Send WhatsApp Message Template
Last updated
Last updated
WhatsApp Template is designed to help you effectively utilize the message templates feature on WhatsApp Business for seamless customer communication. Whether you're a small business owner, an entrepreneur, or part of a larger organization, leveraging message templates can enhance customer engagement and streamline communication processes.
Message templates are pre-defined messages that you can use to respond to your customers' frequently asked questions, provide important updates, or initiate conversations. These highly customizable templates allow you to personalize them to suit your brand's tone and style.
Every message template can be categorized into a category based on the official Message template category guidelines. Make sure to read this guideline before getting started.
There are three main categories:
Marketing - Send promotions or information about your products, services, or business.
Custom - Send promotional offers, announcements, and more to increase awareness and engagement.
Form - Send a custom form for lead generation, registration, or re-engagement. Onedm does not support this sub-category at the moment.
Product messages - Send messages about your entire catalog or multiple products from it.
Utility - Send messages about an existing order or account.
Authentication - Send codes to verify a transaction or login. Onedm does not support this category at the moment.
A message template can consist of 4 parts:
Header (Optional)
Body (Mandatory)
Footer (Optional)
Buttons (Optional) - To enable recipients to perform interactive actions.
Different sections have their content types and constraints. All text content has character count limits, and some can contain variables, refer to the Text Variables section for more details.
Text
-
Marketing - Custom
Marketing - Form
Display texts as a header.
Maximum 60 characters.
Only 1 variable can be added.
Media
Image
Marketing - Custom
Marketing - Form
Utility
Display a static image as a header.
Only JPG and PNG files are supported.
Only 1 image can be added.
Video
Marketing - Custom
Marketing - Form
Utility
Display a video as a header.
Only MP4 file is supported.
Only 1 video can be added.
Document
Marketing - Custom
Marketing - Form
Utility
Display a document as a header.
Only PDF file is supported.
Only 1 document can be added.
Location
Marketing - Custom
Marketing - Form
Utility
Display a location as a header.
Onedm does not support sending location at the moment. (Coming soon!)
Template
Catalogue message
Marketing - Product message
Include the entire catalogue to give your users a comprehensive view of all of your products.
Multi-product message
Marketing - Product message
Include up to 30 products from the catalogue. Useful for showcasing a new collection or a specific product category.
Text
All
Display texts as a body.
Maximum 1024 characters.
Unlimited variables can be added.
Text
All
Display texts as a footer.
Maximum 60 characters.
No variable can be added.
Quick Reply
Custom
Marketing - Custom
Utility
Include a button for recipients to reply to a message with pre-configured texts, which enhances the message reply rate from recipients.
Maximum 25 characters for a button text.
No variable can be added.
Marketing Opt-out
Marketing - Custom
Both the button title and footer section are fixed with this button.
The language of the fixed contents is based on the message template's language.
Call-to-action
Visit website
Marketing - Custom
Utility
Include a button for redirecting to a website.
Maximum 2 Visit website buttons can be added.
Maximum 25 characters for a button text.
Maximum 2000 characters for a target website URL. The target website URL has two types:
Static - the URL is set while creating the template and cannot be customized while sending out the message template.
Dynamic - the URL is set while creating the template, one variable can be added to the end of the URL.
Call phone number
Marketing - Custom
Utility
Include a button for calling a phone number.
Only 1 Call phone number button can be added.
Maximum 25 characters for a button text.
A phone number should have a country code.
Maximum 20 digits for a phone number (excluding the country code).
Complete form
Marketing - Custom
Marketing - Form
Utility
Include a button for displaying a form and gathering information from the recipient.
Onedm does not support this sub-type at the moment.
Copy offer code
Marketing - Custom
Utility
Include a button for copying an offer code to the recipient's device clipboard.
Only 1 Copy offer code button can be added.
The button text is fixed and its language is based on the template language.
The offer code is a variable with a maximum of 15 characters.
Launch catalogue
Marketing - Product messages
Include a button for redirecting to a connected catalogue.
The button text is fixed and its language is based on the template's language.
Some text contents like the body are needed to be pre-configured while creating a template. Text variables can make a text content dynamic and enable the business to customize the actual message content while sending to the recipient.
A text variable is a consist of multiple text characters in a special format:{{A sequence number}}.
Using the image above as an example of the body text content configuration:
{{1}} is the first text variable, and you can insert extra text here while you are sending this template to a recipient. The recipient's name should be inserted here in this context. (e.g. Alex)
{{2}} is the second text variable. The date of the online tour session should be inserted here in this context. (e.g. February 15th)
{{3}} is the third text variable. The time of the online tour session should be inserted here in this context. (e.g. 10:30 AM)
As a result, the recipient will receive a message with a body: "Welcome Alex! Thank you for registering for our online tour. Your scheduled online tour session is on February 15th at 10:30 AM."
To add a variable, you can either:
Type {{ in the content, then the system will complete the rest automatically.
If your template uses variables you must include sample variable values (media assets, text strings, etc.) with your submission. This makes it easier for Meta to visualize how your template will appear to customers.
To include a sample with your submission in the WhatsApp Manager, first create your template, adding any variables that it requires, then fill in the sample section. The preview pane will render any sample media assets or sample text values you provide.
There are 3 steps in order to send a message in Onedm with WhatsApp Message Templates:
All created templates can also be viewed in Onedm.
Editing and deleting a template should be performed in the WhatsApp Manager.
All WhatsApp Message Templates should be created on Meta Business Suite before use.
Access to WhatsApp Manager in Meta Business Suite
If you are using a desktop: Bookmark this URL.
If you are using the Onedm App:
Go to the Channel's WhatsApp Template Management screen.
Go to the Message Templates tool
By following the previous step, the page is now displaying the Message Templates tool page.
Create a new template
Create template step 1/3:
Choose a category that best describes the message template. Please refer to the Message Template Categories section to ensure the chosen category is supported by Onedm.
Input the name of the message template.
This name will be displayed in Onedm while you are choosing a template. Make sure the name is easy to understand. As a restriction, use _ to represent a space character. A maximum of 512 characters is allowed.
Choose languages for the message template. One message template should serve one purpose and multiple languages can be chosen in one message template. Different content can be configured per language in the later steps.
Create template step 2/3:
Configure header, body, footer, and buttons. All the options are explained in the Content Types and Constraints section.
In the left sidebar, different language configurations can be switched.
In the right sidebar, a preview is provided to simulate what a recipient will see with the current configuration.
To delete a language, press the trash button beside the "Edit template" header. (Only available when more than one language is added)
Confirm if all the languages are well configured before submitting. Discard a language by unchecking the check box.
Every language of the created template is listed as separate items in the Message Templates page.
All created WhatsApp Message Templates need to be approved before sending out to a recipient. All approval statuses are listed below.
In-Review
Indicates that the template is still under review. Review can take up to 24 hours.
Rejected
The template has been rejected during our review process or violates one or more of our policies.
Active - Quality pending
The message template has yet to receive quality feedback or read-rate information from customers. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers.
Active - High Quality
The template has received little to no negative customer feedback. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers.
Active - Medium Quality
The template has received negative feedback from multiple customers, or low read-rates, but may soon become paused or disabled. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers.
Active - Low Quality
The template has received negative feedback from multiple customers, or low read-rates. Message templates with this status can be sent to customers but are in danger of being paused or disabled soon, so we recommend that you address the issues that customers are reporting.
Paused
The template has been paused due to recurring negative feedback from customers, or low read-rates. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to customers.
Disabled
The template has been disabled due to recurring negative feedback from customers. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to customers.
Appeal Requested
Indicates that an appeal has been requested.
Note that only the templates under "Active" statuses are available to be chosen when sending a template in Onedm. Make sure the template wished to be sent out is active before continue.
Sign in to the Onedm app
Make sure you are in the same channel where you created your WhatsApp Message Templates.
Press a contact.
If the conversation with this contact is:
Choose a template in a specific language.
Configure the dynamic contents.
Press the "Send" button.
In the Message Templates page of WhatsApp Manager:
Press the template which need to be changed from the list.
Perform any changes to the template.
A template can be edited once per day, up to 10 times per month.
In the Message Templates page of WhatsApp Manager:
Edit a template. (Follow step 1 and 2)
This section explains the UI related to WhatsApp Message Template in Onedm.
This screen is useful when you need to view all the created templates in the app, or you want to quickly access to the WhatsApp Manager.
Steps to get there:
Sign in to the Onedm app
Press "Channels"
Explanations of the UI elements:
Template name
Template category
Language list of a template
Template approval status In Onedm, all "Active" statuses shown in the WhatsApp Manager are displayed as "APPROVED" and displayed as "REJECTED" for the others. In Onedm, only "APPROVED" templates can be sent to the customers.
Open a browser to WhatsApp Manager in Meta Business Suite.
When sending a template to a customer, you need this picker to choose which template to send.
Steps to get there:
Sign in to the Onedm app
Press a contact.
If the conversation with this contact is:
Explanations of the UI elements:
Template name
Template category
Language list of a template
Template approval status (refer to Channel's WhatsApp Template Management section for explanation)
Template body preview
Language item Click on an item to choose a template in a specific language, the Whatsapp Template Preview screen will be shown.
Quit
This screen shows after picking a WhatsApp message template, it leads you to fill in all dynamic contents before sending it out to the customer.
Steps to get there:
Go to WhatsApp Template Picker.
Pick one language item of a template.
Explanations of the UI elements:
Upper half in the blue background (A): A preview of the message with the current configuration.
Lower half in the white background (B): An input form of the dynamic contents.
In this screenshot, 1A & 1B, 2A & 2B, and 3A & 3B are in pairs, and they are interact-able. When pressing on A, or B, both A & B are highlighted to indicate they are linked together. For example, when pressing 1A or 1B, the screen becomes:
After completing the form, the template is ready to be sent out. Press 4 (Send button) to send it out to the recipient.
Every message template has a quality rating based on usage, customer feedback and engagement. A message template's rating will appear in the WhatsApp Manager whenever it has an Active status, and will be displayed after a hyphen in the message template's status:
Active - Quality pending (highlighted in green)
Active - High quality (highlighted in green)
Active - Medium quality (highlighted in yellow)
Active - Low quality (highlighted in red)
Approved message templates start out with a Quality pending rating. If a message template continuously receives negative feedback or low engagement, it will eventually cause a change in the template status. As long as a message template has an Active status, regardless of the quality rating, it can be sent to customers. However, once a message template's status changes to any other status, it cannot be sent to customers until it becomes active again.
If a message template reaches the lowest quality rating (a status of Active - Low quality), it will automatically be paused for a period of time to protect the quality rating of phone numbers that have used the template. Pausing durations are as follows:
1st Instance: Paused for 3 hours
2nd Instance: Paused for 6 hours
3rd Instance: Disabled
You may wish to edit a paused template if you feel that editing its content will reduce the amount of negative feedback it may receive and increase user engagement. Keep in mind, however, that once you edit a message template and resubmit it for approval, its status will change to In Review and it can't be sent to customers again until it has been re-approved and its status set to Active.
Pausing will initially not impact the business phone number from which the message template was sent, or cause the phone number's message limit to decrease. Other high quality message templates can continue to be sent from the phone number. However, if a business consistently sends message templates that reach a Low quality status, the phone number may eventually be impacted.
When a message template has been paused Meta will notify you by WhatsApp Manager notification, email.
A template will unpause on its own after satisfying the pause duration outlined above. Once unpaused, the template's status will be set to Active and you may begin sending it to customers again.
The template's quality rating will also be reset to a value based on the most recent customer feedback the template has received.
Similar to pause notifications, Meta will notify you by WhatsApp Manager notification, email, and webhook once the template's status has been set to Active.
If your submission is rejected you may file an appeal. Note that appeals must include a sample. If an approved template has become disabled, you may also edit it and resubmit it for approval.
In the WhatsApp Manager:
Mouseover the suitcase icon (Account tools) and click Message templates.
If you have multiple WhatsApp Business Accounts, use the dropdown menu in the top-right corner to select the account whose templates you want to manage.
Find the message template that you would like to edit and click it.
Edit the template's contents.
Click the Add Sample button and add sample variable values and images.
Click Submit.
The appeal will be reviewed and a decision made within 24 hours.
Afrikaans
af
Albanian
sq
Arabic
ar
Azerbaijani
az
Bengali
bn
Bulgarian
bg
Catalan
ca
Chinese (CHN)
zh_CN
Chinese (HKG)
zh_HK
Chinese (TAI)
zh_TW
Croatian
hr
Czech
cs
Danish
da
Dutch
nl
English
en
English (UK)
en_GB
English (US)
en_US
Estonian
et
Filipino
fil
Finnish
fi
French
fr
German
de
Greek
el
Gujarati
gu
Hausa
ha
Hebrew
he
Hindi
hi
Hungarian
hu
Indonesian
id
Irish
ga
Italian
it
Japanese
ja
Kannada
kn
Kazakh
kk
Korean
ko
Lao
lo
Latvian
lv
Lithuanian
lt
Macedonian
mk
Malay
ms
Malayalam
ml
Marathi
mr
Norwegian
nb
Persian
fa
Polish
pl
Portuguese (BR)
pt_BR
Portuguese (POR)
pt_PT
Punjabi
pa
Romanian
ro
Russian
ru
Serbian
sr
Slovak
sk
Slovenian
sl
Spanish
es
Spanish (ARG)
es_AR
Spanish (SPA)
es_ES
Spanish (MEX)
es_MX
Swahili
sw
Swedish
sv
Tamil
ta
Telugu
te
Thai
th
Turkish
tr
Ukrainian
uk
Urdu
ur
Uzbek
uz
Vietnamese
vi
Zulu
zu
** This section is copied from Meta's official document with a few changes.
All information in this document may be outdated by time.
Include a non-configurable button for recipients to opt out of the marketing messages. In the case a recipient chooses to opt out, both WhatsApp and Onedm do not block any marketing messages from sending to the recipient. It is the business's responsibility to stop sending them in the future. Onedm recommends to if the recipient replied to opt-out of marketing messages.
Click on the button
Press "Edit"
If not, in the left menu of the WhatsApp Manager, find "Account Tools" and press "Message templates" under it.
Press the button.
Click
Press to finish this step.
Create template step 3/3:
Press to finish this step.
Active: Press in the left of the message composer and press .
Expired: Press .
Press
Press to finish this step. Note that the edited template will need to go through the approval process again before available.
Press .
Press the gear button in the landing page.
Press "WhatsApp Template" under a channel.
Active: Press on the left of the message composer and press .
Expired: Press .
