WhatsApp message templates

WhatsApp requires every business-initiated marketing message to use a pre-approved template before you can send it to customers. You can draft, test, and submit compliant marketing message templates directly from Fetchply without opening WhatsApp Manager.

Once Meta reviews and approves your template, it becomes available immediately in Campaigns for broadcast.

How template authoring works

1. Open your agent, navigate to Customers → Campaigns, and select the Message Templates tab.
2. Select Create template to open the composer.
3. Enter a Template Title (such as Spring Flash Sale or Weekend Special).
4. Choose the Language locale that matches the language of your message content.
5. Add an optional Header:
   • Text header: A short headline up to 60 characters with an optional variable placeholder.
   • Image header: Upload a sample JPEG or PNG image to illustrate your offer.
6. Write the Body Text of your message (between 12 and 1,024 characters). Use variables like {{first_name}} or {{discount}} to personalize messages for each recipient.
7. Add an optional Footer (up to 60 characters) with subtle supplementary notes.
8. Configure Buttons:
   • Website URL: A direct static link to your online store or landing page (up to 2 URL buttons).
   • Phone Number: An international phone number customers can tap to call your business.
   • Quick Reply: Pre-set buttons customers can tap to reply instantly.
   • Mandatory Opt-Out: WhatsApp policy requires marketing messages to include an opt-out quick reply button (such as Stop promotions or Unsubscribe). Fetchply automatically includes and validates this button for you.
9. Provide Sample Values: For every variable placeholder in your message, enter a realistic generic example (such as Alex or 20%). Meta's review team uses these sample values to understand how your message will look when sent to customers.
10. Select Save Draft to store your work in progress, or select Submit to Meta to send the template for review.

Review process and statuses

After you submit a template, Meta evaluates its content and policy compliance:

• Draft: Saved locally in Fetchply. Not yet submitted to WhatsApp. You can edit drafts freely.
• Submitting: Sent to WhatsApp and waiting for confirmation.
• In review: Under review by Meta. Review decisions typically take between 1 and 5 minutes, but can occasionally take up to 24 hours.
• Approved: Approved by Meta and ready to select in any campaign.
• Rejected: Meta rejected the template. Hover over the status badge or view the template details to see the specific reason Meta provided.
• Paused: Meta temporarily paused the template due to low recipient quality or negative customer feedback.
• Disabled: The template was deleted or disabled in WhatsApp Manager.

Template quality scores

Meta assigns a quality score to every approved marketing template based on recipient reactions, reads, blocks, and spam reports:

• Green (High quality): Recipients engage positively with the message.
• Yellow (Medium quality): Some recipients are ignoring or reporting the message.
• Red (Low quality): High rates of customer complaints or blocks. Templates with persistent red quality may be paused by Meta.

To maintain high quality scores, only message customers who explicitly opted in to promotional updates, keep promotional frequency reasonable, and ensure your message content clearly identifies your business.

Troubleshooting and common questions

Why was my template rejected by Meta?

Meta enforces strict policy rules on template wording and formatting. The most common reasons for rejection are:

• Missing context around placeholders: Messages that start or end with a variable (e.g. {{1}}) or have two placeholders side by side without words between them are rejected. Always wrap placeholders in complete sentences.
• Excessive punctuation or ALL CAPS: Avoid writing in all capital letters or using multiple exclamation marks (e.g. BUY NOW!!!).
• Shortener links: Meta rejects shortened URLs (like bit.ly or tinyurl) and wa.me links in button URLs. Use full, direct HTTPS URLs from your own domain.
• Real personal information in samples: Do not use real email addresses, actual phone numbers, or credit card numbers in your sample values. Use generic samples like John or 10%.

Can I edit a template that has already been submitted or approved?

Once a template is submitted to Meta, its text and structure cannot be edited in place. To change an approved or rejected template, create a new template with your updated wording. If you try to edit one anyway, Fetchply tells you the template has already gone to WhatsApp for review.

Why does Fetchply say a title is already in use?

Titles must be unique per language once a template has gone to WhatsApp. If you already sent Spring Flash Sale in English, give the replacement a different title (for example Spring Flash Sale 2) so the approved version is left untouched. Drafts and failed submissions are not affected, and you can reuse their titles freely.

My template says Failed. What should I do?

Open the status badge to see what went wrong, fix the wording, image, or connection problem it mentions, then select Submit again. Resubmitting a failed template always starts a fresh attempt, however many times you have already tried. If it mentions your WhatsApp connection, reconnect WhatsApp in Integrations first.

My template has been Submitting for a long time.

Fetchply keeps checking with WhatsApp in the background, so this normally resolves on its own within a few minutes. Use Refresh Status on the template to check again straight away. If WhatsApp never received the submission, the template moves to Failed so you can submit it again.

How many templates can I submit at once?

You can have up to 5 templates awaiting review at the same time. Once Meta makes a decision on your pending templates, you can submit more.

What happens if I delete a template?

When deleting a template in Fetchply, you can check the box to also delete it from WhatsApp Manager. Deleting a template does not affect past campaigns that were already sent.