second), if no improvements are made, the template might be permanently deactivated.

In case of rejection, it is recommended to review the reason provided, correct any errors, and resubmit the template. If you disagree with the rejection, you can file an appeal with a revised version for reconsideration.

Additional Tips for Enhancing WhatsApp Business Templates

Enhancing templates involves personalizing messages by including the customer’s name or order details, it is crucial to ensure the text is clear and error-free, with supporting details like tracking links or order numbers. Regular updates help templates stay relevant to customer needs.