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WhatsApp message templates: categories and Meta's review

Your system sends WhatsApp messages through Tawked Notifications to your customers in Saudi Arabia from your business number, with Meta-approved templates. A template is reusable text with changing details such as the customer’s name and order number. Any message outside the 24-hour customer service window needs one, and Meta reviews it in up to 24 hours.

Tawked Notifications is a WhatsApp Business API service for Saudi businesses.No subscription: Tawked’s fee is 0.00 SAR per message today, and Meta bills you its own rates directly.

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Key points

  1. Templates in Arabic and English, reviewed by Meta

    You write a template in the console in any of these languages: Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Tagalog, Indonesian, and French. Each language is a version of the template under the same name, and lang in the send request picks the version the customer gets.

  2. Meta decides the category

    A template that mixes an order update with a promotion is marketing to Meta, and so is vague text or a body that is only a placeholder. Meta can move an approved template from utility to marketing with a day’s notice, and Tawked alerts you when your template’s category changes.

  3. Placeholders with example values

    You write a placeholder as a name, such as customer_name, or by its position, and one template keeps to one kind. The editor asks for an example value for each placeholder, sent with the template for Meta to read during review; the real values travel in params on every send.

  4. Headers and buttons

    A message can open with a text header or an image, and carry quick-reply, call or link buttons. A link button can take a suffix that changes with each message, such as the order number at the end of a tracking link.

The three template categories

Meta treats a template that mixes an update and an offer as marketing, and may recategorise an approved template it finds promotional.

WhatsApp template categories and Meta's list rate per message delivered to a Saudi number, checked on October 9, 2026
CategoryWhat it carriesExampleMeta's rate for a Saudi number
UtilityAn update about the customer's order or account, with no promotion"Your shipment is on its way" from the ready-made templatesabout 0.0401 SAR (USD 0.0107)
MarketingAn offer or a product introduction, for customers who agreed to hear from youA seasonal offer on a productabout 0.2159 SAR (USD 0.0576)
AuthenticationA one-time verification code; the only category that may carry codesA sign-in code with a button that copies itabout 0.0401 SAR (USD 0.0107)

Sources: Meta's WhatsApp pricing page, Meta's template categoriesChecked on October 9, 2026

From a draft to an approved template

Four ways in, all ending on the Templates page of the Tawked console.

  1. Start from a ready-made template.

    The console holds 4 utility templates for an order received, shipped and delivered and for an appointment reminder, each in Arabic and English, submitted together in one click. Meta's template library adds utility and authentication templates written by Meta, approved the moment you create them.

  2. Or let Tawked suggest.

    Tawked reads your website, then suggests a description of your business and templates that fit it; you pick the ones you want, and they are created and submitted.

  3. Write your own with the assistant.

    The template editor has an assistant that writes and repairs a utility or marketing draft, running it through the same checks the editor applies before review.

  4. Submit, then send from your system.

    Tawked lets you know when Meta approves, or why it rejected. Once approved, your system sends the template through the API, and a WooCommerce store sends it through the Tawked plugin.

Common questions

What is a message template?

Text that Meta approves before you use it to send messages. You write it once and send it many times, and only what you put in its placeholders changes, such as the customer’s name and the order number. In the Tawked console you write your templates and submit them to Meta for review.

How long does Meta take to approve a WhatsApp template?

Up to 24 hours, according to Meta, and in our experience it is often sooner. When Meta approves or rejects the template, Tawked tells you, with the reason, and you edit a rejected template and submit it again.

Why did Meta classify my utility template as marketing?

Because Meta treats any promotion inside a template as marketing, even beside an order update. Keep the utility template to the update alone, and put the offer in a marketing template you send to customers who agreed to your offers, as the guide to WhatsApp marketing messages explains. You can ask Meta to review the category if you think it is wrong, and Tawked tells you when your template’s category changes.

Can I send a verification code over WhatsApp from my own number?

Yes. Create an authentication template in the console, then send it through POST /v1/whatsapp/messages with one value, params.code, and the code reaches your customer with a button that copies it. If you want a service that generates and checks the codes for you, that is what Tawked Verify does. Tawked Verify sends its codes by SMS today.

Does Tawked send templates with a video, a document or a carousel?

Not yet. Tawked sends templates with a text or image header; video, document and location headers, carousels, and coupon-code, flow and catalog buttons are not supported yet. If your messages need those types, choose a provider that sends them, or Meta’s Cloud API directly.

Why did Meta pause my template?

Meta rates each template’s quality from how customers respond to it, and after repeated complaints or low reads it may pause the template for a while, or disable it. Tawked tells you when a template is paused or disabled, and you resume it from the console once the pause ends.

Start with a message your customer needs

  1. Sign up with your mobile number

    No contracts, and no card.

  2. Connect your business number

    In Meta's own window, opened from the Tawked console.

  3. Send your first template

    Try it on your own phone from the console, then send it from your system with a tk_live_ key.

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