Quickstart: your first broadcast

This walks you through your first broadcast, from a spreadsheet of phone numbers to reading the results. Most of the time goes on waiting for WhatsApp to approve your template, so start there.

By the end you will have sent one approved template to a group of opted-in customers, with each message greeting them by name.

What you'll need

A connected WhatsApp number.
A list of customers who agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp. A spreadsheet with a name and phone number for each is enough.
One message worth sending. A new arrival, a sale, a restock. Something a customer would be glad to get.

flowchart LR
    A["1. Create a template"] --> B["2. Prepare your list"]
    B --> C["3. Import it"]
    C --> D["4. Filter your audience"]
    D --> E["5. Send the broadcast"]
    E --> F["6. Read the results"]

Step 1: Create a template

Every broadcast to customers who have not messaged you in the last 24 hours needs an approved template. Create it first, because approval can take anywhere from a minute to a day, and you can do steps 2 to 4 while you wait.

For a first broadcast, keep it simple: a TEXT template in the Marketing category, one variable for the customer's name, and a URL button to your store.

Hi {{1}},

Our new summer collection is live, with 40 new styles in linen and cotton.

Take a look before your size sells out.

Thank you for shopping with us.
Reply STOP to unsubscribe.

Add a Call to Action button with the title Shop now and your collection link as the value. Then submit it.

For the full walkthrough, see Create a template. To make sure it passes review first time, check it against Why templates get rejected.

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Set up STOP before you send
The last line of that template only works if STOP is set up as an opt-out keyword. It takes a minute. See Opt-in and opt-out.

Step 2: Prepare your list

Put your contacts in a spreadsheet with these columns, then download it as a .csv file.

Name,Mobile Number,Tags
Priya Sharma,9876543210,summer_launch_2026
Rahul Mehta,+919812345678,summer_launch_2026
Anna Clarke,+447911123456,summer_launch_2026

Three things to get right:

Indian numbers can be written with or without 91 or +91.
Numbers outside India must start with + and the country code. A foreign number without them is read as an Indian number and gets 91 added in front, which makes it a wrong number.
Give everyone a tag you will use for this broadcast, such as summer_launch_2026. Create the tag first under Manage → Tags, spelled exactly as in your file. A tag that does not exist, or differs in capitals, is not added to anyone. See Tags and attributes.

See Add and import contacts for every column you can include.

Step 3: Import it

Go to the Contacts page.
Click Import in the top right.

Click Upload File and pick your .csv file.

Match each column in your file to a contact field: Name to the name, Mobile Number to the phone number, Tags to tags.

Click Import.

Check the result with View History on the Contacts page. It shows how many contacts were added, how many were updated, and how many could not be added. If any failed, download the report to see why.

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Imported contacts count as opted in
WhatsApp Marketing treats every contact you import as someone who agreed to hear from you. Only import people who did. Messaging people who never agreed is the fastest way to get blocked, and blocks lower your quality rating.

Step 4: Filter your audience

On the Contacts page, click Filter.
Choose Tags, and pick the tag you used in your file.
Click Apply.

A dot above the Filter button tells you a filter is active. Check it is there before you go on, because without it you are looking at every contact you have.

Look at the number of contacts that match. It has to fit inside your daily messaging limit. A new number can send to 250 different people in 24 hours. Messages to anyone beyond your limit fail. See Messaging limits and quality.

📘
Send to yourself first
Add your own number and a few colleagues' to the list with a tag such as test_team. Filter for that tag and broadcast to them before the real audience. You see exactly what customers will see, on a real phone, and a typo costs you nothing.

Step 5: Send the broadcast

Select all the filtered contacts and click Broadcast.

Enter a Campaign Name. Each campaign needs a name you have not used before, such as summer_launch_2026_first_send.
Pick your approved template.

Fill in the variables. For {{1}}, click the attribute button and choose $FirstName, so each customer is greeted by their own first name.
Enter a fallback for $FirstName, such as there. A contact with no name on file then gets "Hi there" instead of the message failing for them.

If the button link ends in a variable, fill that in too. If the template has an image, video or file, attach it now.
Read the preview once more, then click Send Now.

If a warning says Audience size exceeding remaining quota, some messages may not be delivered, your audience is bigger than what is left of today's limit. Go back and narrow the filter, or send the rest tomorrow.

The broadcast goes out straight away. To send it at a later time instead, see Broadcast settings.

Step 6: Read the results

Click Go to Campaign after sending, or open the Campaigns page and click your campaign.

Look at these in order:

Failed. Open the failed list and read the reasons. A handful of numbers not on WhatsApp is normal for any list. A large share failing for one reason tells you something to fix. See Failed messages.
Replied. Everyone who replied is waiting for an answer in Live Chat. Answer within the 24-hour window and you can write back freely.
Delivered and Read. These tell you how many saw it. They matter less than replies, because a reply is a customer taking the next step.

What to do next

Answer the replies. A reply is a customer asking you something, often right before they buy. It is the most valuable thing a broadcast produces.

Follow up with the people who read it. From the campaign's Delivered section you can pick out those who read the message and broadcast to them again. See Manage broadcasts.

Set up the messages that send themselves. Cart reminders and order updates work without anyone pressing send. See Ecomm+.