The ultimate guide to WhatsApp automation

WhatsApp automation refers to using certain software, tools, or bots to perform automatic actions on WhatsApp.

From the basic greeting of a client whenever they send a message to completing a full A-Z sales process, you can automate your WhatsApp account in various ways. If you are wondering how to automate your WhatsApp, here are some useful cases you can learn from.

Let's say you own a vet clinic, and a client wants to chat on WhatsApp. Automating your WhatsApp helps each client get a response promptly, giving you time to address other needs.

Let’s say you’re an artist selling paintings in a small art gallery. A potential customer wants to buy one of your paintings and reaches out to you via WhatsApp.

Here, your automating tool acts as a personal assistant, following up with your potential customers if they have not responded to your previous message.

Depending on your products and services, you can automate the whole sales process, from the first contact to the closing sale. With the right automation tool, you can showcase your products and even handle the purchase by issuing an invoice.

Instead of manually sending repetitive messages, you can send fun promotions, run marketing campaigns, or automatically set up a thank-you message for your clients in WhatsApp.

Let’s say a client asks about their order status on an e-commerce platform; you can immediately provide delivery information and approximate arrival times. Here’s an example:

Depending on your business’s scale, you can set up WhatsApp automation using your WhatsApp Business app or your WhatsApp Business API.

The WhatsApp Business app is particularly useful for small businesses interacting with customers. It offers a range of features tailored specifically to the needs of small businesses.

With the WhatsApp Business App, you can automate the following:

• Greeting messages
• Away messages
• Custom schedule messages
• Broadcast messages

However, the WhatsApp Business app may become inadequate as your business expands. Here is a clearer breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of automating using the WhatsApp Business app.

WhatsApp Business API is more suitable for medium—to large-scale businesses and offers advanced features such as message templates, chatbots, and analytics.

Meta provides two types of WhatsApp Business API integration:

1. WhatsApp On-Premise API
2. WhatsApp Cloud API

Businesses rely on Business Solution Providers (BSPs) like Kommo to obtain WhatsApp for Business API approval to access the On-Premise API.

With the WhatsApp Cloud API, you can bypass the need for such BSPs and obtain instant API approval and access directly from Meta at no cost (except for messaging fees).

Because the WhatsApp Business API doesn’t have a front-end interface, you will need a team of developers or a BSP, such as a CRM, for integration and operation.

Here is a clearer breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of automating using the WhatsApp Business API.

The tech industry is saturated with various solutions, so we have helped compile a list of top WhatsApp marketing automation tools you can use to meet your brand’s needs. You can sign up for free trials or schedule product demos to test different solutions and learn what they offer.

If you're seeking a reliable and powerful WhatsApp automation tool, Kommo may be the one for you.

Kommo is the world's first WhatsApp automation tool and an officially badged Meta Business Partner, which means that Kommo's expertise has been verified and recognized by Meta. 🤝

Kommo WhatsApp automation provides everything you need to send automated messages to your followers. The first step is to install your WhatsApp Cloud API integration in the Kommo marketplace.

During the integration process, you will need the following:

1. A Kommo Advanced or Enterprise Plan
2. A phone number that is not connected to a WhatsApp account
3. A personal Facebook profile
4. A Business Facebook page connected to your personal Facebook profile

You can begin your automation process once you’ve set up your WhatsApp Cloud API in Kommo.

In Kommo, you can automate your WhatsApp using Kommo’s chatbot, also known as Salesbot. You can do this through the Leads or Chats section.

Go to Leads > Automate > + Add trigger. Choose Salesbot and click + Create a new bot.

Click Chats > Settings (gear icon) > Templates & bots. Under the Salesbot section, click Create.

And there you have it!

It gets tiring and repetitive sending the same message over and over again. This is why message templates are created to help you spend less time responding to messages.

If you use a WhatsApp Cloud API to initiate a conversation, Meta requires you to use an approved message template. They can be anything from welcome messages to appointment reminders, shipping updates, or anything that fits your business’s needs.

To create your first template in your WhatsApp manager:

1. Click Create a template

1. In the pop-up window, fill out the required fields, including your Template name, Message type, Language, and Message text. You can also add a header and a footer to your message.

1. If you want to use a placeholder, Meta will ask you to provide an example for review.

1. You can also add interactive Quick reply buttons if you want to automate the communication process further.

1. When you’re done, click Submit for review to send the template for approval.

Kommo offers a variety of automated features for your WhatsApp marketing strategy

Kommo has different types of automated messages that you can send with the Kommo salesbot.

1. Text
2. URL button
3. Action button
4. Videos
5. Pictures
6. Documents

These message types can be combined to communicate using different media and text. Kommo’s salesbot can understand clients' intentions and respond with pre-made templates and workflows.

Kommo’s salesbot can easily act based on the customer's answers during the chat. It could also assist in managing leads in your CRM by automatically filling in lead cards and moving them through the different stages of your pipeline.

To add another layer of automation to your WhatsApp strategy, you can automatically move lead cards across stages of the sales pipeline, creating a smooth flow of events as the lead purchases your product or service.

Kommo has an artificial intelligence feature that enables the salesbot to recognize the intention behind customer questions and give the appropriate answer.

You can also automate your payment process. By automatically transferring information from Kommo lead cards to your templates, Kommo’s salesbot can create and send invoices, creating a personalized document for every client.

Once a conversation ends, you can automate the salesbot and ask the customer to rate the quality of the service they received. That way, your team will be informed so you can improve in the future.

You can easily collect information from the lead card, such as a customer's first and last name or a company name, to send personalized messages, improving the user experience.

Kommo provides templates to get you started using your WhatsApp automation. They serve as a starting point for various use cases. Here's an example of a template to help you automate follow-ups on WhatsApp.

Let’s say you want to send your clients an ebook with messaging tips.

The first step is to select the WhatsApp template and WhatsApp Business API as a channel.

After this, you can start building your salesbot personality. Remember, you can make it more fun by using emojis and buttons. Here’s how the buttons will prompt the bot to send a message depending on your customer’s answer.

If you want to use quick replies in another message and the customer provides a written response instead of clicking the button, Kommo allows you to add synonyms to your bot.

When the customer clicks the quick reply button, the WhatsApp chatbot can even provide an answer and a file.

If the customer clicks Tomorrow, then the bot will send the eBook as requested.

Voila! Now, you get to experience the unique power of Kommo's WhatsApp automation.

Now, you know more about WhatsApp automation and how to automate your WhatsApp account easily. With Kommo, you can have more control and let your creativity run wild.

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