WhatsApp Broadcast Campaigns

Overview

A broadcast campaign lets you send the same WhatsApp message to a whole list of recipients at once — a product announcement, an appointment reminder, an offer, or a service update. Instead of messaging people one by one, you build a contact group, choose an approved message template, and Cliqtel sends it out on your behalf while tracking every delivery.

Campaigns are personalised, throttled, and fully tracked. Recipients who have opted out are excluded automatically, and you see live counters for how many messages were sent, delivered, read, and replied to as the campaign runs.

Where to Find It

Open My Numbers in the portal, then select Messaging — WhatsApp and open the Broadcasts tab. The Broadcasts tab has two views:

• Campaigns — create, send, schedule, and monitor your broadcasts.
• Contact groups — create and manage the recipient lists your campaigns send to.

Prerequisites

• A WhatsApp Business Account connected to Cliqtel (setup guide)
• At least one Meta-approved message template — only approved templates can be broadcast
• A contact group with recipients (created in the Broadcasts tab)
• Recipients who have opted in to receive your marketing or utility messages

Step 1 — Build a Contact Group

In the Broadcasts tab, switch to Contact groups and create a new group with a descriptive name (for example, Newsletter subscribers or March offer — NL).

To add recipients, paste phone numbers into the group — one per line, in E.164 format:

+351300111222
+31611398058
+4915112345678

When you save, Cliqtel processes the list for you:

• Normalisation — numbers are reduced to digits so formatting differences don't create duplicates.
• De-duplication — the same number added twice is only stored once.
• Opt-out exclusion — anyone who has opted out is automatically excluded from every send, even if they appear in the list.

Step 2 — Compose a Campaign

Switch to the Campaigns view and start a new campaign. There are three parts to composing:

• Contact group — choose which group receives the message.
• Message template — pick from your approved templates. Only templates Meta has approved appear in the list.
• Template variables — fill each placeholder the template defines ({{1}}, {{2}}, and so on).

To personalise the message per recipient, use {{name}} in a variable field. Cliqtel substitutes the contact's name at send time, so each person receives a message addressed to them.

Template body:
  Hi {{1}}, our spring sale starts today — enjoy 20% off until Sunday.

Variable {{1}}:
  {{name}}

Recipient sees:
  Hi Ana, our spring sale starts today — enjoy 20% off until Sunday.

Step 3 — Send or Schedule

Once the group, template, and variables are set, you have two options:

• Send now — the campaign begins sending immediately.
• Schedule — pick a future date and time and Cliqtel sends the campaign automatically then.

Scheduling is useful for reaching recipients at a sensible local hour, timing an announcement to a launch, or preparing a campaign in advance.

Live Tracking

While a campaign sends, the Campaigns view shows a progress bar and a live set of counters that refresh every few seconds:

The delivered and read counts populate automatically from WhatsApp delivery receipts — you don't need to configure anything for them to update.

Throttling & Quality

Cliqtel staggers your campaign rather than firing every message at once — roughly one recipient every 2 seconds. This deliberate pacing protects two things that matter to your account:

• Your WhatsApp quality rating — a sudden flood of messages, especially to a cold list, can trigger blocks and quality downgrades.
• Your messaging tier — the daily limit on how many unique users you can message. Steady, well-received sends help your tier grow over time.

Because of throttling, a large campaign takes time to complete — that's expected and by design. The progress bar shows how far along it is.

Compliance

WhatsApp broadcasting is governed by Meta's rules, and staying inside them keeps your account in good standing:

• Opt-in is required — marketing and utility templates may only be sent to recipients who have opted in to hear from you.
• Only approved templates — you cannot broadcast free-form text; every campaign uses a Meta-approved template.
• Honour opt-outs — recipients who opt out (for example by replying STOP) are excluded from every future send automatically.

Developer API

Everything you can do in the Broadcasts tab is also available programmatically. The developer API lets you manage contact groups and broadcasts from your own systems — useful if you sync recipients from a CRM or trigger campaigns from your own workflows.

See the API reference for endpoints, authentication, and request formats.

Best Practices

• Collect opt-in explicitly — only broadcast to people who agreed to hear from you, and keep a record of that consent.
• Invest in template quality — clear, relevant, well-written templates earn better read and reply rates and reduce complaints.
• Respect frequency — don't over-message. Let Cliqtel's throttling do its job and space campaigns sensibly.
• Honour opt-outs — treat STOP requests as final; Cliqtel excludes them automatically, but never try to work around it.
• Monitor your quality rating — watch failure and reply counts after each send, and pause if quality drops so your messaging tier keeps growing.
• Segment your groups — smaller, relevant groups outperform one giant list and keep your content on-topic for each audience.

FAQ

Why are some recipients skipped?

The most common reason is that they have opted out. Contacts who opted out are excluded from every send automatically, even if they're still in the contact group. Duplicate numbers are also collapsed, so a person listed twice is only messaged once.

What does the cost figure include?

The cost counter shows the running total for the campaign in EUR (€), based on the messages actually sent. WhatsApp prices per conversation and varies by template category and destination country, so the figure reflects the real spend of that specific campaign as it progresses.

Can I schedule a campaign for later?

Yes. When composing, choose Schedule instead of Send now, then pick a future date and time. Cliqtel sends the campaign automatically at that moment — useful for reaching people at a sensible hour or timing an announcement.

How do the delivered and read counts work?

They populate automatically from WhatsApp delivery receipts. Delivered means the message reached the recipient's device; Read means they opened it. Both update live while the campaign is sending — no setup required on your side.

Why does a large campaign take a while to finish?

Sending is throttled to roughly one recipient every 2 seconds to protect your quality rating and messaging tier. This is intentional — the progress bar shows how far along the campaign is.