Broadcasts

A broadcast is a one-off campaign sent to a live segment. You pick the audience, write a one- or two-line brief, and Zubby generates a unique message for every recipient grounded in that brief and in what it knows about each shopper. Email and SMS copy is generated per recipient. WhatsApp uses a shared, approved template with recipient variables instead. Broadcasts are for ad-hoc moments (a flash sale, a restock, a thank-you); recurring lifecycle automation belongs in journeys.

Where it lives

Dashboard → Broadcasts. The page has two halves: a composer on the left to queue a new broadcast, and a list of your last 50 campaigns on the right with live delivery counts.

Plan gate

Broadcasts are a Growth-and-up feature. The composer surfaces an Upgrade plan link if your plan doesn’t include them - the API returns a 402. Sending also requires recovery access. SMS and WhatsApp require Pro channel access and a connected sender.

Composing a broadcast

The composer has exactly three inputs:

Segment - a dropdown of the built-in segment catalog. The selected segment’s description shows underneath. Built-in segments and supported saved custom segments can be selected. The worker resolves current membership when it starts processing, then applies marketing consent and unsubscribe checks. Counts before queueing are estimates.
Channel - EMAIL, SMS, or WhatsApp. SMS requires shoppers to have a usable phone number and consent. WhatsApp is only selectable once a WhatsApp Business number is connected, and it sends a pre-approved template you pick instead of AI-written copy.
Brief - up to 2,000 characters, minimum 10. This is the grounding instruction for the AI: the offer, the tone, the must-mention details. Example: “Synthetic example: announce the new linen shirt. Link to its product page. Use a calm tone. Do not invent discounts, stock scarcity, shipping deadlines, or return terms.”

Hit Queue broadcast and the campaign is handed to the sending service, which prepares and sends a message per recipient. You’ll see the new campaign appear in the list with live counts.

Queueing starts a send, not a draft review

Review the brief and approved template before queueing. There is no per-recipient AI-copy approval step in this three-input flow: new email and SMS text is generated after queueing. Be explicit about facts, dates, links, and allowed offers. If exact wording needs approval, use a workflow that sends approved copy rather than assuming a Content Studio preview locks every recipient message.

Check a small campaign first

Use a controlled test audience with permission to receive the message. Confirm its segment, channel, contact details, and brief. Queue once. Check that the row moves from Queued to Sending and then Completed, inspect the actual received message, and compare sent and failed counts. Completed means processing finished; it does not prove inbox placement or that every recipient received a message. An empty eligible audience can complete with zero sends. If the row remains queued, confirm service status with support before creating another campaign.

Reading the campaign list

Each row shows the target segment, the channel, the brief, a status badge, and a delivery summary. Status moves through:

Status	Meaning
Queued	Accepted and waiting for message preparation.
Sending	Messages are being generated and dispatched.
Completed	Every recipient has been processed.
Failed	The campaign could not complete.

The delivery line reads sent / recipient count, plus a failed count when any sends bounced or errored, and the timestamp the campaign was created.

What per-recipient copy changes

Relevance - the message can lean on the shopper’s history and interests rather than a one-size body.
Review responsibility - varied text does not guarantee inbox placement, accuracy, or conversion. Sender reputation, consent, content, and provider rules still apply.
Grounding - the brief supplies facts and limits. AI can still make mistakes, so use a controlled audience and inspect sent examples before expanding a campaign.

Gotchas

Broadcasts are one-off. There is no schedule field - the campaign sends when you queue it. For timed, repeating, or behavior-triggered sends, use journeys.
Membership is resolved when the background job processes the campaign, not when you open the page. Up to 2,000 candidates are selected, then consent and unsubscribe records filter them before dispatch. This is not a continuously refreshed audience or a promise of a fresh suppression query before every individual message.
Channel availability depends on your connectors and on each shopper’s contactability and consent - SMS sends skip shoppers without a usable number.
The brief minimum is 10 characters and the maximum is 2,000. The Queue button stays disabled until the brief is long enough (or, for WhatsApp, until a template is selected).
Sending is asynchronous. Verify the queued → sending → completed transition in the merchant dashboard and inspect failed recipients before treating a submitted campaign as delivered.

Segments - define and inspect the audiences broadcasts target.
Journeys & sequences - automated, multi-step, triggered sends.
Cart & browse rescue - eligible triggered follow-up with explicit measurement limits.
Shoppers, lifecycle & VIP - the profiles that power per-recipient copy.