How to create whatsapp chatbot free
How to Create WhatsApp Chatbot in 5 Steps [For Free in 2022]
Since you’re here, it means that you have understood that you need to engage your customers over the channel they are most comfortable using. Kudos to you!
You know that your customers are rather active over WhatsApp. Now, you have three questions on your mind.
- How do you improve your customer experience on WhatsApp?
- Can you engage customers over WhatsApp manually, or do you need a chatbot?
- How do you create a chatbot on WhatsApp?
Well, we’ve got all the answers you are looking for.
We’re going to help you decide whether you need a WhatsApp chatbot, then show you exactly how to create it, and walk you through all the steps involved in deploying it on WhatsApp in just 5 minutes. Grab on to your seats. We’re getting started!
What is a WhatsApp chatbot?A WhatsApp chatbot is an automated software that uses Artificial Intelligence or pre-programmed rules to engage your customers on the WhatsApp platform.
Engati's WhatsApp chatbots use AI and our proprietary NLP (Natural Language Processing) engine to intelligently interact with your customers. You can use them to answer customer questions about your products and services, share content, drive sales, and send notifications regarding orders, payments, shipping, etc.
WhatsApp business chatbots run over the WhatsApp Business API to intelligently engage with your customers, employees, students, and other types of users, without any need for human intervention.
Why create your own WhatsApp chatbot?
If you have a very small clientele, you might be able to survive by manually responding to each message. But as your business grows, that will become harder.
However, even if you have a limited customer base, there is still one major problem with manually answering every question - a lack of speed.
Your customers will have to wait for you to get around to answering their questions. This means that more often than not, they won’t get an answer when they want it.
That’s never a good idea.
If you’re into eCommerce or retail, that puts you in a more challenging position. 53% of online shoppers abandon their carts for lack of instant answers.
So, if you’re interested in having satisfied customers and protecting your carts from abandonment, you should create a WhatsApp chatbot for your business.
How to create a WhatsApp chatbot?
Here are the steps to create a WhatsApp chatbot in 2022:
Step 1: Building a chatbot
When it comes to creating a chatbot, you’ve got two choices.
- Code it
- Use a powerful, no-code chatbot platform (hint, this is the better choice)
Building it with a no-code chatbot platform like Engati is the wiser choice. After all, why would you make the effort to painstakingly code a chatbot when you can build your WhatsApp chatbot visually?
We can help you get your bot up and running and start delighting your customers much faster than if you chose to code it yourself.
Also, we give you in-depth analytics about your conversations with customers, helping you measure the effectiveness of your WhatsApp messages.
Bonus: You can even automate the training of your bot with the help of our DocuSense technology. It can parse through the documents you upload and assimilate 12 pages of data every 8 seconds.
Step 2: Fulfill the requirements to deploy chatbots on WhatsApp
- First, you need to have access to WhatsApp Business API. WhatsApp grants access to these APIs themselves through their partners.
- To receive WhatsApp Chatbot API access, you’ll also need a verified business on WhatsApp.
- You also need to register a phone number as your WhatsApp Business phone number
- WhatsApp will call this number up to confirm and activate it for your WhatsApp Business Account, so you need to make sure that the number can receive calls from the USA.
In the Engati portal, navigate to the Deploy tab and select WhatsApp.
Now you’d want to choose your provider from the drop-down menu. To set up your WhatsApp bot in the fastest way possible, choose 360Dialog as your WhatsApp provider (doing this also allows you to create WhatsApp message templates that can be used for broadcast messages directly from the Engati portal).
Choosing your WhatsApp Business API service provider
Now, you’re going to have to update a couple of fields:
- Phone Number
- API key
Step 4: Configure WhatsApp
You’d want to log into your 360Dialog account. Now, you need to navigate to the ‘WhatsApp account’ section.
You’ll be able to find your WhatsApp business phone number here.
Copy your registered and approved WhatsApp Business phone number and paste it into the phone number field on the Engati portal. Make sure to add the country code without any spaces or a ‘+’ sign.
Enter your Business phone number
Now, go back to the ‘WhatsApp account’ section on the 360Dialog portal.
Click on ‘Generate API key’.
Generate your WhatsApp API key
You can only generate your WhatsApp chatbot API key once, so copy it and store it in a secure manner.
Now paste your API Key into the Engati portal.
Now, if you want to use voice interactions on your WhatsApp business chatbot, enable voice input (use the checkbox in the bottom left corner, as depicted in the image above) and upload your JSON voice file.
Step 5: Test your WhatsApp chatbot
Now that you’ve entered all your details, you’re ready to test the Engati chatbot that you created on WhatsApp.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve learned how to make your WhatsApp bot. Now, the question in your mind is, ‘Can I integrate my WhatsApp bot into my website?’
Don’t worry. We are going to show you how to do that too.
Create your Whatsapp Chatbot for 5$ a day.
Schedule a demo
Bonus - Join the live webinar on 8th Dec!
Examples of powerful WhatsApp chatbots
1
Larsen & Toubro
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) needed a solution to engage their workforce of 3,30,000 employees across sites, answer all their questions, and receive progress updates from them.
They deployed an intelligent chatbot operating in English and Hindi over WhatsApp and Telegram.
It facilitates communication between employees working at their various construction sites and off-site project managers. By sending questions to the workers and collecting their responses, the bot has reduced the time spent on daily reporting.
It has even simplified the process of tracking progress across multiple projects for project managers.
2
Poppy's
Poppy’s is another major retailer and eCommerce store that opted to use a WhatsApp bot with Engati Live Chat. This power-packed combination of automation and the human touch helps with lead generation as well as customer support, ensuring that customers get all their questions answered instantly, irrespective of complexity!
Their bot can pull information about all their products and share it with customers in both English and Spanish.
Since catalogs are constantly changing, training the bot manually would not make sense.
Poppy’s did not want to upload FAQs about every single product manually.
That’s why they opted to use DocuSense. Our DocuSense technology uses cognitive search to parse documents and answer customer questions based on the information in them.
The result? Customers get answers to all their questions, while Poppy’s team does not need to spend time manually training their bot!
3
Mall of the Emirates
Mall of the Emirates uses Engati to provide customer service and run its loyalty program. They use an intelligent chatbot for WhatsApp, along with Live Chat, to give their patrons a fantastic experience.
Their bot uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to pull details from receipts uploaded by guests. So, all they need to do is send their receipts to the bot, and their loyalty points are automatically allocated without human intervention.
FAQs
1
What are the prerequisites for creating a chatbot on WhatsApp?
To deploy a chatbot on WhatsApp Messenger, all you need is:
1.
Verified business on Facebook
2. Registered WhatsApp business phone number
3. Official WhatsApp Business API (which Engati helps you get)
2
What are session and template messages in WhatsApp?
Session messages are messages sent within 24 hours of a user-initiated conversation. If you wish to initiate a conversation with customers after that window of time has expired, you would need to send them a predefined template message. To limit spam, WhatsApp used to control the approval of the templates and it even charges for these messages.
Earlier, WhatsApp was against using template messages for marketing purposes, so the company only allowed you to send messages regarding payment confirmations, account updates, order status, shipping updates, etc. Any templates that WhatsApp considered promotional were rejected, so you could not really drive marketing campaigns and announce discounts very effectively here. But that has since changed.
WhatsApp has recently permitted the use of promotional templates, thus making it possible for you to announce your sales and discount campaigns to your customers over WhatsApp, allowing you to drive more conversions, earn more revenue, and gain more value from your WhatsApp AI chatbot.
3
How do I send broadcasts over a WhatsApp chatbot?
You can use broadcasts to send plain text messages, messages with options, and even take users through paths. We even allow you to schedule your broadcasts and target them to specific segments of your users. To broadcast messages on WhatsApp outside the 24-hour window, you will need to use a template message.
The good news is that you don’t need to go to the 360Dialog portal and create new broadcasts from there every time you want to send a template message.
All you’d have to do is set the templates up directly in the conversation flow while building your WhatsApp API chatbot by making use of the Template Message node.
4
How do I get access to WhatsApp APIs?
WhatsApp distributes its business APIs through its partners. When you create a WhatsApp bot on our platform, Engati will help you get access to these APIs.
5
What is the cost of a WhatsApp chatbot?
Since WhatsApp does not allow advertisements to be run on their platform, they earn revenue by charging for the use of their WhatsApp APIs.
WhatsApp Marketing is thriving and you must leverage the power of reaching out to your customers via WhatsApp. So, while it is not free to deploy a chatbot, through our partnerships with WhatsApp API providers, Engati can help you do that at a competitive price.
6
How do you segment broadcast lists on your WhatsApp chatbot?
You can segment your existing user lists on the basis of user attributes, but there is an even easier way for you to do that. It is possible for you to set up your WhatsApp chatbot to automatically subscribe your chatbot users to broadcast campaigns on the basis of the actions that they take while interacting with the template messages from your chatbot.
In addition to that, you can also choose to upload a list of users with a certain attribute and send your broadcast message campaigns to them.
This allows you to target your users with broadcast messages that actually appeal to their interests, rather than annoying them with irrelevant announcements.
7
How do WhatsApp chatbots help with omnichannel support?
WhatsApp chatbots play an important role in an effective omnichannel support strategy because over 2 billion people around the world use WhatsApp. These users open the app an average of 23 to 25 times a day, which means that WhatsApp Messenger is definitely an important messaging app for them.
It plays into your broader omnichannel support strategy because the bot you deploy on WhatsApp can also be deployed on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, and 10+ other messaging channels. All your conversations across these channels can be managed in a OneView inbox, allowing your agents to always have context about past conversations across all channels. This means that your customers can continue conversations where they left off when they switch channels, making the experience truly omnichannel. The whole intent is to replicate human conversations.
8
What is WhatsApp Business API?
The WhatsApp Business API is used by medium & large businesses to scale up their customer engagements on WhatsApp with interactive buttons, broadcasts, templates, and other special features that are not available with WhatsApp Business App.
It is used the most by large businesses that have a lot of customers and a business suite that integrates with their other systems, software, and data.
Create your WhatsApp chatbot now!
Create your own Whatsapp chatbot for 5$ a day
Schedule a demo
Create WhatsApp chatbot for free!
Automate conversations with your customers, from the first touch point to closing the sale
Start using WhatsApp for your business
Win user
engagement
Subscribers are more likely to open triggered messages from your bot compared to bulk campaigns.
Convert leads
with ease
Convert leads into customers by sending valuable content in your automated flows.
Get customer
feedback
Build a better product or service by getting reviews from your customers.
Provide 24/7
support
Create live chats to provide support and speedy answers 24/7.
Features for creating and sending WhatsApp messages
Use tools that will help you set up and send high-quality WhatsApp campaigns
Subscription widgets
Add a widget to your website so you can stay connected with visitors via WhatsApp.
To grow your contact list, you can also send an email or SMS to an existing list of subscribers and ask them to subscribe to WhatsApp messages.
Drag and drop editor for creating chatbots
Create triggers, set up auto-replies, and organize the conversational logic of your chatbot. You can build an effective sales pipeline with an auto-reply flow for your subscribers.
Chats with subscribers
Invite colleagues to your SendPulse account to distribute chats among your team members and support several chats at once from different devices.
Analytics
Monitor the number of sent, delivered, and opened messages. This information will help you improve the results of your campaigns by changing the copy and sending time of your messages to meet your audience’s desires.
API
SendPulse provides an open API, through which you can integrate a WhatsApp channel into your CRM, analytics system, or other project.
Learn more API documentation
Official WhatsApp Business API is a reliable solution for companies with a strong client base aimed at growing their business
Companies can use three versions of WhatsApp to interact with their customers: WhatsApp Messenger, WhatsApp Business App, and WhatsApp Business API.
Consider all pros and cons before getting started.
WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App
Interact with your customers from a browser on your PC or use a mobile application
-
Supports one user on a single device
Both versions work on one device with one user. You can use WhatsApp Desktop on your computer or run WhatsApp App on Android or iOS devices.
-
No possibility for team collaboration
You can't assign or divide responsibilities for replying to chats between different team members. The app can only be activated on one device at a time.
-
No bulk messages
WhatsApp may block a sender for bulk messages. You can send the same message at the same time up to 256 recipients or set up auto-replies to frequently asked questions.
-
No integrations
It is not possible to integrate WhatsApp with your CRM system or other projects.
Integration with WhatsApp Business API via SendPulse
Interact with your customers via SendPulse chatbots or set up an integration with your own system
-
Multiple device support
SendPulse sends and receives messages to and from WhatsApp. All members of your team can get access to SendPulse to work with WhatsApp from different devices.
-
Work as a team
Divide responsibilities for working with chats between different team members. Invite new users to your account to work with WhatsApp chats.
-
Bulk and triggered messages
Use message templates to initiate a chat with users. There are no restrictions on sending the same message to multiple users simultaneously.
-
Various integrations
Integrate WhatsApp with tools your company uses like your CRM system, chat services, and other software.
Connect WhatsApp with SendPulse to collect subscribers, create chatbots, and send messages
Connect to WhatsApp
SendPulse — Official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
Send WhatsApp messages with the SendPulse API
Use the WhatsApp Business API via SendPulse for seamless and effective messaging. Connecting through SendPulse will get you the following benefits:
Onboarding support
To use the WhatsApp Business API, you must first verify your business account. Be sure that we’ll consult and help you while connecting to WhatsApp.
Official connection method
WhatsApp blocks users who connect using unauthorized methods. Connection via an official channel, like SendPulse, ensures that you’ll be up and running without issue. You just need to get consent from users to contact them and follow WhatsApp guidelines while creating your message content.
No setup fees
You only pay for the number of messages sent.
Omnichannel communication
Power up your communication strategy with WhatsApp messages. With SendPulse, you can also send messages to Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook, and communicate with your customers through email, SMS campaigns, and web push notifications.
Manage chatbots on your smartphone
Install the app and send quick replies to your Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook chatbot subscribers, work with subscriber data, and analyze chatbot statistics.
Affordable pricing plans for WhatsApp messages
-
User-initiated sessions
Conversations that are initiated in response to a user message. Your first message that starts a session is paid and its price depends on your recipient's country. All of the subsequent messages won't be charged until the end of the session.
-
Business-initiated sessionss
Conversations that start when a business messages a user.
These messages will require a message template. Their price is higher than for user-initiated sessions and depends on your recipient's country. -
Free tier sessions
The first 1,000 sessions per month are free for your business, both business-initiated or user-initiated.
Learn more about WhatsApp pricing.
Go to prices
FAQ
How can I sign up for the WhatsApp Business API and create a chatbot for free?
You can create your WhatsApp Business API account with any of SendPulse's paid plans for the 7-day free trial. Sign up or a SendPulse account if you don't have one, and choose a paid plan. Afterward, create your Business account on Facebook and WhatsApp, and register your number to WhatsApp Business API. Read more to find out how to sign up for the WhatsApp Business API for free in just a few minutes.
How do I switch to SendPulse from another WhatsApp BSP (Business Solution Provider)
If you already used a phone number to sign up for the WhatsApp Business API, you can migrate your number and change providers (BSP) to create chatbots in our builder. Follow the instructions to migrate the content successfully.
How many recipients can I send messages to within 24 hours?
WhatsApp's policy limits the number of recipients you can send messages to, imposing three tiers of messaging limits on businesses. Tier 1 enables you to send messages to 1K unique users in a rolling 24-hour period. Read more to find out how WhatsApp messaging limits work.
How do I create an auto-flow for my WhatsApp chatbot?
Use our drag and drop editor to create an automated flow for your WhatsApp chatbot. You can also develop your chatbot scenario and set up auto-replies and keywords. Read more to find out how to create an automated flow for your WhatsApp chatbot.
How can I create a bulk messaging campaign in WhatsApp?
Select your chatbot and recipients, fill in the content of your message, and choose when to send your campaign. You can monitor how many messages were delivered and how many subscribers interacted with your chatbot. Here you can find step-by-step instructions on how to create a bulk messaging campaign in WhatsApp.
What is a template message, and how can you create your own templates for WhatsApp campaigns?
Template messages allow you to distribute the same content to all of your subscribers. However, you can only use these templates for transactional and trigger messages without advertising content.
Go to the "Templates" tab in the "Chatbots" section, and click the Add Template button to create a new template. Remember that each template is moderated by WhatsApp. You can start sending campaigns using the template after its status changes from “Sent” to “Confirmed.”
Create a WhatsApp chatbot for free!
Automate communication with customers from the first touch to close the deal
Use WhatsApp mailings for various business tasks:
Increase conversions
Subscribers open triggered messages better than mass mailings and are willing to engage in dialogue.
Smoothly lead to a deal
Turn potential customers into customers using message chains with useful content.
Get customer feedback
Ask customers to leave feedback after the purchase and evaluate the work of the company. This way you can improve the service.
customer support
Create a support chat to advise and assist customers 24/7.
Everything you need to create and send WhatsApp newsletters
Use tools that will help you communicate effectively in the messenger
Collect subscriber base
Place a subscription widget on the site and collect your WhatsApp messenger audience. In the service, you can also send an email or SMS campaign to the existing database with an offer to subscribe to the WhatsApp campaign.
Visual designer for creating chatbots
Create triggers, set up auto-responses and define bot logic. To build an effective sales funnel, think about the sequence in which messages will be sent to subscribers.
Dialogues with subscribers
Invite colleagues to your SendPulse account to work with conversations as a team and support multiple chats simultaneously from different devices.
Analytics
Information on the number of delivered, sent and read messages is available in the statistics section. Analyze which messages are read and which are not.
Based on this, correct the text of messages and change the time of sending.
API
SendPulse provides a public API with which you can integrate the WhatsApp channel into your infrastructure, CRM or analytics system.
More API Documentation
Official WhatsApp Business API - for companies with a large customer base looking to scale their business
Companies communicate with customers on Whatsapp in several ways: through the WhatsApp simple client, the WhatsApp Business app, or the WhatsApp Business API integration. Before connecting, weigh the pros and cons, having studied the main differences.
WhatsApp Simple Client or WhatsApp Business
Communicating with customers via app on mobile or PC
-
Binding to one device
The application runs on one device with one user.
In a simple client, you can use WhatsApp from a PC, and the WhatsApp Business application is installed on an Android, iOS phone. -
Chat teamwork is not possible
It is impossible to distribute responsibility between managers for correspondence in the messenger, because access to correspondence is only on one device.
-
No mass mailings, only auto-replies
You are unlikely to be able to send bulk emails because WhatsApp blocks bulk promotional emails. The same message can only be sent to 256 recipients at the same time. It is possible to set up auto-replies to frequently asked questions from customers.
-
No integrations
Unable to integrate WhatsApp with your CRM and other projects.
WhatsApp Business API integration via SendPulse
Communication via SendPulse chats or integration with your system
-
Not tied to one device
SendPulse receives and sends WhatsApp messages.
Access to the SendPulse panel is possible from different devices for all members of your team. -
Teamwork with correspondence in WhatsApp
Invite new users to your SendPulse account so that several managers can respond to clients at the same time.
-
Bulk and trigger mailings
Use approved templates for newsletters and service mailings that allow you to be the first to start a conversation. There are no restrictions on sending the same messages at the same time.
-
Setting up integrations directly
Using SendPulse's open API, integrate WhatsApp capabilities with the company's internal infrastructure: CRM, chat services, and other projects.
Connect to WhatsApp Business API via SendPulse to build a subscriber base and send chatbot messages
Connect WhatsApp
SendPulse is the official provider of WhatsApp Business API
Connecting to the WhatsApp Business API via SendPulse
Officially, WhatsApp allows access to its API only through partners.
SendPulse provides an API for sending to WhatsApp through the official channel. Connect WhatsApp Business API via SendPulse and enjoy a seamless service. We provide the following terms:
Connectivity support
To connect to the WhatsApp Business API, you must be verified by WhatsApp. To do this, you need to register a company page on Facebook, add it to Facebook Business Manager and collect all the necessary documents - we provide advice and assistance at every stage of connection.
Official connection method
WhatsApp blocks users who connect through "gray schemes". Connection through the official channel excludes unreasonable blocking. The main thing is to get consent from users to send messages and strictly follow WhatsApp's requirements for content and message design.
Free number connection
Connection is completely free, you pay only for the number of sent messages.
Multichannel messaging
Use WhatsApp in conjunction with other messengers.
In SendPulse, you can comprehensively set up messenger marketing: connect bots and send messages to Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and also make Viber mailings.
Manage chatbots from your smartphone
Install the application to quickly respond to messages from Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook, work with subscriber data and analyze statistics.
Favorable tariffs for WhatsApp messages
-
24-hour sessions that the user starts
Such sessions begin with an incoming message from the user. The first message from the business in response will be paid. The price depends on the country you ship it to. -
24-hour sessions that business starts
Dialogues that you start yourself. To send a message first, you need to use an approved template. The price of a templated message depends on the country you send it to.
-
Free session package
Every month the first 1000 sessions will be free for you and you will be able to send even template messages without paying.
.
Learn more about WhatsApp message charges.
Go to tariffs
FAQ
How to connect to WhatsApp Business API for free and create a bot
On any paid SendPulse subscription, you can connect to the WhatsApp Business API for free for 7 days. If you don't have an account, register on the SendPulse platform and connect to a paid plan. Then create Facebook and WhatsApp business accounts and connect your number to the WhatsApp Business API. Read more about how to connect to WhatsApp Business API for free in just a few minutes.
How to switch to SendPulse from other WhatsApp providers
If you used a number with WhatsApp Business API, you can port your number and change provider (BSP) to create chatbots in the constructor.
Follow the instructions to successfully migrate your number.
How many recipients can I send a message in 24 hours
WhatsApp policy has limits on the number of recipients of messages in a 24 hour period, which depend on the level of the sender. The first level allows you to send messages to 1,000 unique users within 24 hours. Read more about how WhatsApp message limits work.
How to create an automatic thread for whatsapp chatbot
Use the constructor to create a message thread for your WhatsApp bot. Develop the structure of the bot, specify keywords and set up auto-responses. Read more about how to set up a message thread for WhatsApp bot.
How to create a whatsapp newsletter
Select the connected bot and recipients, fill in the content of the message and define the send time. After sending, you can check how many messages were delivered and how many subscribers interacted with the mailing list. Read the step-by-step guide on how to create a WhatsApp newsletter.
What is a template mailing and how to create your own templates for WhatsApp mailings
Distribution of messages with the same content to all subscribers is possible according to the approved template. Such a template can only be used for transactional and triggered mailings without promotional content. You can create your own templates in the "Chatbots" section, in the "Templates" tab. Each template is moderated by WhatsApp. After the template receives the status "Confirmed", you can start sending mailings based on the template.
Whatsapp chat bot. The Complete Guide - Marketing on vc.ru
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Companies use chatbots in Meta* Messenger, but what about WhatsApp bots? They are the next big trend in messengers and can help businesses. In the next guide, we will explain what chatbots are and how easy it is to create your own!
Did you know that WhatsApp has 175 million messages every day? Even if companies had to process a small fraction of the 0.0001 percent of these messages, you would still receive 175 messages per day. If you want to give each client that attention and solve their problems quickly, you need to process a lot of requests, questions, requests and complaints. And this is where the WhatsApp bot comes to the rescue!
An automated tool can help improve customer service and improve business in many other ways. Next, we will explain what WhatsApp chatbots are, what bots can do for a company, how you can set them up for your business (easy!), and how other organizations are already using them successfully.
WhatsApp chatbots, WhatsApp bot, messenger bot or just a bot: what's the difference?!
You may have come across all these terms before and wondered, "What do they mean and what's the difference?" Let's start with the basics! Chatbot is a general term, bot is short for chatbot. A messenger bot is a specialized chatbot for messengers such as Telegram or iMessage, while a WhatsApp chatbot is a bot specially designed for the popular green messenger Meta.
So all terms describe chatbots or a specialized version of chatbots, but then: what is a chatbot?
Wikipedia defines a chatbot as follows:
“A chatterbot, chatbot or short bot is a text-based dialogue system that allows you to chat with a technical system. It has one text input and one output area through which you can communicate in natural language with the system behind it.”
Thus, a chatbot is a computer program that provides interaction between people and technology. Initially, chatbots are only meant for text communication, as you can see from the above definition. Nowadays, with more advanced technology, there are voice bots like Alexa or Siri. Accordingly, people distinguish between chatbots (for text) and voice bots (for spoken language), but often the original word "chatbot" is still used as an umbrella term for both.
Why should businesses use WhatsApp?
When companies started using text chatbots, most people first encountered them on Facebook, Meta's Messenger. In the meantime, however, chatbots have expanded into other communication platforms and messengers. Since WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messengers in the world, companies have started to implement WhatsApp chatbots to improve communication with customers.
Why WhatsApp? Because now it is one of the most popular instant messengers in the world! Around the world, people send more than 100 billion messages in the messenger every day. If companies want to connect with their customers, they need to meet them on their favorite communication channel. And often it's whatsapp! Companies use the messenger for the following reasons:
- Number of users: WhatsApp has more than two billion users worldwide, so even if you don't use WhatsApp, your customers are sure to use it!
- Target group: In addition to young people, more than two thirds of people over 65 also use instant messengers.
- Efficiency: Your company can respond to customer inquiries 60% faster on average than by phone or email using WhatsApp.
- Popularity: Companies use channels such as phone, email, and SMS to communicate with customers. But 61% of customers today want to communicate with them on instant messengers like WhatsApp.
- Acceptance: Nearly 50% of customers want to communicate with businesses via WhatsApp. Over 65 percent of online shoppers want services and advice through WhatsApp!
- Costs: When communicating with customers via WhatsApp, you will not need to spend money on expensive call centers and old CRM systems!
What are the benefits of WhatsApp Chatbot?
There are several ways a WhatsApp bot can help your business.
Chatbots are very helpful in customer service,…
Clear benefit: You can automate customer service. Think about the common questions your support team receives every day. When will my package arrive? How can I check the status of my delivery? What forms of payment do you offer?
These questions keep your agents busy, but they end up answering the same questions over and over again. It is tedious, requires long customer waits, and takes time from agents to resolve more complex customer issues. This is the opposite of efficiency. With a WhatsApp chatbot, many of these frequently asked questions can be answered a lot faster - with the help of a bot. In a sense, bots can act as a gateway to incoming customer requests.
The bot reduces the workload of the customer service team, helps customers make decisions much faster, and frees up time to solve complex customer problems. With the help of WhatsApp chatbots, a company can become 80% more efficient. In the end, you save time and money, and customers and employees become happier.
... but they can do much more!
However, the WhatsApp bot can do much more for you:
- Provide 24/7 customer service (bots don't sleep or get sick).
- Increase customer satisfaction (they get help faster).
- Guide customers more effectively through sales funnels.
- Bots can be designed to have personalized conversations with your customers, increasing customer engagement.
- Secure customer communications (end-to-end encrypted and GDPR compliant!)
- Improved user interface. There has been criticism that WhatsApp bots don't have buttons like the chatbots in Meta's Messenger. WhatsApp Business API now also includes clickable buttons for more convenience.
A WhatsApp bot can offer your business, your employees and your customers many benefits. However, before you deploy your chatbot, there are a few things you should consider.
How to develop the right WhatsApp chatbot for your business?
Essentially, a WhatsApp bot will help you achieve your goals. So, the first step to building a chatbot for your business is to define those goals.
- Write down the steps how a chatbot will help you achieve your business goals!
- WHERE and HOW WHO should talk about WHAT: create a mini-checklist for your expectations from the chatbot!
- You don't need artificial intelligence to build a chatbot, you just need a good idea!
Many of the tasks businesses want to automate can be done with a chatbot builder, so there's no need to make your bot more complex than it needs to be. However, for more complex business decisions, there are also easy ways to develop AI-based bots!
Six things to consider when building a chatbot
Your business goals are only the first part of the equation for building a successful WhatsApp bot. The other half is to think about the best bot for your customers. After all, they are the ones who will be interacting with the bot, so you need to make sure that the interaction between the human and the bot is as smooth as possible. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the purpose of a (marketing) chatbot?
- What tone should my chatbot have?
- What should the chatbot talk about?
- Would I like to offer guided or free dialogue?
- How to create a chatbot dialog?
- How do I respond to questions that the chatbot cannot answer?
Once you have answered the basic questions about your bot, you are ready to create your own WhatsApp bot.
Building a WhatsApp bot: what to consider?
Companies need simple chatbots in messengers. Your WhatsApp chatbot should be able to answer frequently asked questions. However, it is equally important to make sure that the bot is able to redirect the client to a person at the right time, especially for more complex or individual issues.
❗ Note. As part of the October 2020 WhatsApp Business API updates, WhatsApp announced that companies must enable human customer transfer using WhatsApp bots. You can do this by sending a message to a person in a chat, providing a phone number or email address, contacting web support, or filling out a form.
When creating a chatbot, it is important to consider the following aspects in order to ultimately optimize customer service:
Conversation automation
Dialogue is the core of a chatbot. A connection is established between users' questions and the corresponding answers of the Chatbot. Example: Who are you? - I'm a smart bot!
Predefined themes
Themes give the bot context. Thus, the bot can give different answers to the same question depending on the topic. Example: Topic "Frequently Asked Questions" and Topic "Products".
Variables
Variables allow your chatbot to receive previously defined data from its interlocutor. This data can then be used for personalization or targeting. Example: name, age, place of residence, etc.
Integration
Data models are tables with additional data. The bot can access this data during the conversation. Example: product catalog, opening hours, quiz questions, and so on.
Analysis
It is important that you regularly analyze the performance and development of your messenger bot. Use the received data to optimize the bot. Example: What are the most common unanswered questions? What questions does the bot answer most often?
💡 Tip: Learn how to create a chatbot with our chatbot builder in no time and no programming knowledge.
WhatsApp bots and new interactive buttons
Until recently, only numbers, letters or hashtags were used by users to engage in conversations with WhatsApp chatbots. The company-client relationship has now been updated: WhatsApp Business API Buttons. These interactive buttons allow users to decide what they want to do next much faster.
Buttons make it easier for the user to react to bot input. You can create buttons for WhatsApp, Messenger from Meta, Telegram, Vkontakte, Viber.
