> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dmly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Broadcasts overview
> What a broadcast is, which channels support it, and when to send one instead of a sequence or an automation.
A broadcast is a one-to-many campaign: you pick an audience, write one message, and DMLY sends it to every contact in that audience on one channel. Everything a broadcast sends is also recorded in the contact's conversation, so replies land in your [Inbox](/inbox/overview) like any other message.
## Which channels support broadcasts
Broadcasts work on **WhatsApp**, **Facebook**, **Instagram**, **SMS** and **Telegram**.
They are **not** available on Live Chat or TikTok. If one of those is your active channel, the Broadcasts item in the sidebar is greyed out; clicking it shows a notice — *Broadcasts aren’t available on Live Chat or TikTok. Switch to WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, SMS or Telegram.* — with a **Switch profile** button. Live Chat is a widget on your website — there is nobody to push a message to — and TikTok has no outbound messaging.
A broadcast always sends on your **active channel** — the one selected in the channel switcher when you create it. There is no channel picker inside the wizard, and the channel is fixed once the broadcast is saved. To send the same campaign on a second channel, switch channels and create it again.
## Broadcast, sequence, or automation?
All three send messages. The difference is what starts them.
| | Starts when | Everyone gets it | Use it for |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Broadcast** | You schedule it, once | At the same time | An announcement pegged to a date: a sale, a closure, a new service |
| **Sequence** | A contact enters it | On their own clock, spread over days | Onboarding, follow-up, nurturing after an enquiry |
| **Automation** | A trigger fires — a keyword, a booking, a tag | Only the contacts who trip the trigger | Replying, qualifying, routing, reacting to something a contact did |
The short version: if the timing comes from **your calendar**, it's a broadcast. If the timing comes from **the contact**, it's a [sequence](/automation/sequences) or an [automation](/automation/overview).
## The WhatsApp template reality
On WhatsApp you cannot type a broadcast message. Meta only allows business-initiated messages that use a **template it has approved in advance**, so the wizard shows a template picker instead of a composer, and it only lists templates whose status is approved. If a template has variables, you fill in one value per variable — and each of those values can itself be personalized, so you can pass `{{first_name}}` or a custom field and it resolves per recipient at send time. Approval is re-checked at the moment of sending: if Meta revokes the template between scheduling and sending, those messages fail rather than going out as plain text. Templates take time to get approved, so create and submit them before the day you need them — see [Message templates](/broadcasts/message-templates) and [WhatsApp rules and limits](/broadcasts/whatsapp-rules-and-limits).
The other channels behave differently:
* **Facebook and Instagram** — you type a plain message; there are no templates. Meta only delivers to people who messaged you in the last 24 hours, or who opted in to a notification. Contacts outside that window are skipped.
* **SMS and Telegram** — you type a plain message, and there is no messaging window. Anyone in the audience can be reached.
## Opt-outs
A contact who has opted out never receives a broadcast — every channel blocks them at the point of sending, whatever your audience says.
Opted-out contacts are still pulled into the audience unless you tick **Reachable contacts only** on the Audience step, which is off by default. They receive nothing, but they count towards your recipient total and show up as failures. Tick it to keep your numbers honest.
## Approval
Any broadcast can be held with **Require team approval before sending**: it sits at **Pending approval** and is never picked up for sending until someone with approval rights approves it. Team members without those rights cannot turn the hold off — their broadcasts are always submitted for approval. If a team member without approval rights edits a broadcast, it goes back to **Pending approval** and any earlier sign-off is voided. An approver editing their own approved broadcast keeps the approval — it sends as edited unless they re-tick the box.
## What a broadcast can't do
* **You can't stop one.** There is no pause, cancel or delete. Once a broadcast is due, it sends. Edit or double-check it before the send time — that's what approval is for.
* **Delivered fills in on WhatsApp and SMS. Opened fills in on WhatsApp only** — SMS has no read receipt. Facebook, Instagram and Telegram never report back, so both figures stay at zero for them. See [Analytics](/broadcasts/analytics).
## Next steps
Walk the wizard: audience, message, schedule, review.
Segments, reachability, and re-messaging a past broadcast.
Create and submit the WhatsApp templates a broadcast needs.
What Meta lets you send, to whom, and how often.