Guidelines for Template Creation

Rejection Reasons

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

• The body text should not contain variable parameters at the beginning or end.
• The body text should not contain variable parameters next to each other.
• The body text should not contain too many variable parameters relative to the length of the message.
• Spelling or grammatical errors. Messages with misspellings or grammatical errors may prompt customers to view these message as spam or a hoax.
• Variable parameters are missing or have mismatched curly braces. The correct format is {{1}}.
• Variable parameters are not defined. All parameters must have a known purpose, for example, the type of media you plan to send in a media message. Your template will be rejected if we do not know what goes into a specific parameter. We strongly recommend adding a sample with your submission.
• 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.
• Language defined does not match content. For example, English(US) was selected but the content is Hindi or Kannada or the content is a mixture of languages containing both Hindi and English.
• The URLs for your links are shortened. Short links obscure the intended link destination.
• The message template(s) 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(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.
• The content contains potentially abusive or threatening content, such as threatening a customer with legal action or threatening to publicly shame them.
  

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’.”

Filing an Appeal

You cannot file an appeal on a rejected message template unless your message template containing parameters has a sample attached.

If your already created message template was rejected, and you need to add a sample follow these steps:

1. In the WhatsApp Manager, click Message Templates.
2. Find the message template that you would like to edit, and hover over the pencil icon at the far right.
3. When the Edit menu option appears, click on the pencil icon.
   You are now able to edit your message template and add a sample (the Add Sample button will be at the top right of the screen).
4. Click Submit after making your changes to send your message template for review. It will be reviewed in under 24 hours.

Learn More

• WhatsApp Business Policy – Learn more about our business policies
• WhatsApp Commerce Policy – Learn more about our commerce policies