Send Broadcast/Template Message
Overview
Once you've created a broadcast message and Meta has approved it, you can send it to your participants. This page covers the full sending process — uploading contacts, mapping variables, linking to a study, previewing messages, and monitoring deliverability.
Before You Send
Before you can send a broadcast, you need four things:
A created broadcast message — Designed and submitted through the Broadcast Messages tab. See Broadcast Messages for how to create one.
Meta approval — The template must be approved by Meta before it can be sent. You can see the approval status in the Broadcast Messages tab.
A published study — If the broadcast includes a campaign button that starts a study, that study must be published to WhatsApp.
A participant list — Either a CSV/Excel file or manually entered contact numbers.
Note: CSV/Excel must have phone number in the first column and the title must be phoneNumber. And cell phone numbers must have the country code in the beginning of the number.
How to Send
Two Access Points
You can send a broadcast from two places in the platform:
From the study — Navigate to the Share tab inside the study and click the send button.
From the Broadcasts tab — Click Actions → Send in the sidebar.
Both routes lead to the same sending workflow.
Step-by-Step Sending Process
Step 1: Upload Participants
Choose how to provide participant contact details:
Upload a CSV or Excel file with phone numbers and any fields you want to use as variables.
Enter numbers manually if you only need to send to a few people.
Your file must include a phone number column with country codes. You can also add optional columns like name, topic, company, or product.
Step 3: Map Variables to CSV Columns
If your template includes placeholders like {{1}} or {{2}}, map each one to a column in your CSV.
Example:
{{1}}→Name{{2}}→Topic
The platform uses that mapping to personalise each message.
Tip: Use clear CSV column names. They appear exactly as written in the mapping screen.
Delivery & Batching
How Messages Are Sent
Messages are sent in batches of 25. Small sends (under 25 participants) deliver almost immediately. Larger sends (hundreds or thousands of participants) roll out over a period of minutes. You do not need to manage batching manually — the platform handles it automatically.
Sending Limits
Your WhatsApp number has a daily sending limit based on your Meta Business Manager verification status:
Unverified: 250 messages/day
Verified (Level 1): 1,000 messages/day
Verified (Level 2): 10,000 messages/day
Verified (Level 3): 100,000 messages/day
If your send exceeds your daily limit, messages will queue and continue sending the following day.
Plan ahead: If you're launching a large study, ensure your number's sending limit can handle the volume. Start warming up your number well before launch day.
Automated Reminders
Reminder broadcasts can be configured to send automatically based on participant behaviour:
Time-based — Send a reminder X hours or days after the initial invitation.
Condition-based — Send only to participants who haven't completed the study.
Frequency — Daily, weekly, or custom intervals.
Scheduled — Pre-configured to run automatically for the duration of the study.
Effective Reminder Content
Reminders work best when they include urgency ("Survey closes Friday" or "Last chance to participate"), incentive reinforcement ("Complete to enter the R3,000 prize draw"), brevity (one short message, not a paragraph), and a clear call to action (a single button to resume the study).
Note: Reminder messages cannot use CSV variable placeholders because they fire automatically and cannot dynamically pull individual participant data at send time.
Monitoring Deliverability
After sending, you can track the performance of each broadcast in the Broadcasts tab. Refresh the page to see updated stats. Each send displays delivered, read, click/start, opt-out, and failed counts. See more here:
Template Message history/statsFailure Reasons
When a message fails to deliver, the platform displays the reason. Common failure causes include:
Invalid number The phone number doesn't exist or is incorrectly formatted. Check number formatting, particularly missing country codes or extra spaces.
No WhatsApp account The number is valid but doesn't have WhatsApp installed.
Number blocked your account The participant has previously blocked your WhatsApp number.
Rate limit exceeded You've exceeded your daily sending limit.
Template paused Meta has paused your template due to quality issues.
Tip: If you see a high failure rate, check your CSV for formatting issues — particularly missing country codes or extra spaces in phone numbers.
Stats in the Study View
Broadcast delivery stats also appear inside the study itself, displayed as a visual graph showing delivered, read, clicked, opted-out, and failed counts across all sends associated with that study. This gives you a consolidated view of participant engagement without needing to check each broadcast individually.
For detailed stats analysis, benchmarks, and optimisation strategies, see Broadcast Statistics.
Sending Multiple Batches
You can send the same broadcast template multiple times to different participant groups. Common scenarios include:
Wave-based recruitment — Send to 500 participants on Monday, another 500 on Wednesday based on response rates from the first wave.
Segment-based sends — Different CSV files for different participant groups (e.g., customers vs. non-customers).
Reminder sends — Resend to participants who received the invitation but haven't started the study.
Geographic batching — Send at different times for different timezones.
Each send is tracked separately in the Broadcasts tab with its own name, stats, and delivery metrics.
Sending Best Practices
Before Sending
Verify your CSV — Check phone number formatting, country codes, and that variable columns contain the correct data.
Preview every message — Read through the personalised previews before hitting send, especially for the first batch.
Test first — Send to yourself or a small internal group using the test link before sending to real participants.
Check your sending limit — Ensure your daily limit can handle the volume you're about to send.
Timing Your Sends
Mid-week mornings tend to yield the highest engagement for professional audiences.
Weekday evenings work better for consumer audiences.
Avoid early mornings, late nights, Mondays, and Fridays for initial invitations.
Stagger large sends — if you're sending to thousands, spread across 2–3 days to monitor response rates and adjust messaging if needed.
Protecting Your Number Reputation
Don't spam — Only message participants who have a reason to hear from you.
Honour opt-outs immediately — This is both a Meta requirement and good practice.
Warm up new numbers gradually — Start with small batches and scale up as your sending limit increases.
Monitor block rates — If participants are blocking your number, revisit your message content and frequency.
After Sending
Monitor deliverability — Check the Broadcasts tab shortly after sending to catch any delivery failures early.
Track click-through rates — Low start rates relative to delivered rates may indicate your message needs to be more compelling.
Follow up — Plan reminder broadcasts for participants who received but didn't start the study.
Watch opt-out rates — High opt-outs signal your message may be poorly targeted or too frequent.
Known Limitations
Batches of 25 — Messages are sent in groups of 25, so large sends take time to fully deliver. This is automatic and cannot be adjusted.
Failed messages are not retried — If a message fails (invalid number, no WhatsApp account), it will not be automatically resent. Review failures and correct the data before resending manually.
Variable mapping is per-send — If you send the same template to a new CSV, you'll need to remap variables each time.
Sending limits are daily — They reset every 24 hours. If you hit your limit, remaining messages queue for the next day.
Stats may take a moment to update — Refresh the Broadcasts tab after a few minutes to see the latest delivery metrics.
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