You cannot message a customer out of the blue on the WhatsApp Business Platform. If there is no open 24-hour service window, the only way to reach someone is a message template that Meta approved beforehand.
What a template is
A template is a message with fixed text and numbered gaps for variables:
Hi
{{1}}, your order{{2}}has shipped. Track it here:{{3}}
You submit that structure to Meta. Once approved, you can send it thousands of times with different values in the gaps. The wording is locked; only the variables change.
The three categories
Every template is submitted under a category, and the category decides both price and how strictly it is reviewed.
| Category | For | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Utility | Something the customer is already doing — an order, a booking, an account | Free when delivered inside an open service window |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes and login codes | Has its own rules and often its own rates |
| Marketing | Anything promotional — offers, launches, re-engagement | Always billed, and reviewed most strictly |
Submitting a marketing message as "utility" to save money is the most common way businesses get templates rejected and quality ratings lowered. Meta re-categorises what it disagrees with.
Why templates get rejected
In practice, most rejections come down to a handful of causes:
- Category mismatch. The text is promotional but was submitted as utility.
- Policy content. Anything the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy prohibits.
- Variables that could be anything. A template that is mostly variables —
"
{{1}}{{2}}{{3}}" — gives reviewers no way to judge what will actually be sent, so they refuse it. - Missing context. A message that does not make clear who is writing and why the customer is hearing from them.
- Structural mistakes. A name with capitals or spaces, variables numbered out of order, a placeholder that does not match its example.
The structural ones are avoidable before you submit — our template checker catches those, and tells you plainly which rules it does not check.
Practical advice
- Write the template as if you were the customer receiving it cold.
- Include the business name in the body, not just the header.
- Keep marketing genuinely useful and infrequent — quality rating is real, and a low one reduces how many people you can reach per day.
- If a template is rejected, read Meta's stated reason before rewriting. In WeizChat we show Meta's answer in Meta's words rather than paraphrasing it.