One-to-many broadcasts soon available for the WhatsApp Business App (but it’s not free!)

Sending one message to many people on the WhatsApp Business App wasn’t an option. Until now. Now, Meta is about to launch the one-to-many messages feature for the WhatsApp Business App. But it won’t be free!

If you’re using WhatsApp Business for marketing, you obviously want to reach as many people as possible with your promotional messages. On the WhatsApp Business App, that’s actually pretty difficult. 

First, you can’t contact more than 256 unique users per broadcast list. Second, there was no way to send that one message to all these users at once. Instead, you had to send it out manually. That’s about to change! Meta has just announced the one-to-many messages for the WhatsApp Business App. 

On Meta’s Instagram Broadcast Channel and on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg just dropped a few gems for WhatsApp Business users. First, he announced that it’s now become easier to run a WhatsApp Business ad on Instagram and Facebook. Second, he promised a new feature that many companies have been waiting for: a one-to-many message feature for the WhatsApp Business App. 

We’re also announcing new paid messaging features so small businesses can reach customers more efficiently.

Mark Zuckerberg

WhatsApp didn’t share any more details, but when you take a look at the screenshots Meta provided with this soon-to-launch feature, it looks like merchants will be able to send one message to an entire broadcast list. 

While Meta didn’t say anything about a launch date or costs, it’s clear that the new feature won’t be free, as Zuckerberg called it a “paid feature”. 

Small businesses that don’t need to scale their marketing campaigns beyond 256 users, will benefit from this new feature. Of course, that’s only true if the cost won’t be too high.

Otherwise, it might even make more sense to switch to the WhatsApp Business API right away, where companies also pay to use WhatsApp business features, but they start with a minimum of 1,000 unique users per broadcast list, and can potentially send unlimited marketing messages. 

In general, for most companies, the API is the better fit anyway because you can not only scale your campaigns, but also integrate chatbots, your CRM systems, and use analytics to optimize your campaigns. Plus, it’s the only version that gets you the green tick and is compliant with data regulations. 

💡How to use WhatsApp Business for your company: Everything you need to know

There might be several reasons for WhatsApp to roll out this one-to-many messaging feature on the Business App. 

1. WhatsApp wants to find ways to monetize its more than 200 million WhatsApp Business users. 
2. By introducing paid features in the easy-to-use business app, more companies might get started with WhatsApp Business (and then later switch to the subscription or the API). 
3. WhatsApp’s only making money through the messaging features for businesses. It makes sense to amplify this feature and make it available to more users. 

Be careful, though! As of now, with the WhatsApp Business App you’re still limited to a maximum of 256 unique users per broadcast list. Trying to send more will get your account blocked! 

That’s why, if you’re really interested in WhatsApp marketing, we recommend the WhatsApp Business API that gives you full access to all the business features on WhatsApp. 

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Author: Marinela Potor Marinela Potor is a Senior Content Marketing Manager at Sinch. With a background in tech journalism, she specializes in messaging and AI.