On October 30, Meta updated the criteria for all existing template categories, below we provide examples
Marketing templates
Marketing templates are our most flexible. They can enable businesses to achieve a wide range of goals, from generating awareness to driving sales and more.
Also considered marketing templates are:
1. Templates with mixed content (e.g. Both utility and marketing, such as order update with a promo or offer).
2. Templates where contents are unclear (e.g., contents are only “{{1}}” or “Congratulations!”).
Note: Examples are illustrative only, templates containing similar content or content including this example text may be categorized differently based on their exact content.
Utility templates
Utility templates are typically triggered by a user action or request. They must include specificity about the active or ongoing transaction, account, subscription or interaction to which they relate. For example, an order confirmation must contain an order number.
Authentication templates
Authentication templates enable businesses to authenticate users with one-time passcodes (usually 4-8 digit alphanumeric codes), potentially at multiple steps in the login process (e.g., account verification, account recovery, integrity challenges).
Authentication templates are our most restricted. For a template to be classified as authentication, a business must:
1. Use WhatsApp’s preset authentication message templates, which include optional add-ons like security disclaimers and expiry warnings
2. Configure a one-time password button (copy-code or one-tap)
3. Follow content restrictions: URLs, media, and emojis are not allowed for authentication template content or parameters. Additional length restrictions of 15 characters also apply to parameters.