How To Create Broadcast List In Whatsapp Web

If you are on this page, you are probably a business that wishes to target your customers/audience via WhatsApp Broadcast Messages.

There are so many free/paid tools out there claiming to help you create a WhatsApp broadcast list to send messages to the customers in one click but most of them are not legit.

In this article. I'll cover all the aspects of the WhatsApp Broadcast and you'll be able to figure out how you can leverage WhatsApp broadcast for your business.

There are way a few ways to start a WhatsApp broadcast but only one of them is the most effective for any business.

Let's talk more about WhatsApp broadcast in detail.

Table of Content

What is a WhatsApp Broadcast?

If you are using WhatsApp for your daily communications, you might have received a few messages like "Send This Message To 10 More People and You'll get good news by the evening". These WhatsApp messages are broadcast messages that are being sent to you.

A broadcast refers to sending a signal or message from a single source to multiple destinations at an instant of time.

For WhatsApp broadcast, when a WhatsApp user sends a message to its multiple recipients in one click this is called a WhatsApp broadcast message. No recipients will be able to see the other recipients of the broadcast.

Either you use the WhatsApp messaging App or WhatsApp Business App, you can initiate a WhatsApp broadcast just by clicking on the three dots on the upper right three-dots menu on the main 'CHATS' window.

It's very easy to build a WhatsApp broadcast list on WhatsApp Business App to send the desired messages to your audience. But as the folks say 'Greate Power Comes With Some Sacrifices', there are some limitations to this type of broadcast on WhatsApp.

Limitations Of WhatsApp Broadcast using WhatsApp Business App?

1. Imagine, a business that has your WhatsApp number and the number of thousands of people like you. Now, even you have not added them, they are regularly spamming your inbox with promotional messages as you receive on your SMS daily.

It doesn't sound good. Does it?

To take care of this, WhatsApp Business App sends a broadcast message only to those users who have saved your number as their contact. So, you can't send any promotional messages as broadcast. Only contacts who have added you to their phone's address book will receive your broadcast message.

2. You can select a maximum of 256 contacts to create a WhatsApp Broadcast list. As you are a business owner, you most likely have a higher number of contacts than 256.

3. No APIs or integration is available hence businesses can't automate themselves using their APIs and CRM.

Features Of WhatsApp Broadcast using WhatsApp Business App:

The message is sent individually to each contact.
A maximum of 256 contacts can be added to a WhatsApp broadcast list.
Communication is private. Each recipient will receive the message as a regular chat.
Recipients are not aware the message is sent through a broadcast. There will be no such label on the messages.
The recipient must have your number saved as a contact to receive the message.

Is WhatsApp Broadcast using App enough for your business?

It all depends upon the use case. Let me explain.

If you are a local/small business that is operating well using WhatsApp Business App you'll probably have 100-200 customers whom you know personally. They very well have your WhatsApp Business number in their contacts.

In this scenario, you can take the advantage of WhatsApp Broadcast lists using your WhatsApp business App as most of them are likely to receive the message you are willing to send.

If you are a well-established medium or large business that has more than 200 clients you may have concluded that WhatsApp Broadcast using the regular WhatsApp Business App is not your cup of tea.

So, What's the solution?

Well, in 2018, WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Business API . The purpose is to help SMBs to communicate with their customers on WhatsApp.

To use the WhatsApp APIs, businesses need to verify themselves to activate their Business number for WhatsApp APIs. But WhatsApp alone can't verify every business around the globe.

To resolve this, WhatsApp provided its WhatsApp APIs to ~35 third-party service providers that are known as WhatsApp Business Solution Partners(BSP).

These BSPs built their systems over WhatsApp Business API to provide the businesses features like WhatsApp CRM, Contact Management, and much more.

With WhatsApp API-enabled business numbers, you can broadcast messages to a thousand of your customers at a time.

Key Features Of WATI- WhatsApp Team Inbox:

How To Send WhatsApp Broadcast Using WATI?

You can send Bulk WhatsApp Messages to your list of contacts using WATI.

Once you have WATI access, you can use the Broadcast module to send the messages.

Step 1:On the WATI Dashboard, navigate to the 'Broadcasts' tab.

Step 2:Click on 'New Broadcast' button on the top-right side.

Step 3: Add the broadcast name, choose the template and choose the time when you want to send the message. Click on 'Next'.

Step 4:Choose from a list of your contacts or upload your own list of contacts. Click on 'Add Broadcast'.

Step 5: Track yourWhatsApp broadcast status and analytics.

You can track how many users read your messages and how many replied to your messages. You can check all their replies on the 'Team Inbox'.

For a more detailed walkthrough, you can watch this video.

You can also send Bulk WhatsApp Messages using Google Sheet.

Watch this video to understand how –

Advantages –

You do not have to worry about the number being banned
Reliable solution – can be used for automation, messages can be scheduled
Auto-reply chatbots can be built
Multiple Agents can log in and reply to customers
APIs can be integrated with external systems – to send transactional updates
Possibility of getting Green Tick Verification

Disadvantages –

Requires Business API approval
Templates must be pre-approved by WhatsApp – Promotional messages are not allowed
Not for personal use

With WhatsApp APIs, you can also enable a WhatsApp Chatbot on your business number that'll help you automate your sales and customer support.

How to apply for WhatsApp Official API?

To apply for WhatsApp Official APIs, you must have the below details –

WhatsApp Phone Number (Should not have a WhatsApp account, this number is non-transferable)
If you want to delete the WhatsApp account with your number, follow these steps.
Business Display Name (Should have a clear relationship with Business)
To know about the Display Name Guide, please click here.
Verified Facebook Business Manager ID (should be verified by uploading business documents)
If you do not have a Facebook Business, please create by clicking here.
To verify your Facebook Business, please follow Facebook Business Verification Process .

Once you have these details, you must submit these details to a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) such as WATI. To apply with WATI, you can apply using this link.

About WATI

WATI is a product of Clare.AI and is WhatsApp's Official API Partner.

The WATI Platform currently allows you to create a WhatsApp Chatbot without coding.

You can use the drag and drop chatbot builder or create a chatbot using keywords through WATI. To know more about WATI, visit the official website.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to export WhatsApp broadcast list?

When you start a new broadcast on the WATI dashboard, you can Export your WhatsApp Broadcast list as .csv.

How to add multiple contacts in WhatsApp broadcast?

You can either pick the contacts that've recently contacted you or upload the list of contacts to whom you want to start a WhatsApp broadcast for.

How many contacts can be added in WhatsApp broadcast?

If you use regular WhatsApp App or WhatsApp Business App to make a WhatsApp Broadcast list, you can add a maximum of 256 contacts in your List.

When you use WATI for broadcast, you can create a list of 1000 people per day for your WhatsApp broadcast.

How WhatsApp broadcast works?

WhatsApp broadcast is used to send a set of messages to multiple contacts in a single click. Sender need to create a list of recipients and then pick the message to start a WhatsApp broadcast.