Customers today expect instant, hassle-free interactions—whether they’re making an inquiry or placing an order. But lengthy forms and app-switching create unnecessary friction, leading to drop-offs and lost opportunities.
WhatsApp Flows presents a seamless way to create custom, automated experiences within WhatsApp. From personalized recommendations to frictionless order placements, everything happens right in the chat—no redirects, no waiting.
But the benefits go beyond convenience. WhatsApp Flows provides valuable customer insights, helping businesses understand preferences, address concerns in real time, and refine marketing strategies. The result? Higher engagement, increased conversions, and stronger customer relationships.
What is WhatsApp Flows?
WhatsApp Flows is a feature that allows businesses to create different types of flows or response pathways to create engaging customer experiences. These flows are initiated by messages or button clicks by the user. You can create task-centric flows, and the specific flow will be displayed when the customer initiates a chat.
This ensures that users do not need to visit another app to complete the action. They can perform the required action within the chat itself, reducing the chances of drop-offs.
Given that users check WhatsApp 24-25 times a day, businesses can effortlessly leverage WhatsApp Flows to showcase products, highlight offers, and keep customers engaged.
Why are WhatsApp Flows crucial for business success?
Have you ever seen customers engage on the chat, but after a few messages, they stop responding? The reason behind this is redirection outside WhatsApp or lengthy message threads.
This leads to an inconsistent experience, making the customer bounce off in between. WhatsApp flows help reduce this friction and streamline the customer journey by keeping the conversations in the chat itself. With guided steps and quick responses, they ensure high retention.
Studies show that businesses can achieve 90% conversion rates through WhatsApp. Additionally, by tracking the customer journey, you can gain insights into customer preferences and align your efforts based on the findings.
Here's why WhatsApp Flows is crucial for business success:
Reduced drop-off rates
This results in a loss of opportunity for your business. With WhatsApp Flows, you can create customizable journeys to ensure seamless experiences and interactions. As the entire process will happen within WhatsApp, you can reduce the drop-off rate.
Research suggests that businesses have seen a reduction of 50% in customer churn after using WhatsApp for customer service.
Customer behavior insights
You can gather data on customer behaviour and preferences and send them tailored offers and promotions. You can even send them reminders for the products in the cart, increasing the chance of a sale.
Easy accessibility
WhatsApp is a widely used platform and therefore quite familiar to your customers. Research shows that WhatsApp has surpassed 2.78 billion unique users globally.
Additionally, customers are quite familiar with WhatsApp. Therefore, customers will get easy and quick support and information, helping you create better relationships.
Improve efficiency
With automated responses, you can ensure that customer queries are solved quickly. This ensures additional efficiency as the live agents will have to focus only on more complex problems.
Message template integration
You can seamlessly integrate WhatsApp Flows with message templates from welcome messages to targeted responses. This makes the initial setup easy and quick. Additionally, you can quickly adapt your communication strategies based on user responses.
How does WhatsApp Flows work?
With WhatsApp Flows, you can create interactive, step-by-step interactions that enable customers to complete tasks like placing orders, filling out a form, booking appointments, or making inquiries within the chat.
It allows you to streamline interaction at different points of the customer journey, ensuring that they are guided through the process.
Here's how it works:
1. Defining user journey
First, you need to map out the user journey for the tasks the customers might want to take.
The tasks might be:
- Browsing a catalog
- Filling a form
- Inquiring about certain services
- Making a payment
- Receiving confirmation
2. Setting up the flow
Based on the customer journey, you can set up WhatsApp Flows with these options:
- Predefined options like buttons, checkboxes, or dropdowns
- Filling forms
- Conditional responses based on what user responses
3. Customer interaction
Once WhatsApp Flow is available, your customers can interact directly with your business within the chat. They can book appointments, seek answers to their queries, make payments, and perform other actions.
4. Data collection and insights
With every customer interaction, you can get valuable insights into their behaviors and preferences. You can analyze user responses, engagement, and bounce-off rates to refine the flows for improved customer interactions.
Key features and tools to build effective Whatsapp Flows
Here are the key features and tools you should consider when building effective WhatsApp Flows:
1. Automated responses to common queries
With an automated FAQ response flow, you can ensure that users get the answers to common queries without waiting for a human executive. You should cover everything, including opening hours and product specifications. This ensures that the customer always has the required information.
2. Appointment booking
Booking an appointment on call means back-and-forth scheduling. You can incorporate appointment bookings directly into the chat and save time. Ensure that the customer can check available dates, choose their preferred time slots, and confirm the appointment all within the chat.
3. Lead capturing and generation
By incorporating lead qualification in WhatsApp Flows, you can generate more leads. It additionally ensures that the sales team can focus on other important tasks.
You can make the flow automatically engage with the user with a pre-defined set of questions. The flow can then analyze the responses to determine their interest and then score lead or route it to an appropriate sales team member.
4. Updates on order status
To keep the customer informed about the order status, you can integrate your order management system with WhatsApp Flows.
Studies show that 54% of users opt-in for order updates and delivery tracking through WhatsApp. Whenever the customer shows interest in tracking the order, the flow can gather data from the system and provide relevant information, including:
- Order confirmation
- Estimated date of delivery
- Shipping status
- Delivery confirmation
5. Product catalogs
Research shows that 40 million users view WhatsApp Business Catalog monthly to find products and services. It highlights the immense potential for businesses to showcase their offerings directly within WhatsApp
One important feature that you can add to WhatsApp Flows is making it work like a virtual showroom. This will allow users to browse the products or services, view details, and make purchases within one window.
6. Automated feedback
Feedback plays an important role in refining your services and offerings. With an automated feedback system in your WhatsApp Flows, you can easily gather data to improve your services. Here are the features you should include:
- Feedback response after completing an action
- Targeted questions based on the journey
- Rating scales or multiple-choice options for quick answers
- Ask for detailed feedback
- Automatically thanking the customer and routing the feedback to the relevant team
7. Promotions and offers
By incorporating flows, you can send relevant offers and promotions to the customers. Make sure that it allows them to review the details and sign up in the same window. This will help you improve conversion rates.
8. Renewal of subscriptions or abandoned carts
Remind customers about the upcoming renewal date for their subscriptions or abandoned carts and provide easy-to-follow steps to complete the renewals. This will help you reduce churn and improve retention.
Tools to build effective WhatsApp flows
Gallabox's Whatsapp Flows Builder provides a quick and easy way to create eye-catching WhatsApp Flows. The Gallabox Flow Builder beta version lets you create custom industry-specific WhatsApp Flows templates or drag-and-drop elements in a few minutes.
You can integrate the forms into chatbots, bulk broadcasts, drip marketing sequences, and even with API to gather data insights.
Gallabox gives you full control over the filtering, sorting, and exporting of data in any format. This helps to easily optimize Whatsapp Flows to customer requirements. Plus, its actionable insights help refine strategies for better customer engagement and conversions.
Best practices for designing WhatsApp Flows
Here are the best practices you should follow to ensure a seamless experience for your customers:
1. Maintain technical efficiency
When WhatsApp Flows are performing efficiently, user frustration can be greatly reduced. To prevent any lags in communication, make sure that the technical aspect of the flows is strong.
Managing latency times
Delays in responses might lead to frustration among the users. So, make sure that the flows are quick and responsive. Try to reduce the number of calls to third parties to gather the required information. Use data caching to avoid unnecessary re-fetching of unchanged data.
WhatsApp Flows data endpoint time out after 10 seconds. So, you should try to optimize any requests that take more time.
Managing flow-token expiration
When the flow-token expiration time is longer, 2 or 3 days, customers get more time to engage with the flows. If keeping long flow-token expiration is not feasible, you should explore other alternatives.
Try incorporating a re-authentication mechanism in the flow. You can also provide a message guiding users on the steps in case of an invalid flow_token incident. Commence the countdown only after the message has been opened. This means commencing it when the data channel receives the INIT request.
Thorough testing
Make sure that you test the flows on different devices and connection speeds. Check image load speed, response times, and glitches in UI and resolve them to ensure a seamless experience.
Research shows that 56% have dropped the thought of purchasing due to longer response times.
2. Creating visually appealing WhatsApp Flows
Incorporating a design that aligns with the user journey will make it easier for the user to navigate the flows.
Clear and direct call-to-actions
To direct the user to the next step, the action should provide a clear instruction. A well-defined CTA like "order now", simplifies the user actions and enhances user experience.
Improve engagement with emojis
Emojis can make messages more readable, engaging, and friendly, helping brands connect with customers on a personal level. Research shows that 44% of customers are more likely to make a purchase when a product is promoted using emojis.
However, it's essential to use relevant and appropriate emojis that align with your brand persona to maintain consistency and professionalism.
Efficient error handling
When there is an error in the flow, it is necessary to handle it smartly. Inform the user about the error and provide an easy solution. Additionally, if there are data-related issues, you should take the user to the previous screen instead of terminating the chat abruptly.
Keep the structure simple and direct
When the flow is complicated, the users find it difficult to engage. Therefore, you should try to limit the flow length to a 5-minute completion time and split tasks across screens.
Additionally, you should avoid overloading a single screen with multiple elements. Consider showing the users how far they have come. For example, showing step 2 of 5 when filling a form.
Improve the efficacy
It is important to maintain the efficacy of the forms. To ensure a seamless experience, maintain a logical flow of the forms. For example, ask for first name input before the last name.
You should also use field types for specific responses, such as date picker capturing DOB. If there is a form field which is not necessary for completion, make sure that you mark it as optional.
Additionally, clear instructions and labels should be provided to inform the customer about what is expected.
3. Form content hierarchy and clarity
An efficient content hierarchy can make it easy for users to navigate through the flow. Follow these steps to maintain content hierarchy:
Accurate and concise content
Keep the content precise and avoid repetition. Use text helpers effectively to guide the users and reduce errors. Keep the text direct. This will help to keep the user focused and undistracted.
Right format
Use the headings, body text, and captions effectively to improve the overall user experience. Make sure that the appropriate format is used. For example, using the correct currency symbols or date formats.
Login screens
When you place login screens too early, there can be an increase in the drop-off rate. So, make sure that you use it only when necessary.
4. Streamline the lifecycle of WhatsApp Flows
Ensure a smooth flow of messages from the start to the end. Make sure that the CTA is consistent with the first screen.
Maintain clear communication to inform users of the next steps and what to expect when the chat ends. To reduce confusion, try to limit the list of options to 10 per screen.
Additionally, if there are more than seven lists, incorporate dropdowns. Using radio buttons and checkboxes based on the number of choices will help you improve the overall experience. Add clear options to go back to the previous window or leave the chat entirely.
Capitalize on opt-in consent
To ensure that your users are well-informed about what they are consenting to, try to add CTAs like 'Read more' and direct them to the terms and conditions. This transparency will help to build loyalty and trust.
Foster recognition
Make sure that your business logo or profile photo is clearly visible in the footer. This will ensure trust and recognition for your brand. Additionally, you can add a CTA to the follow-up messages after the chat ends to enable users to reach out when needed.
5. Transparency and privacy
Studies show that 94% of companies agree that if customer data is not protected, customers will not buy from them. To keep customer data secure and build trust, incorporate privacy measures.
Maintaining privacy
Use WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption to enhance security and highlight this to the customer. Only ask for necessary information and maintain compliance with relevant regulations.
Transparency
Set clear instructions on the duration for which data will be stored and how can users request removal. Clearly explain how the collected data will be used.
6. Integration and training
Integrating the flow with existing systems will allow efficient insights into customer behavior. Additionally, training the support teams will ensure efficient and timely solutions.
System Integration
Connect the flows to data analytics and CRM to get insights about customer preferences.
Additionally, set up a system to create and route tickets based on the response.
Support team training
Train the support team to interpret and analyze the data to provide more relevant responses to the customer. Additionally, train them to easily switch between automated responses and talking to a real person.
Examples of successful WhatsApp Flows
WhatsApp Flows have helped businesses improve user experience, thereby improving their brand presence and achieving specific targets.
Here are the success stories of businesses who incorporated WhatsApp Flows:
Sefamerve
Sefamerve is a leading women's fashion retailer that created a seamless shopping and checkout experience for customers within one chatbox. The team rolled out features like account creation, product search, and add-to-cart workflows and noticed a boost in conversions and revenue.
- Conversions increased by 158%
- 2.6x increase in revenue
- 80,000 products made available for direct purchase within the chat.
Lenovo
Lenovo is a global tech leader who wanted to improve the appointment booking process in Indonesia. The team used WhatsApp Flows for technical service appointments, eliminating external links or extra steps. Here are the results they noticed:
- Conversion rates increased by 8.2x, compared to their website.
- Customer engagement on WhatsApp showed a 44.5% increase.
Measuring success with advanced analytics
After you have set up WhatsApp Flows, you should keep on monitoring them to ensure optimum performance.
By tracking these metrics, you can easily assess the performance of the WhatsApp Flows:
Engagement rate
When a flow has a high engagement rate, it means that it resonates with your customers. By gaining insights into the engagement rate, you can determine what types of flows align with the user's needs and make necessary adjustments accordingly.
Response times
By tracking response times, you can track if the flow is meeting the need for prompt assistance. Faster response times lead to increased customer satisfaction and improved performance.
Conversion rates
This metric helps you calculate how many users completed the desired actions, such as placing an order or scheduling an appointment. It also helps you find bottlenecks and optimize the content to improve engagement.
Customer satisfaction
When customer satisfaction is higher, it signals towards the successful implementation of WhatsApp Flows. Try to gather feedback through surveys, ratings, and reviews to gain insights into user satisfaction.
Challenges in implementing WhatsApp Flows
While there are many benefits of WhatsApp Flows, here are some potential challenges that you should be aware of:
- Over-reliance on WhatsApp Flows can result in reduced personal touch. Therefore, a balance between automation and human responses is needed.
- WhatsApp frequently updates, which can have a huge impact on the efficiency of WhatsApp Flows. Therefore, it is necessary to adapt to the updates continuously.
- The responses in WhatsApp Flows are predefined; therefore, they may not be suitable for handling complex issues.
Future of WhatsApp Flows: Trends to check out
With technological advancements, several trends will shape the future of WhatsApp Flows.
Here are the trends to check out:
1. AI and machine learning
- Personalized responses by real-time response analysis.
- Natural language processing for a more conversational response.
- Optimization of flow based on user responses.
2. Advanced analytics and insights
- Comprehensive reporting by integration with business intelligence tools.
- Advanced sentiment analysis will help to assess customer satisfaction in real time.
- Predicting the needs of customers before they arise through predictive support.
3. Improved customization and interactivity
- Incorporating interactive elements like sliders, star ratings, or voice inputs.
- Using augmented reality features for product demonstrations or troubleshooting.
4. Omnichannel Integration
- Easy transition between WhatsApp and different support channels.
- Proactive support by integration of IoT devices.
WhatsApp Flows: Final thoughts
WhatsApp Flows provides users with an easy way to interact with your business. It ensures that your customers can quickly find the services or products they need or find answers to their queries, which improves your business's conversion rates.
With an easy-to-use interface, Gallabox makes creating customized WhatsApp Flows for your brand simple and quick. It gives you complete control over filtering, sorting, and exporting data in various formats, allowing you to optimize your WhatsApp Flows to meet customer requirements and gain actionable insights to refine your strategies.
Sign up on Gallabox to enhance your WhatsApp customer experience today!
FAQs
Are WhatsApp Flows customizable?
Yes, WhatsApp Flows are customizable. You can define and adjust them according to your customer preferences and brand.
Are WhatsApp Flows secure and compliant with data privacy regulations?
WhatsApp uses a combination of people, processes, and technology security systems to maintain data security and privacy.
What are the costs of implementing WhatsApp Flows?
WhatsApp uses a conversation-based pricing model. You will be charged per 24-hour conversation. Therefore, the prices vary according to the conversation category.
Do I need any coding skills to create WhatsApp Flows?
With the user-friendly interface of WhatsApp Flows, coding skills are not necessary.
Is it possible to run multiple WhatsApp Flows simultaneously?
Yes, you can run multiple WhatsApp Flows for different purposes, such as customer support, appointment booking, or product inquiries.
