Send a WhatsApp campaign

Start a new campaign

In the sidebar, under Messaging, click Campaigns. Click New Campaign in the top bar. On a phone, the same button sits in the page’s own title band and reads New campaign.

Messaging → Campaigns. The New Campaign button is top right.

The composer opens over the list. It is one continuous form with three sections — Audience, Message, Schedule — and no Review step. Each section has an ⓘ button that explains the traps in that section.

Choose who receives it

What the Audience section offers depends on where you opened the composer.

Opened from the Campaigns page, there is one path: Paste numbers. Type or paste numbers into Phone numbers, one per line. The hint under the field is the whole rule:

Country code + digits only — no +, spaces, or dashes (e.g. 6016239821). One per line.

Commas work as separators too. An entry counts as valid when it is six or more digits and nothing else. As soon as you type, a tally appears — 12 valid numbers, and 2 invalid excluded when some lines did not parse. Invalid lines are dropped before sending and are not billed for.

The tally appears the moment there is text in the box — including text that parses to nothing.

To send to people already in your database, start from the list instead: open Leads or a customers database, tick the contacts, then choose the bulk action Send WhatsApp. The composer opens on that page with those contacts loaded, and a switch appears at the top of Audience: Database contacts | Paste numbers.

On the Database contacts path you get a summary line — 240 contacts from your database — and a Review toggle that reveals a removable chip per contact. The count is the real send list; the chips are only a preview of the first page, so a large selection shows its true size even when not every contact has a chip. Removing every contact leaves No contacts left in this list.

Pick the number you are sending from

From account comes first, and it comes first on purpose: templates belong to a WhatsApp number. Each option shows the number’s name with the phone number beneath it.

A coloured dot beside each option carries Meta’s quality rating for that number. When the rating is not green, a warning line appears under the field with a link to Health & safety — that link opens the WhatsApp integration’s health tab, where the rating is explained.

Pick the template

Template is a searchable list. Each row shows the template name with its Meta category as a badge — MARKETING, UTILITY or AUTHENTICATION — and the badge stays visible after you choose.

Only Approved templates appear here. One still under review cannot be sent, and the field tells you which situation you are in:

• No approved templates on this WhatsApp number yet — you need one to send a campaign. with a Create template button
• None of this number's templates are approved yet — Meta is still reviewing them, and only an approved template can be sent. with a View templates button

While the list loads, the field is greyed out and reads Loading templates….

Fill in the template’s variables

If the template contains variables, a Template parameters block appears with one row per variable. Each row names the variable — {{name}} — with the part of the message it came from beside it in small capitals: BODY, HEADER, FOOTER or BUTTONS.

For each one, choose where its value comes from:

• Custom value — you type the text once and every recipient gets the same words.
• Lead field — the value is read from each contact’s own record, so everyone gets their own.

Account first, then template, then one row per variable the template contains.

Lead field only works when the audience is database contacts. A pasted number has no record to read from, so on that path the picker is visible but greyed out and a note explains why: Lead fields read from a contact's record — available when the audience is database contacts.

Attach the header file, if the template needs one

Templates whose header is an image, video or document need a file. The label tells you whether one is already there:

• Header media (required) — nothing saved with the template, so you must add a file
• Header media — the template has a saved file. Its card reads Saved with the template · sent unless you replace it, with a Replace button.

An empty slot reads Browse or drag a file here — click it or drop a file on it. The picker accepts images, videos and PDFs. If you replace a saved file, the composer says Replacing the template's saved file for this campaign only. and offers a Use the saved one link to undo it. The template itself is not changed either way.

Send it

Leave Schedule on its defaults — How often on One-time and When on Now. The summary under them reads Starts sending as soon as you confirm.

Press Send. A toast confirms it: Queued - sending now. for one recipient, or Queued - sending to 240 recipients now. for a list. The composer closes and the list reloads with the new campaign in it.

If we ask about blank values, answer and press again

When at least one variable reads from a lead field and some of your recipients have no value for it, the first press of Send is held and a warning block appears instead:

• the heading Some contacts have no value for these variables
• one box per field — 3 contacts have no Full name — with the placeholder Text to use instead
• the footnote Leave a box empty to skip those contacts. Everyone else still gets their own value. Press send again to continue.

The button relabels itself to Send anyway, and that second press goes ahead.

Change the bindings, the template, the audience or the pasted numbers and the question is withdrawn — the next press checks again with the new answer. Typing in a box does not withdraw it, so you can fill several and press once.