Marketing vs Utility Templates: Pick the Right Category and Pay Less

How Meta decides the category

Meta classifies by intent, not by your label. A message that promotes anything — a discount, a new product, a re-engagement nudge — is marketing, even if it also carries an order number.

• Utility: triggered by a user action or an existing transaction
• Marketing: promotional, awareness or re-engagement content
• Authentication: one-time codes only, using the authentication template type

Utility examples that stay utility

Keep transactional templates strictly factual — order ID, amount, date, tracking link, appointment time — with no offers, emojis-as-promotion or upsell lines.

The mistake that doubles your bill

Adding 'Also check out our new collection!' to an order confirmation converts a cheap utility message into a marketing message across your entire transactional volume.

What to do if a template is re-categorised

You can request a review. Meanwhile, split the content: keep the transactional template clean and send promotions as a separate, targeted marketing template.

Managing categories in Tizyy

Tizyy shows each template's current category and estimated cost before you send, so you can catch expensive misclassification early. WhatsApp messaging billed at Meta's official rates.