# Template categories

> What the marketing, utility and authentication categories mean, and how a template's category changes its price, who receives it and how Meta reviews it.

Source: https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/template-categories/

Every template has one of three categories: marketing, utility or
authentication. Meta uses the category to set the price of each message, to
decide who can turn it off, and to review the template. Choosing the right one
avoids rejections and surprise costs.

## Why it exists

WhatsApp wants customers to trust messages from businesses. A message the
customer is waiting for, like an order update, is different from a sale
announcement. The category tells Meta which kind of message it is.

- **Marketing** is anything that promotes your business: offers, sales, new
  arrivals, invitations, or "we miss you" messages. Blue Lotus Fashion's
  `diwali_offer` is a marketing template.
- **Utility** is about something the customer already did or asked for: an
  order confirmed or shipped, a payment reminder, a change to a booking.
- **Authentication** is a one-time code that lets a customer sign in or
  confirm who they are.

## Why the category matters

**Price.** Meta charges for each template message delivered. The rate depends
on the category and the customer's country. Marketing costs the most. See
[How campaign pricing works](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/how-campaign-pricing-works/).

**Opt-out.** Customers can stop marketing messages from your business in
WhatsApp. Soosh then leaves them out of marketing campaigns. Utility and
authentication messages still reach them. See
[Marketing opt-out](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/marketing-opt-out/).

**Review.** Meta checks that the wording fits the category. An order update
that also promotes a sale is marketing, and Meta rejects it as utility or
moves it to marketing. See [Template approval](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/template-approval/).

## How it works in Soosh

You choose the category when you create a template, under **What are you
sending?**. Soosh describes each one: **Marketing** for offers, launches,
invitations and news, **Utility** for order updates, reminders and account
alerts, and **Authentication** for one-time codes to sign in or verify.

The category shows as a badge next to each template in
[**Campaigns > Message templates**](https://app.soosh.io/templates). When you add people to a campaign, the
**Estimated cost** says which kind of messages you're paying for, like "for
120 marketing messages".

Once Meta approves a template, its category is fixed. That's Meta's rule, and
Soosh locks the choice. To use a different category, create a new template.

### When Meta changes the category

Meta can move a template to another category, usually from utility to
marketing. It can do this when it reviews the template, or later, after a
notice. When the change is done, Meta tells Soosh and the badge changes. Soosh
also picks up the new category when you click **Sync from Meta**.

Soosh doesn't send you an alert when this happens. From then on, the template
is treated as marketing everywhere: it costs the marketing rate, and customers
who opted out of marketing are skipped.

## What it means for you

- **Be honest about the category.** Calling a promotion "utility" doesn't make
  it cheaper. It gets rejected, or moved to marketing.
- **Keep utility messages to the point.** An order update for Priya should
  talk about her order, not this week's sale.
- **Send offers separately.** Send the order update as utility, and the offer
  as a marketing campaign to the people who want it.
- **Check the badges now and then.** If a template moved to marketing, your
  campaigns with it cost more and reach fewer people.

## Related

- [Create a template](https://docs.soosh.io/guides/templates/create-a-template/)
- [Fix a rejected template](https://docs.soosh.io/guides/templates/fix-a-rejected-template/)
- [Template approval](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/template-approval/)
- [How campaign pricing works](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/how-campaign-pricing-works/)
- [Marketing opt-out](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/marketing-opt-out/)
- [The 24-hour window](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/the-24-hour-window/)