How to Use WhatsApp Broadcast for Business: A Simple Guide

Here’s a question for you - are you searching for a way to run marketing campaigns at scale without having to individually craft and send the message? If yes, then WhatsApp Broadcasts are the way to go. 

WhatsApp Broadcasts are a crucial part of WhatsApp marketing that lets you send messages at scale to your target market. Having said that, by using the Broadcast feature, you can take the manual aspect out of your marketing.

But to make the most of this function, you need to have complete knowledge of what it does. So to help you with that, in this guide I will go over the ways you can use the WhatsApp Broadcast using the WhatsApp mobile app and also the WhatsApp Cloud API. So, let’s begin by learning what exactly WhatsApp Broadcast is.

What is WhatsApp Broadcast?

As you can understand from the word “broadcast,” WhatsApp Broadcast is a feature that allows you to send a single message to multiple contacts at the same time. The messages will be delivered individually and each recipient can reply back to your message for further information.

Now a question arises, how are WhatsApp broadcast messages different from the group chat? 

The biggest difference between them is that, in the group chat, the members can see each other’s profiles and messages. But this is not the case with broadcast messages. Here, the recipients can’t tell who else received the message or how they are responding to it. 

This aspect allows you to ensure privacy, making them a great choice for sending bulk messages. Also, the recipients can reply to your broadcast message just like any regular WhatsApp message. This way, you can have a one-to-one communication channel to provide a more personalized experience.

How to use the WhatsApp Broadcast function?

Since the WhatsApp Business platform offers two modes namely, Business app and WhatsApp API (Cloud and On-premise), you can use both of these mediums to send broadcast messages. With that said, let’s see how to use the WhatsApp Business app to do the same first.

WhatsApp Broadcasting with the WhatsApp Business app

WhatsApp Business app is a free mobile application that is available for both Android and iOS devices. It is one of the most downloaded mobile communication apps with 18 million downloads on App Store and Google Play in 2021. 

Using it, you can send broadcast messages to your contacts with ease. To use the Business app for broadcast messaging, you first need to create a WhatsApp Business account if you already don’t have one. 

For that, download the mobile app on your device from suitable app stores. You can also convert your existing account into a WhatsApp Business account. Next, the app will prompt you to enter a phone number. 

After that, you have to provide basic details about your business, like name, industry, description, and address. This will allow your customers to learn more about your business and ensure the messages they are receiving are coming from a legitimate business.

Make sure that you enter accurate information. Once that is done, you will be on the chat screen. Here, tap on the menu option and pick New Broadcast.

Now you can see your contact list. From here, you can select the contacts you want to send the broadcast message to. However, keep in mind that only the people who have saved your phone number in their contacts list can receive your broadcast message. After you have selected the people for your broadcast list, click on the tick mark at the bottom right. 

With that, your broadcast list is ready. It will appear on the chat screen and from there you can send messages like you would normally do on WhatsApp.

Limitation of using WhatsApp Business App to send broadcasts

WhatsApp Business app is good for new companies that do not have to send a lot of messages due to their limited audience size. This is because, in the app, you can include up to 256 contacts in a single broadcast list. That means you can send broadcast messages to only 256 people at a time.

This is an issue for bigger companies that want to send large numbers of messages. So, if you also want to broadcast your message to more than 256 people simultaneously, you have to use the WhatsApp API service for business.

Furthermore, since WhatsApp Broadcast is a one-to-all type of communication, all the contacts in your Broadcast List get the same message. This aspect prevents you from sending tailored messages that are relevant to each contact, limiting you from incorporating various types of content for boosting sales engagement.

On top of that, the WhatsApp Business App doesn’t offer any reporting features. You cannot measure the success of your broadcasts as you don’t know the open, read, or sent rates of your broadcasts, restricting your ability to further optimize your messages.

WhatsApp Broadcasting using WhatsApp Cloud API

WhatsApp APIs offer a higher degree of functionality compared to the mobile app. With it, you can send large volumes of messages, personalize your messages to better fit your audience, and access your WhatsApp account on multiple devices.

However, you will have to use an outreach solution to connect with the API because it doesn’t have a user interface. Zixflow is one such solution and a great alternative of WhatsApp Business that you can integrate with the WhatsApp API to serve as a front end, allowing you to send broadcast messages. 

So, similar to the mobile application, you have to start by setting up the API, configure the webhooks, and link it with Zixflow. All this might sound complicated, but it is not that difficult. Here is an article on how to configure WhatsApp API that will walk you through the complete process.

Once you have set up the API, you have to add your WhatsApp account in Zixflow. To do that, log in to Zixflow and go to the campaigns option. Here, click on Manage under WhatsApp and then tap on the Add WhatsApp button. Follow the on-screen instructions to link WhatsApp Cloud API with your Zixflow account.

Once you are done with integration, you can start sending WhatsApp messages using API to your audience. To create a WhatsApp campaign to send broadcast messages, head to the campaign section again and click on WhatsApp. You will now be in the no-code campaign builder.

Here, you can name your campaign, select the phone number you want to send the messages from, select your audience, and choose the message template you want to use. Since Zixflow has a native sales CRM, you can use it to import audience data. Or you can upload a file with their contact details.

On top of that, you can also use this tool for automation of your WhatsApp broadcast messages by scheduling and splitting your campaign using the options at the bottom of the campaign builder. You can set a date & time for your messages to be sent automatically and use the split feature to send them in batches.

Do keep in mind to test your broadcast message by sending it first to yourself or one of your team members. Make sure the messages are error-free as you cannot undo them once sent to your audience.

Reach out to a wider audience using tailored WhatsApp Broadcasts

All in all, WhatsApp’s broadcast feature is an excellent way to reach out to a large number of contacts quickly, allowing you to foster stronger customer engagement and brand loyalty. 

But if you come across any challenges during the process of either creating a WhatsApp Business account or operating Zixflow, you can reach out to us. We are just one click away and are always ready to help. 😄