Parents read WhatsApp and do not read the portal. The subtlety is that the person receiving the message is usually not the person the message is about, which changes what consent means.
The category decides everything else: the price, whether it reaches somebody who opted out, and the criteria it is reviewed against.
| Message | Category | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Absence, early pickup, incident | Utility | Time-critical and expected. Reaches everybody. |
| Fee due, fee received | Utility | A payment reminder about an existing obligation, not a promotion. |
| Open day, new term enrolment | Marketing | Even to existing parents, if it is unprompted. |
A parent who opts out of marketing still receives absence notifications — that is a utility message about their own child. But a school that treats an enrolment form as blanket consent for promotional messages is the school that receives the complaint. Zanii records each opt-out as a signed consent receipt with a timestamp, which is the artefact you produce rather than an assurance you give.
{{1}} was marked absent from {{2}} today at {{3}}. Reply here if this is expected.
Category: Utility
The double braces are variables WhatsApp fills per recipient. Meta rejects a template whose numbering has gaps, and Zanii catches that before you submit it.