Before you can send WhatsApp messages

WhatsApp is not like email. You cannot simply write a message and send it, and the send button stays disabled until three things are true.

Read this before planning any WhatsApp campaign into your timeline.

The three requirements

1. A connected WhatsApp Business account. Yours, through Meta. See Connect WhatsApp to your event.

2. A message template approved by Meta. This is the one that catches people out. You cannot send free-form marketing messages. You write a template, submit it to Meta, and wait for a human review. See Create a WhatsApp message template.

3. Phone numbers for your recipients, with country codes. Collect them with a Phone field on your registration form — see The 22 question types.

Meta approval is the long pole

Template review typically takes anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days, and templates get rejected — for wording that looks promotional in the wrong category, for placeholder mistakes, or for reasons that are not always obvious.

Submit your reminder templates as soon as registration opens, even if you will not use them for months.

Check the page

The WhatsApp page has a Before anything can be sent section listing what is still outstanding. If a send button is disabled, that is where the answer is.

Why the restrictions exist

Meta controls WhatsApp tightly to stop it becoming a spam channel. Templates are pre-reviewed, categories are enforced, and users can report you.

That is also why it works: a WhatsApp message gets read where an email does not. The restrictions are the reason for the open rate.

What happens next

Once all three are in place, campaigns and invitations by WhatsApp become available — see Run a WhatsApp campaign.

Common problems

The send button is disabled. Work through the three requirements above.

No templates in the picker. You have none approved. Submitted and pending does not count.

Your template was rejected. Read Meta's reason, adjust the wording or the category, and resubmit. Marketing wording in a utility category is a common cause.

Some recipients were skipped. No phone number, or no country code.

You want to send one-off free-form messages. Not permitted outside specific circumstances. Everything here goes through approved templates.