Home Campaigns and templates Launch your first WhatsApp campaign

Launch your first WhatsApp campaign

Last updated on Oct 14, 2026

A WhatsApp campaign sends a Meta-approved template to the contacts who gave their consent. The wizard guides you through four steps and shows you how much it will cost before anything is sent.

Who it's for: any panel user with write permission (the Collaborator and Developer roles can only view). Screen: https://micuenta.whatsmarketing.es/campanas/nueva

Before you start

  • A connected WhatsApp number with high or medium quality. A number with low quality can't send campaigns (Account → WhatsApp).
  • At least one Meta-approved template in the category you're going to use (Account → WhatsApp → Templates). Meta usually replies in under 24 hours.
  • Contacts with consent and a phone number with country code. If your list is in Excel, import it first from Contacts with a label (see the tutorial on importing contacts).
  • Enough wallet balance for the estimated cost. The wizard tells you before sending.

Steps

  1. Go to Send → Campaigns and click "+ New campaign" («+ Nueva campaña»). You'll see four steps: "What and from where" («Qué y desde dónde»), "To whom" («A quién»), "The message" («El mensaje») and "Review and send" («Revisar y enviar»).
  2. Type the "Campaign name" («Nombre de la campaña») (only your team sees it), choose the "Sending number" («Número emisor») and the category: Marketing, Utility or Authentication. Meta reviews the category and it defines what is charged per message. Click "Next: to whom →" («Siguiente: a quién →»).
  3. Choose the audience: "A CRM stage" («Una etapa del CRM»), "A label" («Una etiqueta») (for example the one from your latest import), "All contacts" («Todos los contactos») or "Manual selection" («Selección manual»). The card on the right tells you how many will receive the campaign and how many are left out for lacking consent, a phone number or a country code. Click "Next: the message →" («Siguiente: el mensaje →»).
  4. Choose a template with the "Approved" («Aprobada») badge. If it has variables, indicate where each one comes from (First name, Company, Email, etc.) and a fallback text in case the field is empty. Click "Next: review and send →" («Siguiente: revisar y enviar →»).
  5. Review the summary and the "Estimated cost by destination country" («Coste estimado por país de destino») table with messages, price and total per country. Check the balance notice: green for "Sufficient balance" («Saldo suficiente»), red for "Insufficient balance" («Saldo insuficiente»).
  6. Under "When" («Cuándo») choose "Now" («Ahora»), "Schedule" («Programar») (day, time and the country's time zone) or "Stagger" («Escalonar») (contacts per batch and minutes between batches).
  7. Click "Send to N contacts" («Enviar a N contactos») or "Schedule for N contacts" («Programar para N contactos»). If you'd rather leave it ready without sending, "Save draft" («Guardar borrador»).

What you see when you're done

  • The "Campaign under way" («Campaña en marcha») (or "Campaign scheduled" («Campaña programada»)) screen with the "See how it's going" («Ver cómo va») button, which opens the campaign detail.
  • In the detail: the status (Draft, Scheduled, Sending, Paused, Sent, With errors or Cancelled), live progress, and four figures: Sent, Delivered, Read and Replied.
  • The recipient list with filters (Delivered, Read, Replied, Failed, Pending) and the "Conversation ↗" («Conversación ↗») link for those who replied.
  • The estimated cost against the actual cost so far. Each message is charged according to the recipient's country when it goes out; whatever Meta rejects on the spot is returned to the wallet.
  • Actions depending on status: "Pause" («Pausar») while sending, "Resume" («Reanudar») if paused, "Retry failed" («Reintentar los fallidos») when finished, and always "Duplicate" («Duplicar») and "Export" («Exportar»).

If something goes wrong

  • "Connect your WhatsApp to send campaigns" («Conecta tu WhatsApp para enviar campañas»): you have no connected number with high or medium quality. Click "Connect my WhatsApp" («Conectar mi WhatsApp») and follow the tutorial on connecting your number.
  • "No approved templates for this number and category" («No hay plantillas aprobadas para este número y categoría»): create a template in Account → WhatsApp → Templates and wait for Meta's approval, or go back to step 1 and switch to a category in which you do have an approved template.
  • "The template isn't approved by Meta yet." («La plantilla todavía no está aprobada por Meta.»): wait until the template's status is "Approved"; you can't send with a pending or rejected one.
  • The audience card shows 0 or "N without consent" («N sin consentimiento»): messages go only to contacts with consent. Check them in Contacts, "Without consent" («Sin consentimiento») tab, and record consent for those who gave it.
  • "N contacts without a valid country code won't be sent or charged." («N contactos sin prefijo de país válido no se envían ni se cobran.»): fix those phone numbers in their contact record by adding the country code (+34, +52, +54…).
  • "Insufficient balance. You have X and this campaign costs about Y. Top up at least Z or reduce the recipients." («Saldo insuficiente. Tienes X y esta campaña cuesta unos Y. Recarga al menos Z o reduce los destinatarios.»): the send button is disabled. Click "Top up the wallet" («Recargar la wallet») and come back to the wizard, or reduce the audience.
  • "The scheduled date must be at least one minute in the future." («La fecha programada tiene que ser al menos un minuto en el futuro.»): check the date, time and time zone you chose.
  • The "Next: review and send →" button doesn't activate: a template variable still needs to be mapped in the "Template variables" («Variables de la plantilla») table.
  • "The campaign stopped: Insufficient balance in the wallet. N messages remain unsent." («La campaña se detuvo: Saldo insuficiente en la wallet. Quedan N mensajes sin enviar.»): the campaign paused midway because the balance ran out. Top up and click "Resume".
  • Status "With errors" («Con errores») and "No message went out" («Ningún mensaje salió»): check the "Errors by reason" («Errores por motivo») list in the detail and the number's health in Account → WhatsApp; then "Retry failed".
  • Meta paused the number while you were sending: the campaign waits until the number recovers (normally 24 to 48 hours). See the tutorial on connecting your number, section on paused numbers.

When to ask 24/7 Support for help

If a campaign has been "Sending" («Enviando») for more than an hour without progressing, if an amount was charged that doesn't match the actual cost in the detail, if messages show as delivered but recipients say they didn't get them, or if the number has been paused for more than 48 hours. 24/7 Support: https://whatsappmarketing.zendesk.com/hc/es