With a staggering 98% open rate (compared to a humble 20% average email open rate), WhatsApp Marketing has seen an exponential increase in customer adoption for business communications. 

As a small business owner, have you ever found yourself struggling to send the same kind of messages again and again? Maybe you need to send cart reminders and appointment schedules or reach out to your customers in different time zones to increase engagement and sales?

Let’s take the example of Ananya, who runs an after-school center in Mumbai. She uses scheduled messages to communicate with parents and students about classes, homework, and updates, significantly improving customer engagement and satisfaction for her educational small business. This helps streamline communication and enhances efficiency, which is vital for her success as a small business owner.

Scheduling WhatsApp messages is not natively available on WhatsApp. However, there are a few ways to go about doing this. We will take a look at each method–right from using third-party apps to WhatsApp Business API–and you can choose which suits your business needs the best.  

How to schedule WhatsApp Messages

Option 1: How to Schedule WhatsApp Messages on Android

1. Install the WhatsApp Message Scheduler SKEDit app from the Google Play Store. Enable accessibility access in your device's settings.

1. Launch the app and select a WhatsApp contact or group. Choose the desired date and time, then enter the message you wish to schedule. You can also click the clip icon to attach a file to the message.
2. You can set the message to repeat at different time intervals if needed.
3. Press the "Schedule" button in the top right corner to schedule your WhatsApp message. You can also enable the “Ask me before sending” option to review the message before it is sent.
4. SKEDit will notify you once the scheduled message has been successfully sent.

To use this option, you must disable your phone's screen lock and battery optimization. However, this can lead to potential privacy issues, so it is not recommended.

SKEDit also does not allow scheduling multiple messages at the same time.

Option 2: How to Schedule WhatsApp Messages on iOS

1. Unfortunately, iOS does not offer any third-party apps for scheduling messages on WhatsApp. However, Siri Shortcuts allow you to do this.
2. Download the Shortcuts app from the Apple App Store.

Open the app, tap "Automation," and select "Create Personal Automation."

1. Choose "Time of Day" and set your desired time.

Add the "Send Message via WhatsApp" action and compose your message.

Confirm and save your automation.

At the scheduled time, you'll receive a notification. Tap the notification and press "Send" to send the message.

Option 3: How to Schedule WhatsApp Messages on WhatsApp Web

Install a browser extension like Blueticks from the Chrome Web Store.

1. Open WhatsApp Web. Scan the QR code using your phone to log in to your WhatsApp account.
2. You will notice new icons added by the scheduler extension.
3. Select the WhatsApp chat, contact, or group you wish to send a scheduled message to.
4. Locate and click on the scheduler icon to open the WhatsApp Message Scheduler menu.
5. Choose the desired date and time for the message delivery.

1. Type the message you wish to schedule in the provided text box.
2. Click on "Schedule Send" to set the message for delivery at the specified date and time.

Option 4: How to Schedule WhatsApp Messages on the WhatsApp Business App

1. Open the WhatsApp Business App on your smartphone. 
2. Go to Settings and select Business Tools.

3. Turn ON the Away Messages and toggle ON the Send Away Message. Edit your Away Message by using the pencil icon. 

4. Edit your WhatsApp Message and click OK.

5. Choose your schedule for sending the WhatsApp message according to your deliverability. 

That's it! Your away messages are now set up on your WhatsApp Business app.

However, there's no built-in feature to schedule essential messages on the WhatsApp Business App. What if you need to set up a welcome message when a new customer buys your service or send an appointment reminder only for a specific group of contacts? 

The last option is truly the most useful one for your business. 

Option 5: Schedule WhatsApp Messages using the WhatsApp Business API

If you're running a fast growing business, the above options may not be suitable due to their inefficiency. Managing multiple platforms requires more coordination, doubling the time and effort. Instead, streamline your workflow by using an all-in-one platform such as Gallabox that handles all your daily WhatsApp business messaging.

How to schedule messages using the Broadcast feature of Gallabox

1. Sign up for the WhatsApp Business API using a paid WhatsApp Business automation tool like Gallabox.
2. Click the “Create New Broadcast” button.

3. Choose a pre-approved template from the list.

4. Upload contacts from Excel. Or, select the contact group you want to broadcast to. Click the ‘Confirm’ button.

5. Personalize your message with template variables which are dynamic elements such as the contact’s name, current date, location, etc. and click Confirm.

6. Enter a name for this broadcast, choose to send it immediately, or schedule a date and time to send your broadcast message.

7. Click the Send Broadcast button and you’re done!

How WhatsApp solutions from Gallabox can benefit your business?

Gallabox provides solutions that address the limitations of free options above.

• Message Scheduling: The Broadcast feature can streamline your scheduling process, saving you up to 30% of time spent on message coordination.
• Time Management: When developing a Drip Marketing Campaign—a strategy that sends a series of timed messages on WhatsApp to improve communication workflow—consider using Gallabox for its effectiveness and efficiency.
• Privacy and Security: Using the Whatsapp Business API, your scheduled messages are encrypted, ensuring data integrity and user privacy.
• Synchronization: Gallabox helps you in collaborating with your team members effectively through its Shared Team Inbox that eliminates synchronization issues. 
• Customer Satisfaction: WhatsApp Flows facilitate meaningful interactions using forms inside WhatsApp. This combination enhances message delivery, quickly improves the customer experience, and boosts customer satisfaction.
• Automation: Gallabox's automation features such as WhatsApp Chatbots (for scaling customer experiences), Gen AI (to harness the power of AI within WhatsApp), and WhatsApp Payments (for automating payment collections) enhance productivity.

Use Cases of Scheduling WhatsApp Messages

The following use cases illustrate how scheduling WhatsApp messages can be effectively utilized across different aspects of business messaging.

1. Lead nurturing using bots: Automated follow-up messages to prospects after initial contact by providing them educational content and updates, helps keep your leads engaged. 
2. Customer Onboarding: Scheduling a series of onboarding messages to new clients, and sharing important resources and information increases the engagement rate with your brand. 
3. Appointment reminders: Once you understand the process of how to schedule or pre-send whatsapp messages, you can easily send reminders for scheduled service appointments. 
4. Promotional Campaigns: Small businesses can schedule messages for special offers, discounts or limited-time promotions. 
5. Surveys and Feedback Requests: Through scheduling of WhatsApp messages, SMBs and larger businesses alike can automate the distribution of surveys post-interaction or post-purchase, which helps in collecting customer feedback to improve your services. 

Summing up

Effective communication is crucial for business success, and WhatsApp's extensive reach and high engagement rates make it a valuable tool for small businesses. Scheduling WhatsApp messages ensures timely, consistent, and personalized communication, enhancing customer relationships and operational efficiency.

Business messaging tools like Gallabox help overcome WhatsApp's native scheduling limitations, offering automated message scheduling, enhanced privacy, and seamless synchronization.