A WhatsApp template is a message Meta has approved in advance. It is the only kind of message you can send to a guest who has not written to you, or who last wrote more than 24 hours ago. Everything you plan to send on WhatsApp that is not a reply to a live conversation has to be a template.
Approval usually takes around two hours, but it can take up to 72. Build that into your campaign planning rather than discovering it the afternoon before a send.
What a template is for
Templates cover three purposes: marketing, transactional messages such as a booking confirmation, and authentication such as a verification code.
Which one you pick matters, because Meta reviews the content against the category and prices the two main categories differently. See WhatsApp template categories: Utility and Marketing.
Creating a template
In Bookboost, a template is created as part of a campaign rather than on its own. Build a journey campaign or a broadcast with WhatsApp as a channel, and the WhatsApp version of that message is the template.
The limit is 1,024 characters. The counter sits on the right of the editor. Going over is one of the two reasons a template silently fails to sync later, so watch it as you write rather than at the end.
Submitting it for approval
When the message is ready, select WhatsApp Approval at the bottom left of the campaign editor.
If that button is not there, select the three dots next to Multichannel and choose Create tailored version for WhatsApp. That adds a WhatsApp section to the content bar, and the button appears with it.
Publish the campaign as inactive while you wait. The template is not approved yet, so an active campaign has nothing it can legally send.
Any edit after submission means resubmitting. Changing the text does not update the template Meta is reviewing, so send it through again the same way. This catches people out, because the campaign looks correct in Bookboost while the approved template is the old wording.
Checking the status
You do not have to open the campaign editor to see where a template stands. Select WhatsApp Templates from the menu at the top right of your campaigns.
The window shows each template's status, the category it was submitted under, and a way to resubmit.
Approved. You can publish the campaign and start sending.
Rejected. Edit and resubmit, or resubmit under a different category. See Get a WhatsApp template approved.
Not sent. The template never reached Meta, so no decision is coming and the status will not change on its own. See The NOT SENT status on a WhatsApp template.
Missing. Meta has not returned a decision yet.
The rules you are working inside
These come from Meta, not from Bookboost, and they are the reason templates exist at all.
You may only start a conversation with an approved template. That is a business-initiated conversation, and there is no other way to have one.
You may reply freely within 24 hours of the guest's last message. The window opens when your first reply is delivered.
Outside that window, templates only.
Templates must comply with Meta's policies and be used for the purpose they were approved for. Meta can review, approve, or reject a template at any time, including one that was approved before. See the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.
Reopening a conversation that has gone cold
If more than 24 hours have passed and you need to pick a conversation back up, the template has to do that work. Referring to the earlier exchange makes it read as a continuation rather than a cold approach, and it invites the reply that reopens the window.
Two examples that work:
"I apologise for the delay in addressing your concerns. I am available now to help. If you would like to continue the conversation, please reply with 'yes'."
"Following up on our previous discussion, I have found the answer to your question about our refund policy. If you would like to continue our conversation, please respond with 'yes'."
What this does not do
It does not let you send immediately. Nothing goes out until Meta approves, which is usually two hours and can be 72.
It does not update itself when you edit. Every change needs a fresh submission.
Approval in one language is not approval in another. Meta reviews each language separately, and the same template can pass in one and fail in another.
Bookboost cannot approve or appeal a template. The decision is entirely Meta's.
A template is not a free-form message. 1,024 characters, and the content has to match the category it was approved under.
What to do next
If a template comes back rejected, or the status never changes, see Get a WhatsApp template approved.
Getting help
Open Help at the bottom of the left menu and choose Talk to Us, or email support@bookboost.io.