How to send a WhatsApp broadcast from a spreadsheet, safely

You have a spreadsheet of customers who agreed to hear from you, and an offer, a restock or a date change to tell them about. WhatsApp is where they'll read it. This guide shows the safe way to send it, step by step, from an AI assistant or from the dashboard.

SendFromChat is an independent product and is not affiliated with Meta or WhatsApp. It runs on Meta's official WhatsApp Cloud API.

Before you start

• Everyone on the sheet should have agreed to WhatsApp messages from you. Meta requires it, and in the EU and UK consent rules apply too. If you're unsure how to collect it, read WhatsApp opt-in and the GDPR guide first.
• Use a template. A broadcast starts conversations, so it has to be a message Meta has approved in advance (why).
• Know your limits. Each number can only message a certain number of people per day (messaging limits).

Step 1: Shape the spreadsheet

One row per person. You need a phone column with the country code; the rest is up to you. A name column is handy for personalising.

phone	name	city
+34 612 345 678	Marta	Valencia
+44 7700 900418	James	Leeds

The phone column is found by its contents, whatever it's called, and duplicates are merged. Other columns are kept so they can fill template placeholders.

Step 2: Write the template

Keep it short and specific, with a reason to read:

Hi {{1}}, our weekend offer starts Friday: 15% off everything in store and online. Reply STOP to opt out.

You can write it in the dashboard with a live phone preview, or describe it to your assistant: "Draft a template for our weekend offer, with the customer's first name, and submit it." It's checked against Meta's rules before submitting (what Meta looks for), and approval usually takes minutes, sometimes up to 24 hours.

Step 3: Import and confirm consent

In Claude or ChatGPT, attach the file and say:

Here's customers.xlsx. Import it as the "Weekend offer" list.

Or use Contacts → Upload sheet. You'll be asked to confirm that everyone on the list agreed to receive messages. Take that question seriously; it is the one that protects your number.

Step 4: Read the preview

Before anything is sent, you see real rendered messages for real contacts, who is missing a value for a placeholder, how many messages are left on your plan and how many go out today. Read two or three of them as if you were the customer.

Send the weekend offer template to the "Weekend offer" list, with the name in {{1}}. Show me the preview first.

Step 5: Send now or schedule

Say go, or schedule it for a time your customers are awake. Opted-out numbers are skipped automatically. Sends are paced under your number's limit; whatever is over waits and goes out later instead of failing.

New to bulk sending? If the number hasn't sent in bulk before, the first days are capped at 50, then 100, then 200 people a day, so WhatsApp doesn't flag a number that suddenly sends thousands. The preview tells you how many days your list will take. More on this in bulk messaging without getting banned.

Step 6: Check the results, then follow up

Each send has a report: who received it, who read it and who couldn't be reached, with the reason in plain words. You can save a group as a new list, for example "everyone who didn't read it", and send a follow-up, or retry the failed ones.

How did the weekend offer do? Who didn't get it and why?

Anyone who replies STOP is never messaged again until they reply START. Replies from customers open a 24-hour window in which you can answer freely, and those replies don't count toward your plan (the details).

What it costs

SendFromChat is a flat monthly plan from $19, with every feature on every plan (plans and limits). Separately, Meta charges per template message, billed by Meta to your own WhatsApp Business account at its published rates, with no markup from us (WhatsApp API pricing).

Try it

New accounts get a 30-day free trial with no card: one number and up to 1,000 messages. If you want the full assistant walkthrough, read using WhatsApp from Claude and ChatGPT. Compare options in SendFromChat vs Wati or vs Superchat.

SendFromChat stores data in Mumbai, India; EU and UK transfers are covered by the SCCs and UK Addendum in our DPA.