How to Send WhatsApp Bulk Messages Using WhatsApp Business

Every now and then, you would receive a message on your WhatsApp app about a product, sale, or simply an update about your account. Because this message is addressed to you, you might think that you are the only one who got it.

But that is not the case. Companies use their database to segment their audience and use WhatsApp Cloud API to send various outreach messages with the help of WhatsApp business marketing tools to maximize engagement. In fact, WhatsApp offers a staggering engagement rate of 70%.

Don’t worry if you are still confused about how it is done. In this guide, I will explain what WhatsApp's bulk messaging feature is and how you can use it to send bulk messages to your target market. 

I will also go over the problems you might face when using the WhatsApp Business app to send a large number of messages at once and provide solutions for the same.

What is bulk messaging on WhatsApp?

In Layman's terms, bulk messages in WhatsApp refer to the texts that are sent to a huge number of recipients at once during WhatsApp marketing. 

These messages allow you to conserve time and energy as you are not creating and sending them one at a time to your audience. This way, you can consistently engage, address questions, and guide them across the stages of the sales pipeline.

“The buyer’s journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered.”

Now you might think, can I send bulk messages using the normal WhatsApp app? In theory, you can. But the normal WhatsApp app is built for users to send a limited amount of messages and doesn't offer facilities like bulk messaging. 

Also, if you send too many messages using a user account instead of a business one, your recipients might consider it spam and report you to WhatsApp, which can result in you getting banned from the platform. 

That’s why you should use WhatsApp Business to send bulk messages because a verified business profile allows you to build trust and rapport among your audience. On top of that, you can add videos, images, and use unlimited characters to craft valuable messages.

So, to send bulk messages using the WhatsApp Business App, you need to first create a WhatsApp broadcast list in the app. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Go to the WhatsApp Business App.
2. Navigate to the Chat> Menu button> New List.
3. Then, enter the names of the people you wish to send the messages to. You can also tap the + button and choose them from your contacts.
4. After you have selected all the people, click OK. And tap Create.

Why should you use WhatsApp API instead of the WhatsApp Business App?

If you are a startup or a small business, the broadcast feature in WhatsApp Business App is sufficient for your needs. It doesn’t cost anything and you don’t have to get any other software.

However, the WhatsApp Business App is not suitable for you if you want to send bulk messages to a large number of people because the app doesn’t allow you to add more than 256 contacts to a broadcast list.

This means that you cannot send messages to more than 256 people using the broadcast list. So, if you have a bigger target audience, you need to use the WhatsApp business platform API. With that said, let’s look at a few other advantages of WhatsApp Business API.

Benefits of using WhatsApp API

There are various benefits of using WhatsApp API for your business. Here are some of the advantages:

Rich media support

With the API, you can send various types of media files, such as images, videos, and documents to showcase your products or services based on your WhatsApp marketing strategies.

Doing so allows you to provide visual instructions and deliver a more engaging customer experience.

Scalability and integration 

One of the advantages that API offers in comparison to the app is the ability to scale your campaigns by integrating it with other platforms. For example, you can integrate WhatsApp API with your CRM to streamline workflows and improve productivity.

Automated messaging

The API lets you automate certain messaging processes like sending abandoned cart reminders or regular updates to engage your customers to get more sales. It also helps you in your automation of WhatsApp marketing process.

WhatsApp automation also helps in saving time and resources while ensuring consistent and prompt conversations. And by applying some hacks for WhatsApp automation can help brands to improve their engagement and increase their number of sales significantly.

Superior customer support

WhatsApp Business API facilitates efficient customer support by letting you have a presence on a channel that your customers use daily. 

You can provide personalized assistance using WhatsApp and incorporate chatbots to handle common inquiries, offering instant support to your customers 24/7.

How to send bulk messages using WhatsApp API?

WhatsApp API allows you to integrate WhatsApp’s messaging capabilities into external applications and use them to send messages, manage contacts, and automate message sending at scale. 

To use WhatsApp API to send bulk messages, you require two things:

1. A WhatsApp API account and
2. External messaging software like Zixflow. 

So let’s talk about the WhatsApp number. To set up an official WhatsApp Cloud API, you will need four things:

• A phone number that is not linked with WhatsApp.
• A Facebook account for your business.
• A privacy policy page on your site.
• Payment method to add funds for your campaign, such as credit or debit card.

After that, you have to set up the API account. To do that, you have to create a Meta developer account and once that is done, you have to set up the WhatsApp API. It is not a difficult but somewhat complex process. That’s why, I am linking this guide on how to set up a WhatsApp API account that explains the entire process from the ground up.

Now, after setting up the WhatsApp API, you also need WhatsApp Business Message Templates because unlike sending normal messages on WhatsApp, businesses need certain message templates that have to be pre-approved to send bulk messages through the WhatsApp API. To create and send message templates for review, check out this video below.

Send bulk messages using Zixflow

Once you have finished setting up the WhatsApp API and got your business ID, phone number, and access token, you can integrate it with Zixflow.

Why Zixflow? Because it is a sales engagement platform that lets you run outreach campaigns on WhatsApp. It offers advanced targeting functionality, where you can segment your audience and send tailored messages for WhatsApp marketing to particular segments. You can also send the messages at a predetermined time by utilizing this tool for Whatsapp automation.

On top of that, Zixflow provides a robust sales CRM which you can integrate with your WhatsApp Business API to leverage the data stored in the CRM in your campaigns. On that note, let’s see how you can connect Zixflow with WhatsApp Business API.

To link your WhatsApp API with Zixflow, log in to your Zixflow account and click on the campaign option in the left side menu.

Now you are in the campaign sections. Here, click on the new campaign button at the top left and you will see all the different types of outreach campaigns you can create. 

Next, if this is your first time integrating WhatsApp with Zixflow, you will see a red-colored option under WhatsApp campaigns. Click on it to open the account settings and press the Add Account option.

Now, you have to enter your WhatsApp Business Account ID, phone number ID, and the access token that you generated after creating your WhatsApp API. Click the save & validate button to finish the process.

And that is it. After this, you can create a WhatsApp campaign and import the contacts you want to send the message to. With Zixflow, you can also save craft message templates and see how they will look on the devices of your recipients.

WhatsApp + Zixflow to reach a global audience

Sending bulk messages on WhatsApp is an efficient and effective way to reach out to your audience quickly. However, you have to ensure that you are complying with WhatsApp’s policies and prioritize user privacy before sending these messages.

By following the guidelines and employing a thoughtful approach, you can leverage WhatsApp to communicate with your target market and promote your offerings to achieve business goals.

And with Zixflow, you can combine WhatsApp’s reach with the usability of Zixflow to engage with a global audience and utilize different types of sales to market your products or services.  

It is an outbound sales platform that lets you run WhatsApp campaigns as well as other kinds like email and SMS. So, you can sign up on the platform for free and ensure multi-channel engagement with various campaign options available in the software.

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