WhatsApp Broadcast Messages: The Complete Guide for Businesses

A WhatsApp broadcast sends one message to many people as individual chats — recipients can't see each other, and replies come back privately. There are two very different ways to do it: broadcast lists in the WhatsApp Business app (free, capped at 256 contacts, with a catch) and API broadcasts through the official WhatsApp Business API (scalable, measurable, no catch).

How do broadcast lists work in the WhatsApp Business app?

You pick up to 256 contacts and send them one message. It's free and takes a minute — but there's a catch most businesses discover too late: a recipient only gets your broadcast if they saved your number in their contacts. For a typical business list, that silently drops a large share of recipients, and you get no report about who was skipped. (Full breakdown of caps, fees and rules in our WhatsApp broadcast limit, rules and cost guide.)

How are API broadcasts different?

API broadcasts are what WABPO's campaigns product does: you pick an audience, attach an approved template and send — then watch delivery and replies live.

How do you send a broadcast people actually reply to?

• Lead with the reason you're writing. "Your size is back in stock" beats "Dear valued customer".
• One message, one purpose. A broadcast with three announcements gets zero actions.
• Add a button. Templates with buttons turn a read into a tap — "Order now", "See menu", "Yes, interested".
• Send at a humane hour in the recipient's timezone.
• Be ready for replies. The point of WhatsApp is the conversation; answer within minutes, not days.

What are the most common broadcast mistakes?

• Broadcasting to people who never opted in — the fastest route to spam reports and, outside the API, to a blocked number.
• Sending the same message to your whole list instead of segmenting.
• No follow-up path — replies arrive and nobody owns them.
• Ignoring the analytics — failed and unread rates tell you exactly what to fix.