# How can we help? ## Overview Batch messages can be sent immediately, scheduled for a future date, or throttled according to audience size or maximum number of batches. You can also automate the scheduling process with [Cordial AI's Send Time Optimization tool](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/24547194219021). Use these options to send a better message. ## Send a batch message immediately 1. To create a new message, log in to Cordial and navigate to **Messages > Create New Message**. 2. Click **Edit** in the **Schedule** pane. 3. Select the option to **Send immediately.** ## Schedule for a future date 1. If you would like to schedule a batch message to be sent on a future date, click the **Edit** button in the **Schedule Sending** pane and choose **Schedule for future date**. 2. Choose the date and time you would like the message to be sent and click **Save**. 3. If all required content is provided, the **Schedule Message** button will become available on the left side of your message creation page. ## Edit a scheduled message Scheduled messages can be located by navigating to **Messages > Scheduled**. Hover over the arrow next to the scheduled message name to reveal available options including **Edit**, **Copy as Draft**, **Remove**, and **Unschedule**. The Forecasted Audience Count provides a quick reference to the approximate audience count per message, adding an easy verification method for duplicate, empty or unexpectedly large or small scheduled sends. When attempting to edit a scheduled message, you will be notified that the message status will change from scheduled to draft. Click **Yes, Continue Editing** to proceed. Your message can now be edited and rescheduled. You can view the details of a scheduled throttle from the Scheduled Messages page by hovering over the **Send Time** stamp. Similarly, you can view the status details of [sent or sending](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005363847#sendingThrottle) throttled batch messages by navigating to **Messages > Email Sent** and hovering over the **Send Time** stamp. ## Schedule send according to contact's time zone When scheduling a message for a future date, you can set the scheduled send time according to a contact's time zone. In order for this option to become available, you need to [designate a contact attribute as the contact's primary time zone](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005528368#primaryTimezone). When scheduling your message, choose **Contact's time zone** in the **Schedule time** menu. We suggest scheduling the message with the contact's timezone at least 24 hours from the first scheduled send. Not doing so may result in failed sending. If a time zone value is not present in the primary time zone attribute, the message will send according to the account's default time zone setting. ## Throttle a batch message Message sending can be throttled to control your sending volumes over time for any given batch message. This is useful if: - There's a need to spread out sending volumes because your domain has issues handling large volumes of inbound traffic. - You are [warming an IP](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001337471) or sending to a list of newly acquired contacts and there's a deliverability concern with a particular volume. - Your analysis of message open rates suggests that the number of messages per batch should be distributed unevenly. For example, front-loading the first batch and gradually tapering the volume. Message throttling may not be compatible with [inbox placement tests](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/115008406788) and [experiments](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005532948). ### Set up message throttling on a batch message 1. Click **Edit** in the **Schedule Sending** pane and select **Throttled batch sending**. 2. Select either **Audience size per batch** or **Max number of batches**. ### Audience size per batch - **Auto**: Specify the audience size per batch and the number of batches will be calculated automatically. - **Custom:** Specify the number of batches and assign a percentage of the total audience to each batch. Audience counts are recalculated for each batch of a throttled send, so it's possible for the audience count to fluctuate during the throttling time period. - **Max number of batches:** Specify the maximum number of batches and the audience size per batch will be calculated automatically. ### Batch intervals Choose whether you want your **Batch interval** to be **Daily** or **Hourly**. - **Daily:** Send a batch once per day on specific days. - **Hourly:** Send a batch on specific hours of specific days. - **Allowed days:** Days of the week you would like the message to send. - **Allowed hours:** Hours of the day you would like the message to send. - **Select minutes:** Minutes within the hours of each day. For example, 10AM and 30 minutes will send at 10:30AM. - **Start batch sending:** The date when the batch sending intervals will start. - **Start time:** The time when the batch sending intervals will start. The messages will start sending at the first interval after the start date and time. Be sure to select all days and times you would like the messages to send. > **Use case** > You could send each batch of messages every hour between the hours of 9 am and 7 pm on weekdays until all messages have been sent. ## Send Time Optimization You can automate the message scheduling process with [Cordial AI's Send Time Optimization](https://support.cordial.com/hc/en-us/articles/24547194219021).