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How to create and send a marketing message
Note: This feature might not be available in your area yet.
Marketing messages are especially good for keeping your existing customers engaged with offers, deals and promotions, but you can create and send marketing messages for other communications: sharing new items, announcements, thanking customers and asking for their feedback, or even sending appointment reminders or birthday greetings.
Getting started
- Tap > Marketing messages
If this is your first time using marketing messages, you’ll see an intro screen. Tap Get started to begin your first message.
If you’re coming back to marketing messages, you’ll go straight to your list of previous messages and drafts. Tap the plus sign to start creating a new one.
Creating a message
When creating a message, you first edit its draft. This involves adding media, text, and an action button, and picking the audience to whom you want to send the message.
Add photos or video media
You can enhance your message by adding a photo or video to it. All messages require at least a photo.
- In the Edit draft screen, tap Add media:
- From your media library: Choose an image from your device.
- From your catalog: Choose a product image from your catalog.
- From your archived statuses: Use a previous status update. Learn more about archived status updates here.
- Recently shared: Choose a previously shared photo or video again.
- Tap to insert the image into your message > Next step.
Add text and customer names
- Tap Add text if you want to enter text for your message.
- For example, you could say: Hi {receiver name}, we would love to see you again! Get 10% off on your next purchase with coupon code SS10.
- Tap to add the text to your message.
You can make your message feel more personal and engaging by having it automatically show each contact who receives it their own name:
Add an action button
Your message can contain a button to let customers take certain actions:
- View catalog: Tapping this takes customers to a selected catalog item or your entire catalog.
- Tap to reply: This allows customers to respond to your message with a single tap that will send you a message you pre-filled.
- Phone call: This lets customers tap to call you at your business’s phone number.
- Website: Tapping this takes customers to a website of your choice, such as your business website.
Message preview
While you're creating your draft, you can see how the message will look to those who will receive it - simply tap Preview. To go back to editing the draft, tap Edit.
When you’re done creating your draft and are ready to choose your audience, tap Next.
Note: Your messages are subject to review by Meta
To help keep WhatsApp users safe, your marketing messages are subject to review by Meta before you send them in WhatsApp chats. Meta can’t access your messages once they’re sent in chats on WhatsApp.
Select audience
There are several ways to select the contacts to whom you want to send your marketing message. On the Select audience screen, you’ll see pre-populated lists:
- Smart lists: these automatically created lists help you save time by collecting the contacts who have recently messaged you, or that you haven’t chatted with in 30 days
- Your full contact list from your address book, and from your various broadcast lists.
- Labels: Send your message to contacts whose messages you’ve labeled.
You can add everyone in from any of these lists with a single tap, or choose individual contacts from any or all of them for your message.
When you’re done selecting your audience, tap 
to review and pay for and send or schedule your message.
Review and send or schedule your message
Review your message, its pricing, and the audience you selected. You can edit your draft by tapping it at the top of the screen. You can modify the audience by tapping the audience row. If you’re ready, you can send or schedule the message; you’ll be charged when you do so (you'll be refunded for any contacts to whom the message can’t be delivered).
To send your message, tap Send.
To schedule your message to automatically send at a later time, tap Schedule. On the Schedule screen, select a date > tap OK > select a time > tap OK > Done.
Note: Your device must be connected to the internet at the time your message is scheduled to send. If it isn’t connected, the app will attempt to send your message after one minute, and then every 10 minutes. The app will try to send your message up to 10 times.
Paying for marketing messages
To send marketing messages, you need to have added a payment method and added some available funds to your account. You will only pay for successfully delivered messages, but we will reserve an amount in your account equal to the total number of contacts you initially select. Your available funds will be credited for any messages that cannot be delivered successfully.
To add a payment method:
- Enter your email address > tap Send code. You’ll receive a six-digit code at this email address.
- Enter the six-digit code.
- Select your country or region, currency, and time zone > tap Next.
- Add a payment method > tap Save.
- Enter the required information, such as your email or business address.
- Review your estimated total and add a payment method.
If a message can’t be delivered, funds will be credited back to your account for future use. Learn more about how payments for marketing messages work in this article.
Processing
When you send or schedule your message, there may be a slight processing delay. This is typically no more than a few seconds, but could be as long as 3 hours.
Sending limits
You can send a given message to up to 500 contacts.
You can send up to 250 messages within the first 24 hours of using this feature, and up to 7000 messages within any 30-day period (sending limits may vary for each user). Once you’ve reached a time-based limit, you won’t be able to send any more marketing messages for the remainder of the time period.
About sending spam
WhatsApp will be monitoring reports of messages marked as spam. Businesses must provide all necessary data disclosures and notices (such as maintaining a privacy policy or labeling marketing messages) and secure all necessary rights, consents, and permissions (for example, opt-in) to communicate with its customers via WhatsApp as stated in the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service. Businesses must also honor and comply with all customer requests to stop or opt-out of receiving certain or all types of WhatsApp messages from the business.
Failure to comply with the Meta Terms for WhatsApp Marketing Messages Features, which incorporate the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service, may result in temporary or permanent suspension of your account’s access to the marketing messages feature. Follow our best practices to create a quality experience and avoid any inconvenience.
