Audiences
Choose who a campaign goes to, and understand why the number who receive it is always lower than the number you picked.
Every campaign needs an audience. There are three ways to build one — and whichever you pick, Enscale checks every recipient before sending.
The three options
| Option | What it is | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | A saved set of rules. Live — updates itself as customers change. | Almost always this one. |
| CSV upload | A one-off list you upload | Moving a list in from another tool |
| All contacts | Everyone eligible | Rarely. Nearly always too broad. |
Use segments. They're reusable, they stay current without you touching them, and you can see the count before committing. See Segments.
"All contacts" is almost always a mistake. It's more expensive at Meta, converts worse, and generates opt-outs from people the message wasn't relevant to.
Why fewer people receive it than you picked
Before sending, every recipient goes through these checks:
| Check | They're skipped when |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp opt-in | They haven't consented |
| Unsubscribed | They opted out |
| Valid phone number | The number can't be read or reached |
| Template approved | Blocks the whole campaign, not one person |
| Plan allows campaigns | Free plan can't send campaigns at all |
This is why a 1,000-person segment might send to 850. Before you confirm, you see the eligible count, the skipped count, and the reason for each group.
A high skip rate is the system working, not a bug
Enscale is keeping you compliant. Messaging people who never opted in — or who explicitly opted out — is exactly what gets a WhatsApp number restricted by Meta, and that restriction stops every customer reaching you.
If your skip rate is high, the fix is collecting more opt-ins. Not sending anyway.
Uploading a CSV
Your file needs a phone number column, with country codes. Numbers are converted to international format, and any that can't be read are reported back rather than silently dropped.
Uploading someone does not create consent for them. If they opted in somewhere else, import that consent information with the list so it's recorded and can be evidenced.
If they never agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp — a list you bought, scraped, or exported from an unrelated system — don't upload it. This is the single fastest way to lose your number.
Building an audience that performs
Narrow beats broad. A 500-person segment getting a relevant message will out-earn 5,000 people getting a generic one — and cost roughly a tenth as much at Meta.
Segment by what people did, not what they are. "Bought in the last 90 days" is a far better audience than "has a phone number". Behaviour predicts buying; attributes don't.
Exclude people you messaged recently. Someone who got a campaign yesterday doesn't need another today. Frequency is the fastest route to opt-outs, and every opt-out is permanent.
Test on 50 first. A template that reads badly is much cheaper to discover at 50 recipients than at 5,000.
Letting automations build audiences for you
The Add to Segment and Remove from Segment steps let a workflow build audiences from behaviour as it happens.
For example: add someone to a "hesitant" segment after they've abandoned two checkouts, then target that segment with a stronger offer than you'd send everybody. You're not guessing who needs the extra nudge — your automations are telling you.
What each recipient's status means
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Queued |
| Sending | Going out now |
| Sent | WhatsApp accepted it |
| Delivered | It reached their phone |
| Read | They opened it |
| Failed | Delivery failed |
| Opted out | Skipped for consent |
Sent and Delivered are different things. Sent means WhatsApp took it; Delivered means it reached a device. A consistent gap means numbers that aren't on WhatsApp — worth removing, since you may be paying to attempt them.
Common questions
Next steps
- Broadcasts — creating and sending the campaign.
- Segments — building the rules.
- Coupon popup — growing the opted-in list.