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Doubts about message templates on WhatsApp

  • Updated

Index:

  1. What are message templates and what are they for?
  2. Rules for using message templates
  3. Components of a message template
  4. What can cause your message template to be rejected
  5. Recommendations for creating message templates
  6. Template usage restrictions
  7. Facebook Recommendations
  8. FAQ about message templates

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

 


What are message templates and what are they 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 resolution, and payment updates . These message templates can only be sent to customers who have opted in to receive notifications and must comply with WhatsApp terms and policies.

Note: To check the detailed meaning of “Message template”, check the official documentation.

Live messages are messages sent by the bot after 24 hours after 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 impact one or more users on Whatsapp so that you can attract customers, generate more engagement, resume conversations or even to inform your contacts about something important. Active messages sent through the WhatsApp channel must be sent using Messages Templates (or message templates). To learn more about what active messages are and learn how to create, send and manage active messages on WhatsApp, visit this tutorial.



Rules for using message templates

  • 250 message templates are allowed per account, each of which can contain more than one language. For example, a model called hello_world that has Brazilian Portuguese and English translations is considered a single model in the count;
  • The template name is limited to 512 characters and its message content is limited to 1024 characters;
  • The message template name can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores, no other characters or spaces are allowed;
  • You cannot use the name of an approved template that has been deleted for 30 days.
  • Templates CANNOT BE EDIT, only created and deleted;
  • Creating 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's servers for 14 days. If a user makes a request to download media after this period, the 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 THE MEDIA IS UNAVAILABLE.

Note: It is not safe to assume that the media was downloaded due to delivery and read logging.

Supported media types are:

  • 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 are supported. Only videos with a single audio stream are supported

Supported media sizes are:

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

Note: It is recommended to use the rectangular format as the aspect ratio.

Facebook documentation states that images with an aspect ratio greater than 1.91:1 are cropped vertically. The size in pixels of the image will not be affected, only the format.

Note: Although different types of documents are supported, for sending media message templates, you can only use PDFs.

 

 Interactive message templates

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

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

Important: when sending files, they cannot be hosted on Drives such as Google Drive, One Drive, etc., since when the application tries to read the file, it identifies a document and not a PDF, for example. We suggest using AWS S3 or the File Uploader, an extension available in the Blip Store.

What can cause your message template to be rejected

 

Incorrect template formatting

  • Proofread the content and correct typos and grammar errors before submitting the document for review. Posts with misspellings or grammar errors may be interpreted as spam or hoaxes by users.
  • Use variable parameters, for example {{1}}, {{2}}, etc, and check that they have the correct number of curly braces - 2 on each side of the number.
  • Check that the language matches the message template content - for example, if the selected language is Spanish but the content is in English, the message template will be REJECTED.
  • Make sure the content is in one of the supported languages. Language combinations such as “Portunhol” or “Spanglish” will not be accepted.

If it is a message template for testing, it must follow exactly the following format:

  • Message template name: test
  • Content: Hello, {{1}}

Avoid using URLs that shorten links, for example, bit.ly, tinyurl and goo.gl, as they hide the destination link.The URL domain of the submitted links must belong to your company.

 

The message template includes content that violates the WhatsApp Business Policy
All messages and media relating to a business's products and services will be considered transactions, including descriptions, prices, fees, taxes and/or mandatory legal disclosures. All transactions must comply with the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.

 

The message template includes content that violates the WhatsApp Business Policy 

  • Do not ask users for sensitive identifiers, such as the full sharing of individual credit and debit card numbers, bank accounts, national identification documents or any other sensitive identifiers. Requesting other types of documents that may contain sensitive identifiers is also prohibited.

  • It is allowed to send experience surveys, as long as they are not intended to collect user data.

Example of allowed queries: “Hi! We would like to know your opinion about some food groups. Do you agree to participate in a survey?”

 

Activities involving skills, competition and/or probability are not allowed on the platform, such as games, contests, tests and quizzes.

It is only allowed to initiate conversations to send notifications about completed transactions - messages not related to transactions will be rejected.
When necessary, personalize your messages and make it clear that the customer has requested more information.

 

Example: “Hi, {{1}}! Thank you for your online inquiry. We are reaching out in response to your request for additional information about our fall courses.”

Message template includes potentially abusive or threatening content


Examples of prohibited uses:
Message templates that threaten legal action against customers.

  • Message templates that threaten to add customers to WhatsApp groups with friends and family to embarrass them if they don't pay their debts.

Recommendations for creating message templates

  • Give the message template a clear name. For example, instead of using a name like “model_014”, use “bus ticket details”.
  • Remember that the analysis of the models will be done by a professional outside your company. Clarity is critical for evaluators to understand the context of using the message model.
  • All appeals for rejected models must contain a sample. Appeals can be made through Direct Support.
  • If it is necessary to write a template to reopen the 24 hour interval, it is suggested to mention the previous conversation at the beginning of the message:

Example: “We apologize for not answering your questions yesterday, but we want to help you now. Answer 'yes' if you want to continue the conversation." or “We reviewed your message during our last conversation and found the answer to your question about our refund policy. Answer 'yes' if you want to continue the conversation."

Template Usage Restrictions

The 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 Recommendations

 

How to get Opt-in for WhatsApp?
Opt-in methods via website, interactive voice response (IVR) or in a WhatsApp thread are acceptable.

Requirements:

  • Businesses must explicitly state that the person is opting-in to receive WhatsApp messages from the business;
  • Businesses must explicitly state the name of the business the person is opting in to receive messages from;
  • Businesses must comply with applicable laws.

Recommendations:

  • Make explicit what type of message the person is opting-in to receive (e.g. delivery updates);

  • Avoid sending messages frequently;

  • Provide information on how the customer can opt out of receiving such messages and honor that request;

  • Monitor quality metrics, especially when rolling out new opt-in methods blanket


Keeping the quality high 

People can block or report businesses and the WhatsApp system will limit the amount of messages a business can send if the low quality is maintained for a period of time. Additionally, WhatsApp will also be able to reactively measure the opt-in flow, including customer feedback, to flag policy violations and develop additional application types over time.

FAQ about message templates

1. What methods of gaining acceptance can be used?

Meeting the aforementioned requirements, the method complies with the policy.

2. How will WhatsApp enforce this policy?

People can block or report companies when they don't confirm their opt-in to receive messages. These user feedback signals are inputs to the evaluation of companies and our systems will apply the volume cap if an organization shows poor quality for an extended period. We can also reactively assess a company's acceptance flows, including user feedback to flag policy violations. In the future, we may introduce additional application types.


For more information, visit the discussion on the subject in our community or the videos on our channel. 😃

 

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