What are the template categories?
In this article , you will find the allowed template categories and some examples of rejected templates.
Estimated Reading Time: 08 minutes
Allowed categories
WhatsApp protects its users against SPAM practices. They can contact you for any reason, but if you want to contact them, it must coincide with one of the approved reasons. The categories are below, along with some examples.
1 - Account updates: allows notifying the recipient of the changes in your account's settings:
- Profile changes
- Updated preferences.
- Changes to settings.
- Expired subscriptions.
- Password changed.
2 - Alerts: allows notifying the recipient regarding the following information:
- Service hours.
- Entry/Exit times.
3 - Payment updates: allows notifying the recipient of any payments update on an existing transaction.
- Receipt delivery / payment receipt.
- Out of stock notification.
- Auction conclusion.
- Change in payment status.
4 - Personal Finance Updates: notifies the recipient about any financial activity.
- Reminders for payment of invoices;
- Reminders of scheduled payments;
- Notifications of received payments;
- Confirmation or updates of transfers;
- Other financial service activities.
5 - Shipping / Delivery updates: allows notifying the recipient of a change in the shipping status of a purchased product.
- The product has been shipped.
- Status changes in transit.
- The product has been delivered.
- The shipment has been delayed.
6 -Bookings updates: allows notifying the recipient of updates to an existing booking or itinerary changes.
- Changes in location.
- Cancellation confirmation.
- Cancellation of a hotel reservation.
- Changes in a car rental pick-up schedule.
- Confirmation of a room upgrade.
7 - Scheduled time updates: notifies the recipient of a change to an existing appointment.
- Changes to the appointment time.
- Changes to the appointment location.
- Cancellation of canceled appointments.
8 - Transportation updates: allows notifying the recipient of updates to an existing transportation booking.
- Flight status changes.
- Cancellation.
- Trip start.
- Ferry arrival.
9 - Troubleshooting: notifies the recipient of an update to a previously submitted problem.
- The problem has been resolved.
- The status of the problem has been updated.
- The problem requires additional information.
10 - Tickets updates: allows notifying the recipient of updates or reminders about an event for which the customer has bought a ticket.
- Changes to the show's start time.
- Changes to the event location.
- Cancellation of the show.
- Refund opportunity available.
ATTENTION: Sending sales and advertising messages is not allowed.
Template Rejection
If your template was rejected, it may be for one of the following reasons:
Promotional templates: No advertising, marketing, or promotional messages are allowed. Here are some examples of what will be rejected:
- Offering coupons, promotional codes, or prizes;
- Upselling:
- Example: "Here is your boarding pass, with assigned seats and gate information. If you want a 10% discount on your dinner on board, place your order through the application."
- Cold call messages:
- Examples: "Is now a good time to talk?"; "Thanks for your interest, can we talk now?"; "We tried to contact you, but you weren't available. When can we talk?".
Sending surveys or polls for gathering data:
- "Hi, we are interested in knowing how you feel regarding some food groups. Would you mind taking a survey?"
- Inclusion of certain words or phrases that make up the promotional template. Even if their content is appropriate, such words will lead to rejection.
Tip: Think about how the message will sound when you read it aloud.
Templates with invalid formatting:
- Templates with floating parameters will not be approved, i.e., lines with only variables and without texts. Please wrap the parameters with information so that it is clear how they will be used.
Have a look at this example of floating parameters, indicated as {{3}} and {{4}}.
Example:
´´´
Ticket number: {{1}}
Passenger name: {{2}}
´´´
{{3}} - {{4}}
´´´
- Templates with shortened links such as bit.ly and TinyURL, will not be approved.
- Templates with grammatical errors will be rejected.
- Variables must always begin with lowercase letters.
Example of a variable with a syntax error (invalid format)
Templates with valid format (examples)
The examples below show the valid format that templates with variables must have in order to be accepted.
Remember to visit our Help Center for further information.
Written by: Botmaker Team
Updated: 11/30/2021