How to Schedule Broadcasts on the WhatsApp Business API
A scheduled broadcast is a pre-approved template message queued to go out to a segment of opted-in contacts at a time you choose — a Diwali offer at 10am, an order-cutoff reminder at 6pm, an OTP-free re-engagement nudge on a Sunday. On the official WhatsApp Business API you cannot free-text a bulk send: every broadcast is a template in a category (marketing, utility or authentication), and Meta bills you per delivered message at that category's rate. This guide walks through scheduling one end to end in InfiQ — from building the template to picking the audience, setting the timezone-aware send time, and reading the delivery report — plus the mistakes that quietly tank your quality rating.
What you'll do
Build and get a template approved, segment your opted-in contacts, map the template variables to contact fields, choose a send time in your recipients' timezone, run a test to your own number, then schedule. InfiQ queues it, throttles the send to protect your quality rating, and gives you a live delivery and read report.Step 1 — Prepare: an approved template and a clean opted-in list
Two things gate every broadcast, so sort them before you touch the scheduler. First, the message must be a WhatsApp-approved template — you cannot bulk-send free text on the API. Second, every recipient must have opted in to hear from your business number; sending to scraped or purchased lists is the fastest way to get blocked. Get these right and the rest of the flow is minutes of work.
- Confirm your WhatsApp Business API number is live and connected in InfiQ, and its quality rating is Green (not Flagged).
- Have collected opt-in — a checkbox at checkout, a keyword reply, or a form consent — with a record you can show if challenged.
- Import your contacts as a CSV or sync them from your CRM, with a column for every variable your template uses (name, order ID, city, etc.).
- Check your messaging tier (e.g. 2k / 10k / 100k unique recipients per day) — a scheduled send that exceeds it will be capped.
Step 2 — Configure: build the template in the right category
The template category is both a compliance and a cost decision, so choose deliberately. A promotional offer, catalogue drop or newsletter is Marketing; an order update, appointment reminder or account alert tied to a real transaction is Utility; a login code is Authentication. Meta bills each delivered message at that category's rate on its published India rate card, and InfiQ passes those categories through with transparent ₹ pricing (ex-GST) — so miscategorising a marketing blast as utility gets it rejected on review, not made cheaper. Compose the template in InfiQ's editor, add variables as {{1}}, {{2}} placeholders, attach any header media or quick-reply and call-to-action buttons, and submit for approval. Most templates clear in minutes to a few hours.
- Marketing: offers, launches, re-engagement, seasonal campaigns — highest per-message rate, needs explicit marketing opt-in.
- Utility: order, delivery, payment and appointment updates triggered by a user action — lower rate than marketing.
- Authentication: one-time passcodes and verification only.
- Keep variables meaningful and give each a sample value on submission — vague placeholders are a common rejection reason.
Step 3 — Connect: map variables and segment the audience
With an approved template selected, tell InfiQ who receives it and what fills the blanks. Map each template variable to a column in your contact list — {{1}} to first name, {{2}} to order ID — so every recipient gets a personalised, correctly-populated message rather than a literal {{1}}. Then narrow the audience with a segment: last purchase in 90 days, city = Mumbai, tag = 'abandoned cart'. Tight segments lift relevance and read rates, and they hold your marketing volume within tier limits so a single blast doesn't trip a throttle.
- Preview a live-rendered sample with real data before continuing — this catches broken mappings and awkward line breaks.
- Exclude anyone who has opted out; InfiQ honours STOP-style opt-outs automatically, but verify your segment respects them.
- For large lists, let InfiQ throttle the send rather than firing everything at once — a sudden spike from a new number invites blocks.
Step 4 — Schedule: set a timezone-aware send time and test first
Now pick when it goes out. Choose the date and time in your recipients' timezone (IST for most Indian audiences) and favour daytime windows — mid-morning or early evening — over late nights, which depress engagement and raise block rates. Before you confirm the schedule, send a test to your own WhatsApp number and read it on a real phone: check the sender name, that variables resolved, that buttons and links work, and that media loads. Only then lock in the schedule. InfiQ holds the broadcast in a queue and releases it at your chosen time, so you don't need to be online when it fires.
- Send a one-recipient test to yourself and open it on a handset — desktop previews hide real rendering issues.
- Confirm the send time against your audience's timezone, not the server's.
- You can edit or cancel a scheduled broadcast up until it starts sending; after that it's committed.
Step 5 — Go live: monitor delivery, reads and quality
Once the broadcast fires, watch the report rather than walking away. InfiQ shows per-message status — sent, delivered, read, failed — plus opt-outs and button clicks, so you can see in near real time whether the campaign is landing. Because Meta bills per delivered message, delivered counts also tell you your actual spend for the run. Keep an eye on your number's quality rating in the days after: a wave of blocks or 'not useful' feedback drops it toward Yellow or Red and can shrink your daily messaging tier, so pace future marketing accordingly.
- Delivered vs sent gaps usually mean invalid numbers or recipients who never had WhatsApp — clean those from the list.
- Rising opt-outs or a falling quality rating is a signal to reduce frequency, tighten segments or switch some sends to utility.
- Export the report for records and to compare send-time and segment performance across campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send a bulk broadcast without a template?+
How is a scheduled broadcast billed?+
How far in advance can I schedule?+
Do I need a developer to schedule broadcasts?+
Why do broadcasts get rejected or blocked?+
How do I avoid hurting my number's quality rating?+
Can I edit or cancel a broadcast after scheduling it?+
What's the best time to send a broadcast in India?+
Ready to schedule your first broadcast?
Get your WhatsApp Business API number live with InfiQ and send a fully-tested, timezone-aware broadcast to your opted-in audience today — with India-based support guiding every step.