What is a message template?
A message template is a pre-written WhatsApp message, approved by Meta, that a business on the WhatsApp Business Platform must use to start a conversation or write outside the 24-hour window.
Also called: WhatsApp template, HSM.
In plain words
Templates are WhatsApp's way of checking the messages businesses send unprompted. A business writes the text, often with blanks for a name, a date or an order number, and submits it for approval. Once approved, it can be sent to customers who opted in.
Once a template is approved, the software fills in the blanks for each customer and sends it. The wording stays the same every time; only the details change. Meta charges for template messages, and your provider can tell you how it prices each kind.
For a small business, templates add steps: writing them, waiting for approval, and keeping them up to date when your offer changes. They suit predictable messages sent to many people, such as reminders and delivery updates, and they are less suited to the back-and-forth of a real conversation.
For a small business, templates add steps: writing them, waiting for approval, and keeping them up to date when your offer changes. They suit predictable messages sent to many people, such as reminders and delivery updates, and they are less suited to the back-and-forth of a real conversation. A good template is short, says who it is from, gives the customer something useful and makes it easy to reply.
How it works in Spaces
Spaces does not use WhatsApp templates. It connects your own number by QR code, so your agent writes each message in its own words, and there is nothing to submit for approval.
Instead, Spaces paces every message and limits new chats, and it refuses the same cold message sent to many people. If you need large template broadcasts to people who opted in, the Business Platform is the right route for that.
Related terms
- 24-hour window: The 24-hour window is the period after a customer's last message in which a business on the WhatsApp Business Platform can send free-form replies; after it closes, only approved templates can be sent until the customer writes again.
- WhatsApp Business Platform: The WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta's service for software to send and receive WhatsApp messages at scale, with approved templates, a 24-hour reply window and per-message fees.
- New conversation: A new conversation is a message you send to someone who has not written to you in that chat yet, as opposed to a reply in a conversation the other person started.
- WhatsApp Business app: The WhatsApp Business app is the free WhatsApp app for small businesses, which works like normal WhatsApp on your phone with extras such as a business profile, quick replies and away messages.
FAQ
Do I need templates to use an AI agent on WhatsApp?
Not with Spaces, which connects your own number by QR code. On the Business Platform, templates are needed outside the 24-hour window.
Who approves templates?
Meta reviews templates submitted on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Can a template include a customer's name?
Yes. Templates can have blanks for details such as a name, date or order number.
Does Meta charge for templates?
Yes. Meta charges for template messages on the Business Platform. Your provider can explain the current prices.
Can Spaces send the same message to a list?
No. Spaces refuses the same cold message sent to many people.
Useful next: WhatsApp broadcast messages explained, WhatsApp limits, Spaces vs WATI. Every term: the glossary.