Broadcast Overview
Send announcements and messages to your audience.
Getting Here
This module is accessible by Owner and Manager only!
This module can be accessed from the side navigation menu under the menu item, Broadcasts.
The Broadcasts Module allows you to send mass messages to all of your contacts, or target selected portions of your contacts based on tags and channel.
The Broadcasts Module has three separate views depending on your needs: Calendar, Scheduled, and History. You can switch between these views via the dropdown menu on the top left of the module.
Broadcast Fields
The Broadcast table below shows a general overview of each broadcast.
The following is a description of what each column represents:
Field | Description |
Status | Indicates the current Status of the broadcast |
Broadcast time | Indicates the date and time of when the broadcast is Sent or Scheduled to be sent. |
Name | Indicates the Name of the broadcast |
Labels | Indicates the Label of the broadcast |
Channel | Indicates which Channel the broadcast will be sent to |
Segment | Indicates the Segment (a set of Contacts) which has been selected to receive the broadcast |
Recipients | Indicate the total amount of recipients of the broadcast |
Total Messages | Indicates the total amount of broadcast messages |
Actions | Indicates the icon to open up the Action menu |
Broadcast Status
Broadcast statuses can be found on the left side. Clicking on each status will display broadcasts according to their status.
Broadcasts may have different statuses based on their position in the process. The possible statuses for a broadcast are:
Status | Description |
Draft | By default, a broadcast is created in draft status and remains in draft until it is scheduled or sent. |
Scheduled | This refers to broadcasts that have been scheduled to be sent at a future date. If the broadcast is canceled, it reverts back to Draft status. |
In Progress | Ongoing broadcast messages are being sent. |
Completed | The broadcast will be marked as completed if all messages have been sent. All broadcast messages have been attempted to be sent. It is possible some messages were not delivered due to limitations on the Channel side. |
Failed | The broadcast attempt has failed. |
Broadcast View
The default view is Table view. Click on the Calendar or Table icons to switch between Calendar view and Table view.
Broadcast Module gets a comprehensive revamp! that will make sending broadcasts even easier and elevate your messaging strategy
Upcoming broadcasts will be indicated with a colored tab while past broadcasts are indicated with a grey tab. You may click on the item to find out more details about the broadcast and cancel it if it has not been sent.
Table View
In the Table view, you can see all broadcasts, including past and scheduled ones.
Calendar view
In the Calendar view, you can see all broadcasts for the current month, including past broadcasts and scheduled broadcasts. Use the arrows next to the month to navigate to other months. If a broadcast is in Draft status without a delivery time set, it will be shown on its created date.
Cloning a Broadcast
To create a similar broadcast, clone the existing one and make the necessary changes. You may clone a broadcast in any status. There are two ways to clone a broadcast:
From the Actions menu
From the Broadcast Details Drawer
Canceling a Broadcast
Cancellation of a broadcast is possible only for scheduled broadcasts. Broadcasts in other statuses cannot be canceled. Once a broadcast is canceled, it will not be sent out on the scheduled date, it will be reverted to draft status. You may edit and schedule the broadcast again.
When a broadcast is In Progress, it cannot be canceled.
Deleting a Broadcast
If you would like to delete a broadcast, it can be deleted from your Workspace by selecting Delete from the actions menu.
You may only delete broadcasts in Draft status. Keep in mind that the deletion cannot be undone.
Exporting Broadcasts
Only Owners and Managers with no such restriction can perform this action!
To export the broadcasts shown in the view, select the export option from the Action icon at the top right corner. You may export all your broadcasts to a CSV file for reporting purposes.
Scheduled
In this view, you can see a list of broadcasts scheduled to be sent out at a specific date and time.
Tips: Use the 🔍 function to search for the broadcast you are looking for.
History
In this view, you can see a list of broadcasts that have been sent out. "Recipients" is the number of contacts targeted to receive the broadcast and "Number Of Broadcast Messages" is the total number of broadcast messages to send to the expected recipients.
There might be a discrepancy between the Number of Broadcast Messages count in the Broadcast Module and Broadcast Messages count in the Usage Module. This is due to how Contacts are processed when a broadcast is sent.
For instance, if there are two Contacts with the same phone number, the broadcast will only be sent to one of the contacts with this phone number once. In the Broadcast Module, it will be shown as two messages, but actual usage in the Billing and Usage Module will be one.
An indicator will be shown beside the broadcast name if the broadcast is not sent successfully due to insufficient broadcast message usage.
Broadcasts 2.0 Details Drawer
For both Table and Calendar views, clicking on a broadcast will open the Broadcast Details Drawer. This will display all relevant information about the created broadcast.
Table view Broadcast Details Drawer:
Calendar view Broadcast Details Drawer:
Field | Description |
Broadcast Time | Date and time of the broadcast that has been sent or is scheduled to be sent. |
Segment | Target Segment selected to receive the Broadcast |
Channel | Channels to which the broadcast will be sent. |
Recipients | The number of targeted Contacts. |
Total Messages | The total number of broadcast messages. |
Send Rate | The speed at which broadcasts are sent. If the send rate feature is not available, the default send rate will be as soon as possible. |
Sent By | Name of the User who sent the broadcast. |
Message Preview | Shows the message content. If the Last Interacted Channel option is selected, choose a channel to preview the message. |
If a broadcast fails, the reason for the failure will be displayed in red text at the top of the Broadcast Details Drawer. Learn more about failed broadcasts here.
Broadcast Message Limits
To increase the number of broadcasts allowed under your subscription plan, upgrade to the business plan here or contact us about custom plans.
There are monthly IS-Messenger plan limitations to the number of broadcasts businesses can send. Check Billing and Usage under Organization Settings to see the number of broadcasts your subscription allows.
Broadcasts are counted by messages sent, not by number of contacts.
Example: If a business has 2,000 contacts and sends a broadcast to all of them once a week, that’s 8,000 broadcast messages in a month.
If you exceed the number of broadcast messages allowed, the entire broadcast will not be sent.
Example: A company’s monthly limit is 200,000 broadcast messages. They have sent 190,000 broadcast messages in that month. When they try to send a broadcast of 12,000 messages, all 12,000 will not be allowed to be sent.
Managing Broadcasts
Target Contacts More Effectively
Segment Contacts Based on Contact Fields, Tags or Conditions The standout feature of the revamped Broadcast Module is Contact Segment, which allows you to create segments based on Contact Fields, Tags or conditions. This new capability lets you easily and precisely define a target audience for each broadcast
Defining conditions for each Segment also means Contacts will automatically enter or exit a segment depending on their condition fulfillment
Improve Reach by Broadcasting to Contacts’ Last Interacted Channel
Don’t limit broadcasts to channels your Contacts may not be as active on or risk spamming them by sending duplicate messages across channels to gain their attention.
Instead, broadcast messages to the last channel a Contact interacted with. This increases the visibility and potential engagement rates of your broadcasts. You can also send unique content for each channel according to its supported capabilities — such as images, emojis, Facebook Message tags or WhatsApp template messages — and exclude specific channels from the broadcast if you like.
More Flexibility in Creating and Sending Broadcasts
Save Broadcasts as Drafts
Need to tweak your broadcast or audience targeting? Instead of deleting a broadcast and rebuilding it from scratch with the right content and settings, you can now simply edit it.
With the new release, broadcasts are created in draft status by default and will remain there until you schedule or send them. This allows you to make changes or reschedule broadcasts up until the last minute.
View All Details about a Broadcast at a Glance in the New Broadcast Builder
The all-new broadcast builder lets you configure a broadcast across multiple channels simultaneously, preview each message and send test broadcasts.
In the Target Audience section of the builder, you can also view the estimated number of messages that will be sent across channels and the number of recipients who will receive the broadcast. It will even detail the number of target audiences who fulfill the Segment criteria but are excluded as they are not present on the selected channels to aid decision-making about channel choices.
Customize Broadcast Send Rate
Now, you can customize the send rate to broadcast messages at the rate that works best for your business.
Broadcast Fields
Fields | Description |
Broadcast Name | The name used to identify the broadcast |
Broadcast Time | The specified time of when the broadcast to be sent |
Message Content | The content specified for the broadcast |
Channel | The channel of which the target audience belongs to |
Tags | The tags of which the target audience are tagged with |
Target Audience | Estimated number of recipients who will receive the broadcast message based on the targeting options |
Actions
You can perform the following actions with broadcast :
Creating a New Broadcast
Refer here for the list of Channels that support broadcasts.
Step 1: From the side navigation menu, select the Broadcasts Module.
Step 2: Click + Add Broadcast
Step 3: Enter your Broadcast Name and Labels > Click Create
Labels can be useful for analytics purposes in the future.
A new draft Broadcast will be created and the broadcast builder will be opened.
Configuring a Broadcast
Step 4: Select a Segment
Segments allow you to target specific groups for Broadcasts. Learn how to create a Segment here.
Step 5: Select a Channel Type and Channel to send your broadcast
Specific Channel: This allows you to send the broadcast to Contacts in that Channel. Any Contacts in your selected Segment without that Channel will be excluded from the broadcast.
Last interacted Channel: This allows you to send the broadcast to the Contacts’ Last Interacted Channel with the platform.
Note that channels such as Email, Instagram, Google Business messages and Website Chat are not supported for Broadcasts.
Sending a broadcast will not change a Contact’s Last Interacted Channel.
Sending a broadcast to a Specific Channel
The content you want to broadcast should be added based on the requirements of the chosen Channel.
Sending a broadcast to Contacts’ Last Interacted Channel
You need to define message content for each Channel, as each Channel has its own limitations for the broadcast content.
By default, all Channels that are supported for broadcasts will be selected in the Selected Channels section. If you want to exclude certain Channels from the broadcast, simply deselect them from the list. Deselecting a Channel means the Contacts associated with it will not receive the broadcast message.
Important: Depending on your plan, your monthly number of broadcasts may be limited.
Preview and Send a Test Broadcast
Step 7: Preview your Messages in the Message Preview section before sending them.
Message Tag
WhatsApp Message Templates
If you have selected WhatsApp as the broadcast channel, you will be prompted to specify broadcast content using WhatsApp Message Templates
Dynamic variables can be used when sending WhatsApp Message Templates.
Step 8: Send a test broadcast before sending the actual broadcast. Check how your content will appear to your Contacts. Search for a Contact by name or phone number to receive the test broadcast content. You can search for a Contact as long as they have the Channel available.
Tip: Check and verify the content before sending the broadcast.
Check Target Audience for a Broadcast
Step 9: Check the Target Audience to see the breakdown of the number of messages being sent and the number of recipients who will receive the broadcast.
The number of messages may differ from the number of recipients. For example, if you are sending 2 broadcast messages each to 10 recipients, the breakdown shows “Sending a total of 20 messages to 10 recipients”.
Target Audience Breakdowns for different Channels
Facebook, LINE, Viber, Telegram and Twitter
Here are the details of the Target Audience Breakdown for Facebook, Line, Viber, Telegram, and Twitter.
Other channels
Begin composing the message of your broadcast by pressing the blue Add Content. You can choose from the following content:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
Total Contacts in the Segment | The number of Contacts that are currently in the selected Segment. |
Contacts not available on the selected Channel(s) | The number of Contacts in the selected Segment who do not have the selected Channel. |
Total broadcast recipients | The total number of Contacts that this broadcast will be sent to. Total broadcast recipients = Total Contacts in the Segment - Contacts not available on the selected Channel(s) |
WhatsApp, SMS and Custom Channel
Here are the details displayed in the Target Audience Breakdown for WhatsApp, SMS and Custom Channel when the Toggle is ON.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
Total Contacts in the Segment | The number of Contacts that are currently in the selected Segment. |
Contacts not available on the selected Channel(s) | The number of Contacts that are in the selected Segment who do not have the selected Channel(s). |
Contacts that have never interacted on the selected Channel(s) | The number of Contacts in the Segment who have never interacted with the selected Channel(s). |
Total broadcast recipients | Total number of Contacts that this broadcast will be sent to. Total broadcast recipients = Total Contacts in the Segment - Contacts not available on the selected Channel(s) - Contacts that never interacted with the selected Channel |
Here are the details displayed in the Target Audience Breakdown for WhatsApp, SMS and Custom Channel when the Toggle is OFF.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
This will be the first message received over this Channel by {n} of the recipients. | The number of Contacts that will receive this broadcast as their first message. |
Total Contacts in the Segment | The number of Contacts that are currently in the selected Segment. |
Contacts not available on the selected Channel(s) | The number of Contacts that are in the selected Segment who do not have the selected Channel(s). |
Total broadcast recipients | The total number of Contacts that this broadcast will be sent to. Total broadcast recipients = Total Contacts in the Segment - Contacts not available on the selected Channel(s). |
Last Interacted Channel
Here are the details displayed in the Target Audience Breakdown for Last Interacted Channel.
| Item | |
|---|---|
Total Contacts in the Segment | The number of Contacts that are currently in the selected Segment. |
Contacts without a Last Interacted Channel | The number of Contacts who never send or receive a message. |
Contacts with an unsupported Last Interacted Channel | The number of Contacts who the Last Interacted Channel does not support Broadcasts (for e.g. email). |
Contacts on excluded Channel(s) | The number of Contacts in the Last Interacted Channel that have been excluded from the Selected Channels. |
Total broadcast recipients | The total number of Contacts that this broadcast will be sent to. Total broadcast recipients = Total Contacts in the Segment - Contacts without a Last Interacted Channel - Contacts on excluded Channel(s). |
Make sure that your Contacts have valid phone numbers and are expecting messages from your business. If you receive too many spam reports, your account may be flagged.
Schedule Broadcast and Customize Send Rates
Step 10: Decide when to send the broadcast
You may send a broadcast immediately, or schedule it for a later date and time.
Step 11: Customize Send Rates
If send rate is not configured or not available, the broadcast will be sent as soon as possible with a limit for each Channel.
Send Broadcast
Step 12: Confirm and verify the recipients and broadcast content > click Send Broadcast.
Scheduled broadcasts will be sent at the specified date and time and will appear in the "Scheduled" status.
Each broadcast can only hold up to a maximum of 5 different content.
Tips: Include dynamic variables in your broadcast content to personalize the content. This is available for all channels except LINE, Viber and SMS (MessageBird).
If you do not schedule the broadcast, it will be sent out immediately instead.
Important: Note that broadcasts cannot be edited once they have been scheduled.
Tips: It is better to check and verify new content before sending it as a broadcast.
FAQ and Troubleshooting
Why is my test broadcast message not reflected in my IS-Messenger inbox?
The test broadcast message must be sent to a test Contact that you have access to (e.g. your personal phone number).
Why can't I search for a Contact to send a test broadcast?
Contacts can only be searched by name if their channel is an active channel in IS-Messenger. To ensure you are able to search for a specific contact, verify that their channel has been activated in the platform.
What is Last Interacted Channel?
The Last Interacted Channel is the channel that the Contact most recently used to interact with the platform. It's possible for Contacts to use multiple channels to interact with the platform. When selecting this option, Broadcasts will be sent to the most recent channel the Contact interacted with.
For example, if John sends a message to the platform through WhatsApp today and sends a message through Telegram tomorrow, his Last Interacted Channel would be Telegram.
Why are there channels with no Contacts showing up when I select Last Interacted Channel?
If no contacts appear when selecting the "Last Interacted Channel" option, it means that, at that point, no contact meets the criteria for the Segment of the broadcast. However, contacts that meet the criteria set for the Segment in a scheduled broadcast will still receive the broadcast.
For example, if there are no Contacts in the Last Interacted Channel (Telegram) and the Broadcast is scheduled for 7 days in advance, any Contacts that last interacted with Telegram during those 7 days will be included in the Segment and will receive the Scheduled Broadcast. In such cases, you may still want to define content specifically for the Telegram channel.
Can I cancel a Broadcast that is In Progress?
Yes, it is possible to cancel a scheduled broadcast. However, a published broadcast that is currently sending cannot be cancelled. If you would like to have the ability to cancel broadcasts that are In Progress, you can upvote the feature request here.
What is Custom Send Rate and how can I get it?
Custom Send Rate is an optional add-on that allows you to customize your send rate based on a maximum limit of the total number of messages sent per second, minute, or hour. However, the rate to send messages cannot exceed 7 days. If the speed exceeds the channel limit, Broadcast messages may fail to send, and the channels may block them, which counts towards Broadcast usage. If you are interested in this option, please contact Sales for more information.
Does sending a broadcast affect a Contacts’ conversation status?
No, the conversation status remains the same. For instance, if a conversation status is closed before the broadcast is sent, it will remain closed after the broadcast is sent. The conversation status will only change to open when the customer responds.
Why should I use customized send rates for broadcast?
There are 2 possible reasons why you might use customized send rates, depending on your goals and preferences.
Slower send rates: This can prevent customer support agents from being overwhelmed with too many responses. By slowing down the send rate of messages, agents can manage the volume of responses they receive and respond effectively to each customer.
Faster send rates: This can help you quickly distribute time-sensitive information to your customers.
What happens to my broadcast if I run out of funds during the process?
If your account runs out of funds during a broadcast, any subsequent messages in the broadcast will fail to send. However, if you have auto recharge enabled, once it replenishes your account, the broadcast will automatically resume, allowing the remaining messages to be sent successfully.
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