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Learn how to send a template message with the Marketing Messages Lite API (“MM Lite API”).

Requirements

• You have an active WhatsApp Business Account and are in a country eligible for MM Lite.
• You have an approved marketing template message.
• You are subscribed to the messages webhook.

Step 1: Accept Terms of Service

1. Navigate to the App Dashboard > WhatsApp > Quickstart panel.
2. Locate the "Improve ROI with Marketing Messages Lite API" module and click the "Get started" button.
3. Click on “Continue to integration guide” and accept the Terms of Service.

Step 2: Send a marketing template message

Use the marketing_messages endpoint to send a template message to yourself.

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>
/marketing_messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
-d 
'{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>",
  "type": "template",
  "template": {
      "name": "<TEMPLATE_NAME>",
      "language": {
          "code": "<LANGUAGE_AND_LOCALE_CODE>"
      },
      "components": [
          {
              "type": "body",
              "parameters": [
                  {
                      "type": "text",
                      "text": "text-string"
                  }
              ]
          }
      ]
  }
}'

Step 3: Verify message was sent through the status webhook

MM Lite API triggers status messages webhooks for events such as sent, delivered, and read. When a message is sent via MM Lite, the webhook payload will have category and conversation.origin.type set to marketing_lite.

{
  "conversation": {
    "id": "<CONVERSATION_ID>",
    "origin": {
      "type": "marketing_lite"
    }
  },
  "pricing": {
    "billable": true,
    "pricing_model": "PMP",
    "category": "marketing_lite"
  }
}

Geographic availability of features

Some advanced features and reporting capabilities of MM Lite API are available only in particular geographies due to Meta policy and/or local regulation.

European Economic Area, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea

• Messages sent from a business phone number in these countries, or to a consumer in these countries, will not receive delivery optimizations. Note that per-user marketing message template limits are also not active in these countries, so a lack of delivery optimizations will not have any effect on message delivery.
• Messages sent from a business phone number in these countries, or to a consumer in these countries, will not have click and conversion reporting metrics available.
• For businesses in these countries, metrics are not available on Ads Manager UI or Insights API. As with Cloud API, metrics will be available via Business Management API and WhatsApp Manager UI ‘conversation’ metrics.

United States

• Starting Apr 1, 2025, marketing messages sent to WhatsApp users in the United States will not be delivered (error code 131049). Note that this policy is not specific to MM Lite API - it is in place across all Business Messaging APIs (including Cloud API, see docs).
• Businesses phone numbers in the US will continue to be able to use MM Lite API to message users outside of the United States.

Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and three sanctioned regions in the Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk):

• Businesses in these regions are not eligible to onboard, and messages cannot be sent to a consumer in these regions. This policy is not specific to MM Lite API - it is in place across all Business Messaging APIs (including Cloud API, see docs.

Russia

Starting June 20, 2025, businesses in Russia will be able to use MM Lite API with the following feature exceptions:

• Messages sent by a business with a Meta business profile in Russia, or using a payment method with a Russian address, will not receive delivery optimizations.
• Messages sent from a business phone number in these countries, or to a consumer in these countries, will not have click and conversion reporting metrics available. For businesses in these countries, metrics are not available on Ads Manager UI or Insights API. As with Cloud API, metrics will continue to be available via Business Management API and WhatsApp Manager UI conversation metrics.
• All other features of MM Lite API continue to be available.

Learn more

• Learn about Automated creative optimizations
• Learn about additional marketing message formats