WhatsApp template messages, from approval to the 24-hour rule

What is a WhatsApp template message, and when do you need one?

A template is a message you write in advance and submit to Meta under a category; once Meta approves it, you can send it. You need one whenever you message a customer more than 24 hours after their last message, because WhatsApp only allows free-form messages inside that window.

That window is often called the 24-hour session window, and it decides more of your messages than you might expect. Broadcasts go to people who mostly haven't written to you that day. Order updates usually arrive days after the last chat. And a buyer who ordered on your website has never messaged you on WhatsApp at all, so their COD confirmation is usually a template too.

• Free-form (session) message: written on the spot and sent within 24 hours of the customer's last message. This is how your team and the AI sales agent reply in QezoraChat's shared inbox.
• Template message: written in advance and approved by Meta. Needed for anything sent after those 24 hours, including broadcasts and most order updates.

How do you create a WhatsApp template and get it approved in QezoraChat?

In QezoraChat's template studio. Create the template there, or sync one you've already made in Meta, pick its category and follow its approval status until Meta approves it. Qezora guides you through the approval.

The studio has five formats (Text, Image, PDF, Video and Button) and three categories (Marketing, Utility and Authentication), and every template shows where it is in Meta's approval. If you've already built templates in Meta, they come into QezoraChat in one click, so you don't rebuild them by hand.

Approval is Meta's call, so nobody can promise you a result or a date. What Qezora does is guide you through getting your templates approved.

How does WhatsApp's 24-hour rule play out on a real order?

By the clock. The window closes 24 hours after the customer's last message, so anything you send days later, like shipping and delivery updates, has to be an approved template.

• Day 0: a customer asks about a product on WhatsApp. Your team or the AI agent replies free-form, and the customer orders.
• Day 1: 24 hours after their last message, the window closes.
• Day 2: the order ships. The shipped update has to be an approved template.
• Day 4: the order arrives. The delivered update needs a template too.
• Whenever the customer replies, the 24 hours start again from that message, so your team can answer free-form.

Can a WhatsApp template include an image, a PDF, a video or buttons?

Yes. QezoraChat's template studio has five formats, and each one suits a different job. Every format can be created in the studio or synced from Meta.

• Text: the everyday format, for announcements, updates and reminders.
• Image: when the picture does the selling, like a new collection or an offer.
• PDF: when customers want the full list, such as your catalogue, menu or price list.
• Video: a short video alongside your message.
• Button: when you want a one-tap answer, like the ✅ Confirm and ❌ Cancel buttons on a COD confirmation.

Which category should a template go under: Marketing, Utility or Authentication?

The one that matches what the message is for. You submit each template to Meta under one of these three categories, and you choose it in QezoraChat when you create the template.

• Marketing: promotional messages, such as a new collection, an offer or a campaign broadcast.
• Utility: updates about something the customer has already started with you, such as an order confirmation or a delivery update.
• Authentication: verification codes, such as a one-time password.