Message Templates  

Message Templates are pre-approved message formats that businesses can use to communicate with their contacts in a structured and consistent way. Unlike free-form messages, templates are designed to ensure compliance with WhatsApp’s policies and to maintain a high-quality messaging experience for users.

Before using a template, it must be submitted for review and approved by WhatsApp. This approval process ensures that the template follows WhatsApp’s guidelines, avoids spammy or misleading content, and provides value to the end customer. Once approved, these templates can be used in both one-to-one conversations and broadcast campaigns.

When to use Message Templates:
Message Templates are best suited for situations where the same type of message is repeatedly sent or where structured information needs to be shared. Typical examples include:

• Appointment reminders – Sending timely reminders about upcoming appointments or bookings.

• Offers or promotions – Sharing limited-time discounts, seasonal sales, or special deals with customers.

• Order updates – Notifying customers about order confirmations, shipping updates, or delivery status.

• OTP / authentication codes – Providing secure one-time passwords or verification codes for account logins and transactions.

What Makes Up a Template?  

Each template consists of the following:

How to create a Template?

• Under the Settings tab, click on the Templates.

• Click on the + New Template button

• To create a new template, you need to fill in the following fields:

• Name: Enter a unique name for the template.

• Language: Choose the language in which the message will be written (e.g., English).

• Category: Select the purpose of the template such as Marketing, Utility, or Authentication.

• Header (Optional): Add a header if required (e.g., text, media, or none).

• Body: The main content of your message goes here.

• Footer(Optional): Add a short note or disclaimer at the bottom.

• Buttons (Optional): You can add interactive buttons (e.g., quick reply or call-to-action) using the New Button option.

Finally, click Save to create the template.

• To make the template active, Publish the particular template.

• Once you publish, the template gets submitted for approval. Post approval, the template becomes active to send to individual contacts or a contact list.

Content in a Template

Each template has four parts:

Button types allowed

Using Variables  

Variables allow you to personalize each message.

For example: Hi {{1}}, your appointment is scheduled for {{2}}.

These placeholders ({{1}}, {{2}}, etc.) are filled using:

• Contact fields (e.g., name, phone)

• Custom Variables (any new variable that can be added as per the requirement of the template). Note: The values for the custom variables have to be loaded along with the contact list before sending the template as a broadcast message.

Here the variable 'name' is taken from the Contacts module and "appointment time' and 'reference id" are custom variables created for this particular template.

Category of Templates  

Convonite supports the following template types:

1. Marketing Templates  

• Used to promote products, offers, or updates to customers.

• Helps drive engagement, sales, and brand awareness.

2. Utility Templates  

• Sent to share important, transaction-related information.

• Includes order updates, reminders, or account notifications.  

3. Authentication Templates  

• Used to verify a user’s identity securely.

• Commonly sent as OTPs or login verification codes.

Template Statuses

You can only:

• Send templates that are Active

• Delete templates that are Inactive

• Edit templates that are in Draft, Active, Rejected, or Paused status

Submitting for Approval (Admin Only)  

Admins can submit templates to WhatsApp. Once submitted:

• Approval status will be auto-updated via webhook

• WhatsApp may change your selected category (allowed by default)

Submission limits:

As of the WhatsApp Business API guidelines, there isn’t a published explicit limit on the number of message templates you can submit for approval within a 24-hour window. But approval of a template can take upto 24 hours.

Modifying Templates

• Only the content of a template can be edited.

• Drafts can be modified at any time.

• If synced from WhatsApp Business Manager, all content will be overwritten and variables will be removed.

• You can edit a template by clicking on the 'Edit button at the bottom of the template details. Once clicked you can make necessary changes to the content of the template.

Sync from WhatsApp Business Manager

• If changes are made outside Convonite (in Meta’s WhatsApp Manager), you can sync the template.

• Syncing resets the content in Convonite to match WhatsApp Manager.

• All variable mappings will be cleared.

Deleting Templates

• Only Inactive templates can be deleted.

• Template names cannot be reused for 30 days.

• Deleting by name deletes all language versions of that template.

Other Template Features

• Compare templates by usage, approval status, and engagement.

• Copy templates across WABA accounts under the same Meta Business account.

• Templates include a direct link to "Open in WhatsApp Manager" – useful for rejected or paused templates.

Summary