Questions about message templates on WhatsApp – Blip | Blip Help

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Learn about message templates on WhatsApp to send notifications or customer service messages to those who have opted to receive notifications.

What are message templates and what are they used for?

WhatsApp message templates and active media message templates are specific message formats that businesses use to send notifications or customer service messages, such as appointment reminders, shipping information, issue resolutions, and payment updates. These message templates can only be sent to customers who have opted to receive notifications and must comply with WhatsApp’s terms and policies.

Note: To check the detailed meaning of "Message Template," refer to the official documentation.

Active messages are messages sent by the bot after 24 hours of receiving a message from the customer or sent to a customer who has never interacted with the bot. This tool allows you to create campaigns to reach one or more users on WhatsApp to attract customers, generate more engagement, resume conversations, or even inform your customers.

Contacts about something important. Active messages sent through the WhatsApp channel must be sent using Message Templates. To learn more about what active messages are and how to create, send, and manage active messages on WhatsApp, check out this tutorial.

Rules for Using Message Templates

You can have up to 250 message templates per account, with each template capable of containing more than one language. For example, a template named "hello_world" with translations for Brazilian Portuguese and English counts as a single template in the limit.
The template name is limited to 512 characters, and the content of the message is limited to 1,024 characters.
The template name can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores; no other characters or spaces are allowed.
Once a template is deleted, its name cannot be used again for 30 days.
Templates CANNOT be edited; they can only be created or deleted.
The creation of message templates in a WhatsApp Business account is limited to 100 templates per hour.

Components of a Message Template

Media Message Template When sending a media message, the media will be stored by WhatsApp servers for 14 days. If a user requests to download the media after this period, WhatsApp servers will request the same file from the WhatsApp Business API client. IF THE MEDIA HAS BEEN REMOVED, THE USER WILL BE NOTIFIED THAT IT IS UNAVAILABLE.

Note: It is not safe to assume that the media was downloaded based on the delivery and read receipts.

Supported media types:

Audio: aac, mp4, amr, mpeg, codecs=opus
Document: any valid MIME type
Image: jpeg, png
Sticker: webp
Video: mp4, 3gpp (only H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec supported; only videos with a single audio stream are supported)

Supported media sizes:

Audio: 16 MB
Document: 100 MB
Image: 5 MB
Sticker: 100 KB
Video: 16 MB

Note: It is recommended to use rectangular images. According to Facebook’s documentation, images with an aspect ratio greater than 1.91:1 will be vertically cropped. The image's pixel size will not be affected, only the format.

Note: Although various document types are supported, only PDFs can be used for media message templates.

Important: When sending files, they cannot be hosted on drives like Google Drive, OneDrive, etc. When the application tries to read the file, it identifies it as a document and not a PDF, for example. It is recommended to use AWS SE or the File Uploader extension available on the Blip Store.

Interactive Message Templates

The types of buttons that can be used and their usage conditions are:

Call-to-action: Allows consumers to call a phone number or visit a website.
You can add variables to website links to create personalized links.
Up to 2 buttons can be used, with one being mandatory for calling and the other for a website link.
Quick reply: Allows consumers to reply with a simple text message.
The maximum number of buttons a message template can have is 3.
These buttons can also be added to text or media messages.
The content of the buttons is limited to 20 characters.
You cannot mix call-to-action buttons with quick replies.

What Can Cause Your Message Template to Be Rejected

Incorrect Template Formatting
- Review the content and correct any spelling and grammar errors before submitting the document for review. Messages with spelling or grammar errors can be interpreted as spam or rumors by users.
- Use variable parameters like {{1}}, {{2}}, etc., and check that they have the correct number of braces - 2 on each side of the number.
- Ensure the language matches the message content. For example, if the language is set to Spanish but the content is in English, the template will be REJECTED.
- Ensure the content is in one of the supported languages. Combinations like "portunhol" or "Spanglish" will not be accepted.
- If it's a template for testing, it must follow this exact format:
  Template name: teste
  Content: Hello, {{1}}
- Avoid using URL shortening services (like bit.ly, tinyurl, goo.gl), as they obscure the destination link. The URL domain must belong to your company.
Template Contains Content Violating WhatsApp’s Business Policy
All messages and media related to products and services will be considered transactions, including descriptions, prices, fees, taxes, and/or required legal disclosures. All transactions must comply with WhatsApp's Business Policy.
Template Contains Content Violating WhatsApp’s Policy
- Do not ask for sensitive user identifiers, such as full credit/debit card numbers, bank account details, national ID documents, or any other sensitive identifiers. It is also prohibited to ask for other types of documents containing sensitive identifiers.
- You may send experience surveys, as long as they are not aimed at collecting user data.
  Example of allowed surveys: "Hi! We’d like to hear your opinion on some food groups. Would you like to participate in a survey?"
- Activities involving skills, competitions, and/or probability (such as games, contests, tests, and quizzes) are not allowed on the platform.
- Only messages related to transactions are allowed. Messages not related to transactions will be rejected. When necessary, personalize your messages and clarify that the customer requested more information.
  Example: "Hi, {{1}}! Thank you for your online inquiry. We are reaching out due to your request for additional information about our fall courses."
Template Contains Potentially Abusive or Threatening Content
- Examples of prohibited content:
  - Message templates that threaten legal action against customers.
  - Message templates threatening to add customers to WhatsApp groups with friends and family to embarrass them if they don't pay debts.

Recommendations for Creating Message Templates

Give your template a clear name. For example, instead of "template_014," use "bus_ticket_details."
Remember that template reviews will be done by professionals outside your company. Clarity is essential to help reviewers understand the context of the template’s use.
All appeals for rejected templates should include a sample. Appeals can be made via Direct Support.
If a template is needed to reopen the 24-hour window, it is recommended to mention the previous conversation at the start of the message:
Example: "We apologize for not responding to your questions yesterday, but we want to assist you now. Please reply 'yes' if you would like to continue the conversation."
Or: "We reviewed your message from the last conversation and found the answer to your question about our refund policy. Reply 'yes' if you'd like to continue the conversation."

Template Usage Restrictions

WhatsApp Business solution cannot be used to send messages to and from the following countries and regions: Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria.

Facebook’s Recommendations

How to Get Opt-in for WhatsApp?

Methods of opt-in via website, interactive voice response (IVR), or within a WhatsApp thread are acceptable.
Requirements:
- Businesses must explicitly declare that the person is opting to receive messages from the business via WhatsApp.
- Businesses must explicitly declare the name of the business the person is opting to receive messages from.
- Businesses must comply with applicable laws.

Recommendations:

Specify the type of message the person is opting to receive (e.g., delivery updates).
Avoid sending messages too frequently.
Provide information on how the customer can opt-out and honor this request.
Monitor quality metrics, especially when launching new opt-in methods.

Maintaining High Quality

Users can block or report businesses, and WhatsApp’s system will limit the number of messages a business can send if low quality is maintained over time. Additionally, WhatsApp may reactively evaluate a business’s opt-in flow, including customer feedback, to signal policy violations and introduce additional enforcement over time.

FAQ About Message Templates

What methods of obtaining opt-in can be used?
As long as the requirements are met, the method is compliant with the policy.
How will WhatsApp enforce this policy?
Users can block or report businesses if they haven’t confirmed their acceptance to receive messages. These user feedback signals will be used to evaluate businesses, and WhatsApp will impose volume limits if a company maintains low quality for an extended period. WhatsApp may also reactively assess a company’s opt-in flow, including user feedback, to signal policy violations. In the future, additional types of enforcement may be introduced.

For more information, check out the discussion in our community or watch videos on our channel. 😃

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