How to Create a WhatsApp Message Template Manually: A Step-by-Step Guide

Every message a business sends outside an active WhatsApp conversation window has to go through a pre-approved template. Creating one manually is straightforward once you know what each field actually controls.

The fields, explained

• Template name — lowercase with underscores only (e.g. order_confirmation). This is internal, not shown to the customer.
• Category — Marketing (promotions, offers, announcements), Utility (order updates, alerts, reminders), or Authentication (OTPs, verification codes). This determines both approval rules and per-message cost.
• Target segment — optional, but useful for organizing which templates go to which type of lead (more on this below).
• Header — None, Text, Image, Video, or Document.
• Message body — supports variables using either positional ({{1}}, {{2}}) or named ({{name}}, {{order_id}}) placeholders.
• Footer — optional small text line, commonly used for opt-out language like "Reply STOP to unsubscribe."
• Buttons — up to 3: URL, Phone, Quick Reply, or Flow.

Before you submit

Templates must be approved by WhatsApp before use — leave enough lead time before you need to send it. HeyGrowfy's Templates dashboard lets you create, preview, and track approval status for every template in one place, and Growfy can even suggest template copy if you're not sure where to start.

Learn more at heygrowfy.com (link this text to https://www.heygrowfy.com).