Sample Values

Why sample values matter for approval and category

Reviewers assess the rendered message, which means your samples directly shape the outcome. Vague or lazy samples — a single letter, 'test', 'xxx', or a placeholder that looks like spam — make the message read poorly and invite rejection or a downgrade in category. This matters commercially because WhatsApp now bills per delivered message by category (marketing, utility, or authentication) rather than per conversation. A template you intended as a low-cost utility notification can be reclassified as marketing if the rendered sample reads promotional, and that reclassification changes what every future send of that template costs. Representative samples that clearly show a transactional, order-tied message help the template land in the category — and the price band — you designed it for.

• One sample is required for each variable in the body, header, and dynamic URL buttons.
• Samples are review-only and are never delivered to customers.
• Realistic samples help Meta place your template in the correct billing category.
• Poor samples are a common, avoidable cause of template rejection and delay.

How to write sample values that pass review

Treat each sample as a real example of the data that variable will hold in production. If {{2}} is an order ID, give it a value shaped like a real order ID from your system, not 'ABC'. If a variable is a currency amount, include the ₹ symbol and a plausible figure. If it is a date, format it the way your customers actually see it. Match the length and tone of real data too — a name variable should hold a real-looking name, not a full sentence — because Meta checks that the rendered message reads naturally and that variables are not being used to smuggle in content that belongs in the fixed template text. Keeping samples consistent with the variable's true purpose also protects you from a subtler failure: a template that passes review with clean samples but breaks in production when the live data doesn't fit the layout you approved.

• Use production-shaped data: a real-looking order ID, name, amount, or date.
• Include units and symbols (₹, %, dates) exactly as customers will see them.
• Keep sample length close to real values so the layout you approve is the one you send.
• Never use variables to hide promotional or policy-sensitive text from the reviewer.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most frequent errors are dummy samples ('test', 'name', a single character), samples that contradict the variable's role, and forgetting a sample entirely — Meta will not accept a template with an unfilled placeholder, so submission simply fails. Another trap is stuffing a variable with content that should have been fixed template text; reviewers read this as an attempt to game the review, and it often triggers rejection across the whole template. Businesses also stumble when a variable's real values vary far more than the single sample suggests, so a template approved with a short sample looks broken once long real-world values flow through. Finally, remember that editing an approved template's variables can send it back for re-review, so getting samples right the first time saves a full approval cycle.