A Guide to Bulk Messaging on WhatsApp: Best Practices & Recommended Tips

Bulk WhatsApp message sender has become a popular marketing tool for brands.

Even though a mass broadcast has all the traits of making it feel clinical, generic, and spammy, there are many ways you can personalize it – making your customer feel valued and reassured.

That is, if it’s done correctly.

With any new marketing strategy or channel, it is easy to get excited and look past guidelines and best practices, which is why some brands do not see a good ROI on their broadcast campaigns.

This is exactly what we’ll deep dive into today’s blog post.

After you’re done reading, you’ll know how you can send your first Bulk WhatsApp campaign, and our time-tested tips we recommend following so you don’t get flagged and banned.

Ready to enjoy higher engagement and conversion rates from your next bulk message campaign?

Let’s begin!

What are Bulk WhatsApp Messages?

Bulk WhatsApp Messages is the practice of sending a ‘blast’, or a large number of WhatsApp messages for promotional or informational reasons.

As you might know, WhatsApp’s broadcast feature was initially created for personal use, where users can send a message to multiple contacts without having to create a group.

Brands saw the potential for this feature as a marketing tool through which they could send updates and alerts of new promotions.

The process was rudimentary to begin with, but Meta has created a robust system for brands to send rich media like visuals and video and create space for conversations with their customers.

Concerns about privacy and spam were also factored in by strongly recommending brands get opt-in permissions from customers and creating messaging limits. Customers also have the power to block and report, and consequently affect the quality rating of brands.

Integration and automation with AI have also helped leverage Whatsapp’s potential to personalize messages and manage responses efficiently.

The Importance of WhatsApp for Business in 2023

As we come to a close to 2023, WhatsApp has cemented itself as an invaluable tool for businesses, big and small, across the world.

Why has it become such a powerful platform for customer engagement, marketing, and sales?

Let’s take a look:

1. Global Adoption: With over 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp hosts a large audience pool for businesses since it’s popular across different age groups and demographics, offering unparalleled reach for brands.
2. Direct Communication Channel: People are tired of middlemen or convoluted third-party customer support teams. WhatsApp creates a direct line of communication between businesses and customers which enhances customer experience, building loyalty and trust.
3. Cost-Effective: Traditional marketing channels, like paid ads, are costlier to do and have low ROI. Whereas, WhatsApp allows brands to reach their audience at a fraction of the cost, which is great for small startups with limited marketing budgets.
4. Quick Customer Service: Instant responses help brands deliver swift customer support so any queries, complaints, and feedback can be addressed in real-time, improving customer satisfaction. Using AI chatbots can also ensure that customer queries are handled efficiently, even outside of business hours.
5. Engagement through Rich Media: Bulk Broadcast messages now support various media like images, videos, voice notes, and documents. These can leveraged to create engaging and informative content, from product demos, visual guides, and social proof.
6. Order Management and E-commerce Integration: For eCommerce brands, WhatsApp helps with seamless order management and sharing of customer updates. The fear that surrounds online shopping, like pre-purchase anxiety, can be handled by being transparent with your customer on shipping and tracking details, which can be sent on WhatsApp since it has a higher chance of being read than other mediums.
7. Secure Communication: End-to-end encryption ensures that all communications on WhatsApp are secure, protecting sensitive business and customer data.
8. WhatsApp Business API: For bigger businesses, the official WhatsApp Business API allows integration with CRMs and gives detailed analytics, helping optimize the next campaign for higher conversions.

How to Get Started with WhatsApp Business API

Getting started with WhatsApp Marketing can seem overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. Follow the below steps:

1. Prerequisites
   1. Valid Business Identity: Your business must be officially registered with a verifiable identity.
   2. WhatsApp Business Policy Adherence: Familiarize yourself with WhatsApp’s Business Policy.
   3. Customer Base: Have a pre-existing or potential customer base active on WhatsApp.
   4. Technical Requirements: You need to have an active phone number for WhatsApp, an official brand website, server capacity for running the API, webhooks for real-time updates, and an SSL certificate for secure communication.
2. Create a WhatsApp Business Profile
   1. Profile Picture: Choose a clear, high-quality image that represents your brand, such as your logo.
   2. Business Name: Ensure it matches the one registered in your Facebook Business Manager.
   3. About Section: Clearly convey your brand’s mission or offerings.
3. Apply for WhatsApp Business API
   1. Choose a Business Solution Provider (BSP): Select a provider from Meta’s official partners (recommended), considering their expertise and support services.
   2. Submit Business Details: Provide your business details to the BSP, who will then forward your application to WhatsApp.
   3. Wait for Approval: Approval times may vary, so monitor your email for confirmation from WhatsApp.
4. Integrate WhatsApp Business API with Your Tech Stack
   1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Integrate the API with your CRM to automate conversations and manage customer interactions.
   2. Technical Considerations: Focus on establishing webhooks, maintaining end-to-end encryption, and adhering to API rate limits.
   3. Central Helpdesk: Through your BSP provider or a third-party tool, consider having a single dashboard to route all queries so they can be efficiently managed.

You’re now ready to send your first WhatsApp Bulk SMS campaign!

How to Send Bulk WhatsApp Messages with Step-by-Step Guide

Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide: 

1. Log In and Navigate: Log into Whatso and go to the campaign menu in the left navigation bar.
2. Review Past Campaigns: On the campaign dashboard, you can view past campaigns, which are displayed in cards showing details like the number of contacts, successful messages, and failed messages.
3. Create a New Campaign: Click on the ‘Create New Campaign’ button in the top right corner.
4. Name Your Campaign: Start by naming your campaign.
5. Choose Recipients: Select either all contacts or a specific group you’ve created earlier.
6. Select Sending Number: Your verified number will appear on the screen, and all messages will be sent from this number.
7. Choose a Template: Scroll down to the approved template section and choose or create a new template for your campaign.
8. Customize the Message: Edit the text and add variables like the recipient’s name and media like images and videos.
9. Preview the Message: Check how the message will look before it’s sent.
10. Schedule the Campaign: Choose the date and time for the campaign.
11. Send the Campaign: After reviewing the details and making any necessary changes, click on the send button to start your campaign.
12. View Campaign Report: You can see the results in the campaign report section of the Whatso dashboard. Click on a campaign card to see detailed information about that specific campaign, including data on messages sent, delivered, and read.
13. Track Campaign Success: The campaign detail report allows you to track the success of your campaign and its performance.

Best Practices for Sending Bulk WhatsApp Messages

A successful bulk message campaign is more than just reaching a large audience; you have to craft messages that engage your audience while respecting their privacy.

Remember to:

1. Get Consent: Send an opt-in campaign before you send any promotional ones. You can also do this regularly, asking if your customers want to be notified about any upcoming sales or new product additions. By asking what they want to hear from you, you can send targeted campaigns that don’t feel like spam.
2. Segment Your Audience: Create segments based on audience demographics, interests, and past interactions. Make them feel like you know your customers.
3. Respect Timing and Frequency: Avoid sending messages too early in the morning or late at night (set a time limit of delivery), and don’t spam your contacts by sending too many messages in a short period of time.
4. Test and Optimize: Regularly test and optimize your campaigns, like the copy, timing, and segmentation.
5. Comply with Legal Regulations: Stick to the guidelines suggested by Meta to avoid getting banned and penalized.

Tips to Create Engaging WhatsApp Message Templates

We wanted to create a separate section on how to craft and optimize the copy in your bulk broadcast WhatsApp campaign.

Share the below tips with your brand’s copywriter or content writer to create high-converting WhatsApp campaigns:

1. Craft Clear and Concise Messages: People take seconds to scan a WhatsApp message. Ensure your copy is straightforward and to the point, and avoid jargon or overly complex language. Additionally, try to keep only one objective for each campaign to avoid confusing your audience.
2. Format for Scanning: Your audience’s eyes will glaze over huge blocks of text. Instead, format your messages with line breaks. Use bold and italics to highlight nuggets of copy that are important to nudge them into action.
3. Use a Friendly Tone: WhatsApp is an informal chatting app. You don’t have to sound unauthentic but it’s recommended to have a conversational and friendly tone in your campaign copy. This will make your messages feel more personal and less like a generic broadcast.
4. Incorporate Personalization: Personalization is essential. Besides just addressing your audience with their name, you should also include details of their past orders, preferences from their wishlist, location, etc.
5. Stick to Limits: Be aware of WhatsApp’s character limits and format restrictions, or your campaign may fail to reach your audience completely or partially.
6. Use Emojis: Emojis can add a touch of personality and emotion to your messages, but use them sparingly and appropriately. We recommend a maximum of 2-3 per campaign; otherwise, your brand can come off as over-familiar and childish.
7. Add Rich Media: Use engaging or inspiring visuals to help your audience imagine life with your product, be it a product demo or a testimonial by a previous customer. Images can enhance your copy and make it memorable.
8. Add Time-Sensitive Offers: Create a sense of urgency and FOMO with limited-time offers or exclusive deals.
9. Ensure Brand Consistency: Your WhatsApp messages should align with your overall brand voice and messaging used across other channels.
10. Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Make it clear what you want the recipient to do next, whether it’s visiting a website, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter. That extra nudge could be all that’s left to increase your conversions.

Conclusion

Ready to send your first WhatsApp Bulk Message campaign but unsure where to begin?

We’re here to help! We’ve made it simple and easy to send WhatsApp campaigns that help you connect with your audience.