My WhatsApp template was rejected
The quick triage, in the order that resolves it fastest — and why you should rewrite once rather than four times.
Two causes account for most rejections: the category and the variables. Check those two before reading the message again, because rewriting the wording when the category is wrong wastes a submission and does not help.
And submit once. Repeated rejected submissions affect your number's standing with Meta, which is a cost that outlasts the template.
Steps
Read the reason in your notification feed
Rejections appear there as well as inside Meta. Terse, but it points at a category.
Check the category first
Miscategorised marketing is the leading cause by some distance. Anything that promotes, sells or wakes up a quiet customer belongs in that category — fix it and resubmit before touching the wording.
Check variable placement
No template may start or end with a variable, and two cannot sit adjacent. Add fixed text around them.
Check the sample values
Placeholder junk gets rejected because the reviewer cannot evaluate what will be sent. Give a plausible name and a plausible date.
Remove spam signals
Capitals, multiple exclamation marks, "click here now", money guarantees, and URL shorteners.
Rewrite once and submit once
Make every change you believe is needed, read it as the reviewer would, then submit.
Check whether you need a template at all
Inside the 24-hour window you can send free-form. If you are fighting approval for a reply to somebody who just messaged you, you are solving the wrong problem.
Check it worked
Then read your other pending templates looking for the same mistake. Whatever tripped this one is usually a pattern in how your team writes them.
The parts people get wrong
- If templates do not appear on the channel at all, that is a different problem — check the business account ID.
- A number that collects rejections can find its messaging limits and quality rating downgraded.