WhatsApp broadcasts

A broadcast sends an approved WhatsApp template to many people at once. A list is a named group of people you send messages to again and again. Both live in Broadcasts, under the Broadcasts and Lists tabs.

Demo organization: Casa Nativa. Interface shown in Spanish.

Create the broadcastCopy link

1. Open Broadcasts and select New broadcast.
2. Choose the template and its language.
3. If the template has variables, decide which CRM field fills each one.
4. Choose the audience:
   • Ricky contacts: filter by tag or search, just like on the Contacts page. With no filters, it goes to everyone who has a WhatsApp number.
   • Number list: paste one number per line with the country code. You can also paste the phone column from a CSV.
   • Saved lists: pick one of your lists.
5. Review the recipient summary and confirm.

Ricky calculates the audience before sending. If a pasted line holds something that is not a phone number, the line and that part appear under the list; that part is not sent. With a list of numbers, the summary also says how many are already Ricky contacts (they get their personalized data) and how many are new numbers.

Review your broadcastsCopy link

The Broadcasts tab shows every broadcast, newest first:

• Date: when it went out, or when it will if you scheduled it.
• Message: the template that was sent.
• To: the list, the contact filter or the pasted numbers.
• Recipients, Delivered, Read and Failed: how many people there were and what happened to their message. Delivered includes those who already read it.

Open a broadcast to see each recipient with their status:

• Pending: WhatsApp hasn't answered yet, or Ricky is retrying after a temporary error.
• Sent: WhatsApp accepted the message but hasn't confirmed it arrived.
• Delivered: it reached the phone.
• Read: the person opened it. You only know this if they have read receipts on.
• Failed: WhatsApp refused it, or Ricky couldn't send it. The reason shows next to the number.

To send another template to the same numbers, open the broadcast and select Send another message to these numbers. A new broadcast opens with that list already pasted.

Use listsCopy link

There are two kinds of list:

• Fixed numbers: the numbers are saved as they are. Every broadcast goes to those same numbers.
• Contact filter: the filter is saved, not the contacts. Every broadcast goes to the contacts that match it that day, including ones you added later.

You can create a list in three ways:

• In the Lists tab, select New list, name it and paste the numbers or choose the filter.
• While creating a broadcast, under Ricky contacts or Number list, select Save as list.
• In a broadcast's details, select Save these numbers as a list.

The Lists tab shows who each list includes, how many broadcasts you've sent to it and when the last one was. Select Send to open a new broadcast with that list already chosen. Opening a list shows its numbers, or its filter with the See these contacts link, how many people it would reach today and every broadcast you've sent to it.

Each list has its own name. Deleting a list doesn't change broadcasts you already sent.

RequirementsCopy link

• You need at least one approved template.
• Broadcasts use the number you choose in the template step.
• Check that the variables have valid data for the audience. A pasted number doesn't guarantee there's a contact record with every field needed.
• Only send to people who have agreed to receive these messages. An approved template doesn't replace that consent.

Sent doesn't prove the customer received it: Delivered and Read do. Don't repeat the whole broadcast to fix a few failures.