Skip to main content
This guide walks through every step of creating and sending a WhatsApp broadcast in Gallabox — from naming the broadcast to scheduling or sending it immediately.
Before sending a large broadcast, confirm that the audience has marketing opt-in, the selected template is approved, and Smart Retry is configured. These checks reduce policy violations and delivery failures.

​
Plan Availability

Note: For monthly broadcast limits per plan, see the Broadcasts overview.

​
Before You Start

Make sure you have the following before beginning:
  • Owner or Admin role in Gallabox (or a role with broadcast management permissions) — only users with broadcast management permissions can create broadcasts.
  • At least one approved WhatsApp template — broadcasts cannot use free-form text. If you don’t have an approved template, create and submit one first.
  • A WhatsApp channel connected — you’ll need at least one active WABA number in Gallabox. Go to Channels to confirm.
  • A prepared audience — either a saved segment, a tag, or a list of individual contacts. If you are sending a marketing message, your audience must be opted in (see warning below).
Marketing Opt-In is mandatory for marketing templates. Sending to contacts who have not opted in to marketing messages violates WhatsApp’s policies and can get your number quality-rated or restricted. Before sending, filter your audience using the Marketing Opt-In = Yes segment filter.

​
Steps

​
Step 1: Open the Create Broadcast form

  1. Click Broadcasts in the left navigation.
  2. Click Create Broadcast in the top-right corner.
The broadcast creation form opens. You’ll move through it in a single flow.

​
Step 2: Name the broadcast and select a channel

  1. In the Broadcast Name field, enter an internal name for this broadcast. This name is not shown to contacts — use something descriptive for your team (e.g., “June Sale — Opted-In Customers”).
  2. In the Channel dropdown, select the WhatsApp number you want to send from. If you have multiple WABA numbers, pick the one your audience is associated with.
  3. Click Next.

​
Step 3: Select your audience

Choose who receives this broadcast. You have three options:
  • Saved segment — select a pre-built contact segment (e.g., “Active Customers”, “Hot Leads”). Recommended for recurring campaigns.
  • Tag — select all contacts tagged with a specific label.
  • Individual contacts — search and select contacts manually. Use this for small or one-off sends only.
To select a saved segment:
  1. Click Segment under audience type.
  2. In the Select Segment dropdown, choose your segment.
  3. The contact count for that segment appears below the dropdown. Review it before continuing.
If you are sending a marketing template, your segment must use the Marketing Opt-In = Yes filter. Contacts without opt-in should not receive marketing messages. Go to Contacts → Segments → Create Segment and add the Marketing Opt-In filter if your current segment doesn’t already include it. See Contact Segments for help building this filter.

​
Step 4: Choose a template and fill in variables

  1. Under Template, click Select Template.
  2. Browse or search your approved templates. Only templates with Approved status appear here.
  3. Click a template to preview it on the right panel.
  4. Once selected, any variable placeholders in the template (e.g., {{1}} for a contact’s name) appear as editable fields below the template preview.
  5. For each variable, choose one of:
    • Contact attribute — maps the variable to a contact field (e.g., First Name). This personalises each message automatically.
    • Static value — enter a fixed text value used for every recipient.
  6. Review the preview to confirm the message looks correct before continuing.
You cannot send a broadcast without an approved template. If no templates appear, your templates may still be pending Meta approval or may have been rejected. Go to Broadcasts → Templates to check template status.

​
Step 5: Schedule or send now

Choose when the broadcast goes out:
  • Send Now — the broadcast starts immediately after you click Send.
  • Schedule — set a specific date and time. Useful for time-zone targeting, launch events, or coordinating with campaigns.
To schedule:
  1. Select Schedule.
  2. Set the Date and Time fields.
  3. Confirm the timezone shown matches your intended send time.

​
Step 6: Configure Smart Retry

Smart Retry is enabled by default. It automatically re-attempts delivery for messages that initially fail due to temporary issues (e.g., recipient’s phone offline, momentary network error). Two modes are available: To configure retry:
  1. Click Retry Settings in the broadcast form.
  2. Keep Smart selected (recommended) or switch to Manual.
  3. For Smart: set the Max Retry Date — pick a date 2 to 8 days after your send date. We recommend keeping it at least 3 days out.
  4. For Manual: set up to 3 retry times (First, Second, Third), each as an “in N hours” offset of 6–24 hours. The first retry must be at least 12 hours later. Retry attempts are capped at 3.
Do not disable Smart Retry. If you turn it off, failed messages are never retried — contacts with temporary delivery failures won’t receive your message. Smart Retry improves delivery rates meaningfully on large broadcasts without any extra effort on your part.

​
Step 7: Send or schedule the broadcast

  1. Review the summary panel on the right — check the audience count, template name, send time, and retry settings.
  2. Click Send (or Schedule if you selected a future time).
  3. A confirmation dialog appears. Click Confirm to proceed.
Your broadcast is now queued. It appears in the Broadcasts list with a Sending or Scheduled status.

​
How to Confirm It’s Working

After sending:
  • Go to Broadcasts in the left navigation. Your broadcast should appear in the list with status Sending or Completed.
  • Click the broadcast name to open the analytics view. You should see contacts moving through states: Sent → Delivered → Read.
  • If the broadcast shows Failed for a large percentage of contacts, open the Failed state and check the breakdown by failure type. See Broadcast Analytics for how to interpret these states.

​
Common Setup Errors

For delivery issues not listed above, see Broadcast Analytics for a full breakdown of message states and failure types.

​
FAQs

Contacts are filtered at send time for validity. Common reasons for the count dropping: some contacts had invalid numbers, some were already unsubscribed, or some were blocked by Meta’s frequency limits before the message could send. Open the analytics view and check the Not in WhatsApp, Unsubscribed, and Frequency Limit states for those contacts.
No. Once a broadcast is sent, the message content, audience, and template cannot be changed. If you made an error, you’ll need to create a new broadcast. For a scheduled broadcast that hasn’t sent yet, go to Broadcasts → [name] → Edit to make changes before the send time.
Smart Retry only re-attempts delivery for messages that failed due to temporary issues (e.g., phone offline). It does not retry permanent failures like invalid numbers, blocked contacts, or rejected templates — those failures cannot be resolved by retrying the same message. Check the failure subtype in the analytics view. If the failure is temporary, retries will appear in the retry log within the configured window.
This is usually a timezone mismatch. The scheduled time is displayed in the timezone set on your Gallabox account — confirm that matches your local time. If the send time is in the past, the broadcast may need to be rescheduled. Contact support if the broadcast is stuck in Scheduled status past its send time.
No — each broadcast targets one segment, tag, or contact selection. To reach multiple segments, create separate broadcasts for each. If you need a combined audience, build a new segment that includes all the contacts you want using Gallabox’s segment filter logic.

​
Next Steps