Nigeria
WhatsApp template review
Writing templates that pass review first time
Every message you send first on WhatsApp has to be approved by Meta before it goes out. Here is what review actually checks, the wording that gets a template rejected, and how to fix one that comes back.
Category rules
Safe variables
Rejection fixes
Quality rating
The basics
What a template is, and why Meta reads it first
You can reply freely to a customer who messaged you. To start the conversation yourself you need a template, and a template has to pass review before you can send it.
What counts as a template
A template is a message you write once, submit to Meta and then reuse with a few details filled in. Order updates, booking reminders, receipts and promos all go out this way. The wording is fixed, only the variables change.
Why there is a review at all
WhatsApp is a private inbox, so business messages that arrive uninvited are checked before you can send them. Review looks at the wording, the category you chose, and whether somebody reading it would know who is writing and why.
The three categories
Marketing covers promos, offers and anything that sells. Utility covers a message about something the customer already did with you, such as an order, a booking or a payment. Authentication is for one time codes and nothing else.
Picking the right one
Choose by what the message does, not by what it costs. Meta charges marketing templates at a higher rate than utility, and a promo dressed as an order update is the single most common reason a template comes back rejected.
Rejections
What gets a template rejected
These are the reasons we see most often when a Nigerian business submits its first set.
Vague
A variable that could be anything
If {{1}} might hold a name, a price, a date or a whole paragraph, a reviewer cannot tell what the message will say. Give every variable one obvious job and fill the sample content with something real.
Position
A variable at the very start or the very end
A template cannot open or close with a variable. Put a greeting before it and a sign off after it, so the message still reads properly before the details are filled in.
Category
A promo hiding inside a utility template
Offer, discount, sale, free, last chance. Words like these make a message marketing whatever you labelled it. Submit it as marketing and send it to your opted-in list.
Caps
Shouting, symbols and heavy formatting
Full capitals, rows of exclamation marks and blocks of emoji read as spam. Write it the way you would say it to a customer standing in front of you in the shop.
Claims
Something you cannot back
Best in Lagos, guaranteed results, number one in Nigeria. If you cannot prove it, leave it out and describe the actual service instead.
Leftovers
Placeholder text and stray links
Sample copy, a test line or a shortened link to a page that has nothing to do with your business will fail. Every link should point at a domain a reviewer can match to your name.
Side by side
Weak phrasing next to strong phrasing
The same message written two ways. The right hand column is the one that goes through.
How to write one
Five moves that get a template approved
Work in this order and most templates go through on the first submission.
01
Decide the category first
Ask what the message does. If it sells, it is marketing. If it tells a customer about something they already did with you, it is utility. A code is authentication, and nothing else belongs there.
02
Write the whole thing with no variables
Type it out as if you were sending it to one customer, with real details in place, then read it aloud. If it sounds like a shout or a trick to you, review will read it the same way.
03
Swap in variables that have one job
Replace only the parts that change, such as the name, the order number or the date. Make the sample content look like the real thing, so a reviewer can see exactly what will appear in the message.
04
Check the links, the footer and the buttons
Point every link at your own domain and name your business in the message so the customer knows who is writing. Put an opt out line on anything marketing.
05
Submit, then save what passed
Approved wording is worth keeping. Build a small library of templates that already went through, and write the next one by editing those rather than starting from nothing.
Living with review
Quality rating, pausing and life after a rejection
Approval is not the end of it. How customers react to your messages decides how many you are allowed to send.
Rating
What quality rating means
Meta watches how people react to your messages. Blocks, reports and mutes push your rating down, and a low rating limits how many customers you can message in a day.
Paused
What template pausing means
A template that keeps attracting negative feedback can be paused, so that one cannot be sent for a while. Your other templates carry on, and the pause lifts if the feedback settles.
Rejected
Read the reason before you resubmit
A rejection comes with a reason, usually the category or the content. Sending the same wording back with one word changed only costs you days. Fix the thing that was named.
Rewrite
Rebuild it rather than patch it
If the category was wrong, submit it fresh in the right one. If the content was the problem, write the message again in plain language and cut anything you cannot back.
Consent
Only send to people who opted in
Review passes the wording. Your rating is decided by who receives it. Messaging people who never agreed to hear from you is the quickest way to lose both.
Pace
Warm up instead of blasting
A brand new number sending to a whole list on day one collects blocks. Start with your most recent customers, watch how they react, then widen.
Questions we get
Template review, answered plainly
How long does template review take?
Meta does not commit to a fixed time, so submit your set a few days before the campaign rather than the night before. That matters most in the Detty December rush, when everybody is submitting at once.
Can I change a template after it is approved?
Editing an approved template sends it back through review, so keep the approved version in place until the new one passes. That way a campaign is never left with nothing to send.
Why was my utility template charged as marketing?
Because the wording sells. A line like while stocks last inside an order update moves the whole message into marketing. Split it into two templates, one that informs and one that promotes.
Do I need a new template for every promo?
No. Write one with variables for the offer and the dates, then reuse it. That is exactly why a library of approved wording saves you time every month.
What if a template is rejected twice?
Stop adjusting the punctuation and change the approach. It is almost always the category or a claim in the body, not the formatting.
Does a rejection put my number at risk?
A rejection on its own does not. What puts a number at risk is sending approved templates to people who never asked to hear from you.
We write your first set of templates with you
Our Abuja team drafts them, submits them and keeps the wording that passed in your library, at no extra cost during setup.