This is the whole process, start to finish, for sending bulk WhatsApp messages the way that works in 2026: on the official platform, to people who asked, with a report at the end. Nine steps. The first four happen once; the last five happen every campaign.
Step 1: Choose the number you send bulk WhatsApp from
A number you will keep for years and that is not anyone’s personal WhatsApp. A new SIM or a landline both work on the official platform. If the number is currently on the WhatsApp or Business app, it is migrated to the API during setup and stops working in the app, so make sure nobody needs it there. If it is already on another API provider, it is migrated in one to two working days with the old provider live until the switch.
Step 2: Verify the business with Meta for bulk WhatsApp messages
Meta verifies that a real legal business sits behind the number. You provide registration documents and a website or listing that matches; the provider submits and follows up. This is the slow step, typically two to five working days, and the reason to start before the season rather than during it. Once verified, your business name shows on recipients’ screens and the number is eligible for the green tick.
Step 3: Collect opt-in for bulk WhatsApp messages, and record it
Consent is what makes everything after this legal and what keeps the number’s quality rating green. Collect it where customers already are:
- A QR code on the counter, the bill, the bag or the website, opening a pre-filled message; the reply is the opt-in.
- A checkbox at checkout or on a form.
- A reply to a one-time consent request sent to existing customers.
Record the source and date on each contact. It is the record you show under the DPDP Act, and the column you segment on. Purchased lists are not consent and are the single fastest way to lose the number. For the legal detail behind this step, read sending bulk WhatsApp legally in India.
Step 4: Build and approve bulk WhatsApp message templates
Marketing and utility messages sent outside a 24-hour service window are templates Meta has approved. Submit three to start: one offer, one reminder, one re-engagement. Each can carry an image, PDF or video header, personalisation variables, and up to three buttons. Approval is usually minutes to hours. See template examples that get approved.
Step 5: Import your bulk WhatsApp message list with tags
CSV from Excel or a connected Google Sheet, one row per contact, phone in international format, plus the columns you will message and segment by: name, city, language, last purchase, consent source. Every column becomes a tag. Details in sending a WhatsApp blast from Excel.
Step 6: Build a segment for each bulk WhatsApp message
Not the whole list. A filter on tags, for example Hindi speakers in Mumbai with a purchase in the past 90 days. A few hundred people with a reason to receive the message beat ten thousand without one, on read rate, reply rate and blocks. The language tag is also how each person is matched to the right approved template.
Step 7: Schedule and send the bulk WhatsApp messages
Pick the template, the segment, the time (by recipient timezone if the list crosses countries), and a wave size if the list is large. The send runs on Meta’s side; no phone or laptop needs to stay on. The platform keeps the send within your number’s messaging tier: 1,000 unique recipients a day to begin with, climbing to unlimited as long as quality stays healthy. See scheduling bulk WhatsApp.
Step 8: Work the replies to your bulk WhatsApp messages
Replies land in a shared inbox attached to the contact’s record. A chatbot answers the predictable questions and hands the rest to a person. A campaign that gets replies nobody answers is worse than no campaign, so decide who is on the inbox before you send, not after.
Step 9: Read the bulk WhatsApp message report, build the next segment
Delivered, read, replied and clicked per contact and per template. “Read but did not reply” is next week’s segment. A rise in blocks on one segment means that segment did not want that message. Quality rating and messaging tier are on the same screen; watch them rise.
The one-page checklist to send bulk WhatsApp messages
- Business number chosen; not a personal WhatsApp.
- Meta business verification submitted (allow 2 to 5 working days).
- Opt-in collection live; source and date recorded per contact.
- Three templates approved.
- List imported with tags.
- First segment built; a few hundred, with a reason.
- Scheduled at a sensible hour, in waves if large.
- Inbox staffed; chatbot on.
- Report read; next segment built from it.
What it costs to send bulk WhatsApp messages
- Platform: WappBlaster is ₹7999 a year for Indian accounts and $200 for the rest of the world. Contacts are unlimited, and the chatbot, inbox, API and onboarding come with it.
- Meta’s charge: billed for each delivered message according to its category and the recipient’s country, at cost with no markup.