WhatsApp messages: header, or marketing template? Choosing correctly
Between a free-form template, a header message, and a marketing template, your inbox's economics and approval chances change. Here's how to pick the right WhatsApp message type for the job.
The taxonomy of WhatsApp messages
On the WhatsApp Business API there are two broad families of outbound message: session messages (within the 24-hour window after a customer messages you — unlimited, cheap, use whatever you like) and template messages (beyond the window — pre-approved, structured, priced by category).
Basically every 'can we WhatsApp them?' question is a template-message question. And that's where header vs marketing actually matters.
Free-form vs header templates
- Free-form template — plain body text, no header. Cheapest, easiest to approve, good for transactional notes.
- Header template — adds a small pre-header line (e.g. 'Order #4821'). Costs a couple of rupees more, useful when you need a stable, scannable label above changing body text.
- Media templates — header is an image/video; used for product visuals, receipts, or brochures.
Where the word 'marketing' bites
Meta classifies template messages by content. Anything promotional — discounts, festive offers, announcements, 'come back' messages — is marketing, priced around 2–3× utility rates and the most scrutinised at approval and the most likely to drive user complaints.
A very common mistake: businesses create one 'marketing' template because they think in categories, then pay the highest rate for routine messages — money and approval risk that a simple re-word to utility or service language avoids.
Our default cheat-sheet
| Message | Best type |
|---|---|
| Order / delivery / invoice update | Utility (free-form body) |
| OTP / verification | Utility (free-form) |
| Receipt with a stable label | Utility (header) |
| Product photo + price + CTA | Marketing (media) |
| Festive discount broadcast | Marketing (free-form) |
| Reply to a customer question | Session message (no template) |
The cheap trick: session messages
Because session messages (the 24-hour window after a customer contacts you) are unlimited and often free/service-priced, the cheapest '[WhatsApp] strategy is to start conversations', not to bore your list. Notifications people expect — 'your order is arriving' — are utility work; broadcast ads are marketing work. Keep the two lanes distinct and your costs drop.