Message templates

Message templates are pre-approved WhatsApp messages you can send to customers outside the 24-hour reply window. WhatsApp requires them to prevent unsolicited messaging — every template has to be reviewed and approved by Meta before you can use it.

In plemeo.ai, approved templates show up automatically in the chat composer when needed. Templates are defined and submitted in Meta Business Manager (or WhatsApp Business Manager) — plemeo.ai only consumes them.

Where templates are used in plemeo.ai

• In an existing chat whose last message is older than 24 hours, the composer locks and a Select Template dropdown appears with all your approved templates. Pick one, fill in the variables, and send.
• When you start a New Chat with a phone number that has no recent activity, the composer is in template mode from the start.
• Templates list themselves are fetched live from Meta — there's no separate "import templates" step in plemeo.ai. Just create or edit them in Business Manager and they'll show up after the customer's next refresh.

See Using WhatsApp in plemeo.ai for the in-app flow.

Creating a template in Meta Business Manager

1. Open WhatsApp Manager

• Sign in at business.facebook.com.
• In the left navigation, open WhatsApp Manager → Account tools → Message templates.

2. Start a new template

• Click Create template in the top right.
• Pick a category — typically Utility (transactional updates), Authentication (one-time passwords), or Marketing (promotional). Categories influence Meta's review and pricing.
• Pick the languages the template should support. Each language is reviewed separately.
• Give the template a name. Names must be lowercase, no spaces, only letters, digits, and underscores (e.g. appointment_reminder_v1).

3. Compose the template

• Header (optional) — short text, image, document, video, or location. Headers cannot contain variables (except for a single 1 placeholder if Meta allows it for your category).
• Body (required) — the main message text. Variables 1, 2, … may be inserted as placeholders. Keep them numbered consecutively starting at 1.
• Footer (optional) — a short, plain-text line. No variables.
• Buttons (optional in Meta — but see the constraint below for plemeo.ai).

4. plemeo.ai-specific constraints

• Variables only in the body. plemeo.ai expands placeholders in the body when you fill in the variable inputs in the composer. Variables in the header or footer are not currently exposed in the UI.
• No buttons or quick replies. plemeo.ai does not render or send template buttons; if your template includes them, they'll be silently dropped. Use plain body templates for now.
• Keep variable types simple. Stick to short text values (names, dates, order numbers). Long multi-line variables can break Meta's automatic length checks.

5. Submit for approval

Review the template and click Submit. Meta usually responds within 24 hours — sometimes minutes. Approved templates become available immediately the next time plemeo.ai fetches the template list.

If Meta rejects the template, the rejection reason is shown in WhatsApp Manager. The most common reasons are:

• The text reads as marketing while the chosen category is Utility (or vice versa).
• Promotional content without prior opt-in.
• Mention of WhatsApp / Meta brand names.
• Variables that look like they could be used to abuse customers (e.g. URLs that change per send).

Fix and re-submit — same name, same template ID is reused.

Sending an approved template

Once approved:

1. Open the WhatsApp page in plemeo.ai.
2. Either pick the chat (older than 24h) or start a New Chat.
3. The composer shows the Select Template dropdown.
4. Pick the template — the body text appears in the textarea with placeholders.
5. Fill in the variable inputs that appear below.
6. Click Send.

The template is sent in the language defined when you created it (default en_US). After the customer replies, the 24-hour window opens and the regular composer comes back automatically.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Template dropdown is empty	No approved templates in the WABA, or fetch failed	Verify in WhatsApp Manager that you have at least one Approved template for the WABA connected to plemeo.ai. Reload the page.
New template I just created doesn't appear	Cache — plemeo.ai fetches templates on page load	Reload the WhatsApp page.
Variables don't get replaced when sent	The template you submitted has variables outside the body	Re-create the template with all variables in the body and re-submit.
Send fails with a Meta error like "Template name does not exist in the translation"	The template isn't approved for the language plemeo.ai is sending in (defaults to en_US)	Submit and get the template approved in en_US, or rename your template/use a language-specific version.

What's next?

• Using WhatsApp in plemeo.ai — full chat usage guide.
• Quick Connect — connect another phone number.
• Back to overview — WhatsApp setup overview.