How long will this broadcast take?
The time depends on the number of recipients, message items, image file size and your connection speed. Adjust the numbers below for an estimate. You don't need to know your speed; we can measure it for you.
Estimated time
For 5,000 people · about 26 people/min
Includes a 20% buffer for Facebook latency.
Sending images to more than 900 people in one run may hit Facebook upload limits partway through, so the time above is a minimum. We recommend splitting it into smaller batches.
If the full customer list has to be loaded before sending, add about 15 seconds per 1,000 people.
What affects the time
Number of recipients
The system sends to 2 people at a time with a short pause before each one, so time grows in direct proportion to the number of people.
Image size and count
Facebook doesn't allow an uploaded image to be reused, so each image is uploaded again for every customer. An image 10x larger means 10x more uploading.
Connection speed and Facebook latency
Every message passes through Facebook's systems, so speed depends on both your connection and how busy Facebook is at the time.
Estimated times
Based on a 10 Mbps upload speed and 75KB images, including a 20% buffer.
| Recipients | Text only | Text + 75KB image |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 people | 12 minutes | 39 minutes |
| 3,000 people | 36 minutes | 1 hour 56 minutes |
| 5,000 people | 1 hour | 3 hours 13 minutes |
| 10,000 people | 2 hours | 6 hours 26 minutes |
Broadcast time FAQ
- How long does a broadcast to 5,000 people take?
- Text only takes about 1 hour. Text plus a 75KB image on a 10 Mbps connection takes about 3 hours 13 minutes. These figures include a 20% buffer and change with your image size and connection speed.
- Why are images so much slower than text?
- Facebook treats an image attached to a message as a single-use file, so the same image has to be uploaded again for every customer. Sending an image to 5,000 people means 5,000 uploads, while text-only messages upload nothing.
- How can I make broadcasts faster?
- Shrink images to about 75KB before uploading, send fewer items per person, use a stable connection, and split recipients into smaller batches instead of sending all at once. That also lowers the chance of Facebook limiting sends partway through.
Learn how to split batches safely in the broadcast guide, or see other questions in the FAQ.
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Use the Chrome extensionThe estimates above are for sending through the Chrome extension. Sending through the web version runs on our servers and takes a different amount of time.