A customer orders on Monday. The parcel goes out Wednesday. Telling them is exactly the kind of message the 24-hour rule blocks — and templates are the sanctioned way through it.
What a template is
A message format submitted to Meta and approved before use, with placeholders for the details that change. You cannot write a fresh sentence; you fill in a shape that was approved earlier.
Approval is about the shape, not the specific message. Once "Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is out for delivery" is approved, you can send it for every order without asking again.
The categories, and what they cost
| Category | Use | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Utility | Order confirmations, delivery updates, receipts | Cheapest |
| Authentication | One-time codes | Low |
| Marketing | Promotions, offers, re-engagement | Most expensive |
| Service (not a template) | Any reply inside the 24-hour window | Free |
Order updates fall under utility, which is the cheapest paid category — a deliberate choice by Meta, since these are messages customers actually want.
Getting approved without wasting a week
- 1Write the template as a normal, useful message. Templates that read like adverts get categorised as marketing and cost more.
- 2Use placeholders only for details that vary — name, order number, tracking link.
- 3Do not put a promotion inside a utility template. That is the most common rejection.
- 4Keep it short. Long templates are rejected more often and read worse on a phone.
The cheaper habit
If you can tell the customer while the window is still open, do. An update sent during the conversation costs nothing; the same words two days later cost money.
In practice that means confirming the dispatch timeline when the order is placed, rather than going quiet and paying to reopen the conversation later.