WhatsApp Template Category Guide: How to Keep Your Templates in the “Utility” Category

When you submit a WhatsApp Business API template, Meta automatically reviews it and assigns it a category: Utility, Authentication, or Marketing.

Recently, many businesses have noticed their Utility templates — meant strictly for transactional communication — being reclassified as Marketing, which increases costs and limits usage.
This guide explains how to create Utility templates that remain compliant and avoid re-categorization.

What Is a Utility Template?

A Utility template is strictly for updates related to an existing user action, such as an order, payment, booking, or subscription.
It should be clear, factual, and linked to a previous interaction initiated by the customer.

Examples of valid Utility templates

• “Your order #{{1}} has been confirmed and will ship on {{2}}.”

• “We received your payment of $ {{1}} successfully.”

• “Reminder: your appointment is scheduled for {{1}} at {{2}}.”

Utility templates do not promote, recommend, or encourage new actions.

Why Templates Get Re-Categorized as Marketing

Meta will classify your template as Marketing if it contains any promotional or engagement-oriented elements, including:

• Promotional language (e.g., “exclusive”, “discount”, “offer”)

• Calls to action encouraging new purchases (“Shop now”, “Book today”)

• Mixed content (service update + marketing in one)

• Generic greetings without a transactional purpose

• Buttons leading to product pages, offers, or promotions

If it feels even slightly promotional, Meta will not consider it Utility.

Checklist: How to Keep Your Templates in the Utility Category

Review this checklist before submitting your next template:

✅ 1. Link the message to a user action

Must reference an existing order, payment, booking, shipment, or subscription.

✅ 2. Use neutral, factual language

Inform — don’t persuade, excite, or market.

✅ 3. Avoid promotional words

Do not use terms like “deal”, “exclusive”, “limited”, “upgrade”, “offer”, etc.

✅ 4. Use variables correctly

Placeholders such as {{1}}, {{2}} should reflect specific transactional details.

✅ 5. Use functional buttons only

Examples:

• Track Order

• View Invoice

• Manage Booking

Avoid:

• Shop Now

• Learn More

• Browse Products

✅ 6. Keep the template single-purpose

One message = one transactional update.
Never mix marketing and service information.

✅ 7. Re-check the assigned category after approval

Meta sometimes reassigns categories automatically.

If Your Template Is Re-Categorized as Marketing

If Meta moves your template from Utility to Marketing:

1. Edit the message to remove any promotional or ambiguous elements.

2. Resubmit under the Utility category with a clear transactional purpose.

3. Appeal the classification if you believe it’s incorrect. Provide:

   • Template name

   • Business ID

   • Explanation showing how the template relates to an existing user action

Why Staying in the Utility Category Matters

• Lower message cost

• Faster delivery (transactional templates are prioritized)

• Higher customer trust

• Better account compliance and reduced risk of restrictions

Best Practice

Keep Utility templates strictly transactional and create separate Marketing templates for promotions or re-engagement.
This separation ensures clarity, compliance, and the lowest message cost.