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 and communities in WhatsApp? 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. 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.
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 that 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.
A limitation of the WhatsApp Business app
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.
WhatsApp Broadcasting using WhatsApp API
WhatsApp APIs offer a higher degree of functionality compared to the mobile app. With it, you can send large volumes of messages for WhatsApp advertisement, 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. Sales Simplify is one such solution 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 Sales Simplify. 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 Sales Simplify. For doing that, login into Sales Simplify and go to the campaigns option. Here, click on WhatsApp and then tap on the Add WhatsApp button. Add the required details in the corresponding fields and press the save & validate option.
With that, the integration part is complete. Next, you have to create a WhatsApp campaign to send broadcast messages. For that, head to the campaign section again and click on WhatsApp. You will now be in the 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 Sales Simplify 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 schedule and split your campaign by 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 WhatsApp’s Broadcast feature
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 Sales Simplify, you can reach out to us. We are just one click away and are always ready to help. 😄
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