How To Create A WhatsApp Chatbot In 4 Steps
How To Create A WhatsApp Chatbot In 4 Steps

How To Create A WhatsApp Chatbot In 4 Steps

Yogesh Narayanan

Table of Contents

In the growing era of digitization, there is no denying that WhatsApp is fast becoming a leader in the field of communication. With more than 100 billion messages sent per day, this messaging application has grown into the most popular instant messaging platform in the world. Since the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, WhatsApp has had an increase in traffic and usage by 40%. Businesses have started to integrate WhatsApp APIs and Chatbots into their customer support operations to take advantage of this leading application. It is safe to say that many businesses have multiplied their customer engagement and sales with the help of WhatsApp Chatbots. Furthermore, enabling Chatbots also provides your business with real-time automated responses that reduce resources and time spent on customer support in turn increasing customer satisfaction.  

What is a WhatsApp Chatbot?

How a WhatsApp chatbot works

A WhatsApp chatbot is a chatbot that runs on the WhatsApp messaging platform. A chatbot is software program designed to simulate conversation with human users, particularly over the Internet. A chatbot is often integrated as a dialog system in applications such as interactive voice response (IVR), e-commerce, or online assistants to carry out simple, repetitive and menial tasks.

A WhatsApp Chatbot is a bot that operates within the WhatsApp application itself. These bots can interact with users in a variety of ways - by responding to messages and providing information, answering questions and providing assistance with specific tasks.

Looking for a WhatsApp chatbot to automate workflow? Try out one of our healthcare bot now!

Would you need a WhatsApp Chatbot for your business?

WhatsApp chatbot has slowly grown into one of the leading virtual assistants a business needs today. It provides several benefits to companies as well as their customers. It is the best solution for creating, maintaining and growing a business relationship. There are numerous ways in which a chatbot can help a business grow: by automating repetitive tasks, decreasing costs, and more. If you don’t know, WhatsApp offers two variations of the business app based on the size of business: WhatsApp Business & WhatsApp Business API.

What is WhatsApp Business API?

WhatsApp initially launched its business application as a free-to-download/use tool for small businesses that were looking to connect with their customers and exhibit their products to a wider audience. The success of the application and the demand for a similar tool within medium-to-large scale businesses drove WhatsApp to create WhatsApp API, the ubiquitous tool for business management and communications.  

With the WhatsApp API, SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses have created highly personalized tools to better the WhatsApp platform. These customizable tools not only help businesses engage with customers but also manage customer interactions efficiently through WhatsApp Chatbots and several automations. The API also offers easy integration with CRMs (Customer Relationship Management tools) and other database platforms.

Read More: All you need to know about WhatsApp Business API

Things to be considered while building a chatbot for your business

While WhatsApp chatbots are highly beneficial to business owners, they must make note of several points before setting up their own bot. One of the most crucial choices that businesses need to make is the choice between using either WhatsApp Business or WhatsApp Business API.

Limitations of WhatsApp Business

While WhatsApp Business is a blessing to small business owners as it lets them provide instant customer support without the need for an office or a website, there are several limitations to it. Since it is modelled after WhatsApp, it can only allow businesses to have a simple communication profile that can be handled by one-to-three people. This makes it less scalable in terms of size. It also does not support third-party apps as it's a closed platform. Lastly, it does not provide that many integration opportunities for businesses and it does not hold the capability to build your own WhatsApp chatbot. So, this might be an appropriate choice for smaller businesses, but businesses that have the resources to expand might have better results if they use WhatsApp Business API, especially if they would like to employ a bot.

WhatsApp Business vs WhatsApp Business API

The WhatsApp Business API is a web-based business API that lets businesses create and host their own unique WhatsApp chatbots. Since WhatsApp Business API is based on open-source standards, it allows integrations with multiple online services and mobile applications that are perfect for expanding your business. So, it’s critical for businesses to create a WhatsApp Business API account before they start their chatbot journey.


Building a WhatsApp Chatbot: The need to have a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider

If your business needs a WhatsApp Business API integration, then you need to apply to WhatsApp and pass through a rigorous screening process that determines whether your business meets the WhatsApp API specifications and criteria. This might be a complicated process for businesses who do not have any prior experience in building and maintaining API-based applications. This is where WhatsApp Business Solution Providers come in. They are partners who are officially recognized by WhatsApp to provide business solutions to businesses who are in need of it. They can help their customers by providing services like API integration, technical assistance, app updates, and custom integration. Gallabox is one such service provider that has extensive experience in providing superior chatbot solutions.

Suggested read: How to Automate WhatsApp Business Messaging

Step-by-Step guide to creating a WhatsApp Chatbot on Gallabox

The following is a guide on how to build a no-code WhatsApp chatbot with Gallabox.

Step 1 - Creating a Chatbot with Intent

Step 1: Creating your Bot with Intent on Gallabox
  • Click on the ‘Add Bot’ button on the top-right of the Bots section. After clicking the button, enter the name of the Chatbot (it’s better if the name reflects the intent of the Chatbot).
  • After entering the name, add the session timeout period (the Chatbot will drop-off after this period of inactivity) and the session timeout message (the message that will show up after drop off).
  • Create the bot after entering the required fields.

Step 2 - Creating a Flow

Step 2: Add a flow
  • Click on the newly created bot and click on ‘Add Flow’ on the top-right of the screen.
  • Name your Flow and then add the Intent Text & Payload.
  • Intent Text is the keyword that will kickstart the chatbot. For example: If you enter ‘Hi’ in the Text field, your bot will kickstart when the user enters ‘Hi’.

If you wish to kick start the bot on all keywords/conversations, you can enter ‘*’.

Step 3 - Creating Cards

Step 3: Creating cards within your flow
  • After entering the Flow, you can click on the particular Flow to enter the Card screen.
  • There would be two conversational options in the left tab of the Cards screen - ‘Ask a Question’ & ‘Send a Message’.
  • As the name implies, you need to use ‘Ask a Question’ to ask a particular question to the customers. Generally, this would be the first step in starting a chatbot conversation.

For Example: You can ask ‘Hello! Thanks for contacting us. Are you a new student or an existing student?’

Step 3: Choose the card of choice and type in your pre-fill text
  • When you click on the ‘Ask a Question’ field, you will be able to enter a question and add the relevant variables in the question (variables are name, mobile number and other customer details).
  • You can set the different prompts/answers that can be given for the question that was asked.
  • In addition to Text responses, you can also add other response types including Numbers, Email, Phone, etc.
  • After adding the Question prompt, you need to add a Send Message card based on the answer given by the user.
  • For example, if the student had answered No (prompt 2) for the first question, you can create a list of options that can help zone in on the nature of assistance that the student requires.
  • During this step, you can also assign the conversation to a particular agent.
  • Using these steps, business owners can create an automated conversation flow that will help customers get instant assistance.

Step 4 - Function & Demo

Step 4: Publish your bot flow and test

Once the chatbot flow is completely created, you can see a live demo of the chatbot to understand how the conversation flows and make instant modifications that will increase the user experience.

Benefits of building WhatsApp Chatbot with Gallabox

Now that you’ve seen the step-by-step guide for creating a WhatsApp Chatbot using Gallabox, we would like to showcase some of the benefits of building a chatbot with us:

No code

We at Gallabox provide no-code chatbot solutions to all our customers. As the name implies, no-code chatbots are chatbots that can be set-up easily and you don’t need any coding knowledge to create this. So, if you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t need any coding experience to create a chatbot that will help you build your company.

Pricing

Since our no-code chatbots do not require time and effort to set-up, they provide great value for money. They are highly scalable with the ability to incorporate and grow with time. Also, since they do not require any coding knowledge, the development process is a lot faster.

Multi-lingual

If you’re a business that is looking to expand into other regions, then Gallabox can provide multilingual chatbot options that can help you connect with regional clients in their own language. This will help you reach more clients, connect with them in a more personalized manner and help you provide even better customer service.

Industry-wise templates

As one of the leading WhatsApp Business Service Providers in India, Gallabox has created superior WhatsApp Chatbots for clients in various industries. The following are some of the industries for which we have created customized templates:

  • Education - Our education chatbot templates were created with the goal of helping schools, universities & other educational institutions with their admissions, customer support & online classes.
  • Travel - Gallabox’s travel chatbot templates were designed to help travel agencies assist customers with their bookings, provide real-time notifications/assistance & help customers create customized travel plans.
  • Banking & Financial Services - Our BFSI chatbots help companies in the banking sector offer personalized insights to customers and help them manage their financial portfolios efficiently. They also offer secure payment facilities with Integration Partners.
  • Real Estate - Our real estate chatbots help agents recommend & promote listings, answer FAQs & support clients 24/7. Agents can also offer virtual property tours using our chatbots.
  • E-Commerce - Our specialized e-commerce chatbots were designed with the goal of helping e-commerce businesses provide real-time assistance to customers and generate valuable insights using a completely customized conversation flow.
Suggested read: 26 Must-Have WhatsApp Business Message Templates

Build your own No-code WhatsApp Chatbot with Gallabox in under a Minute!

No-code chatbots can save a lot of time for businesses that need to set up a solution that requires extensive coding. We at Gallabox provide a WhatsApp chatbot solution that is completely user-friendly, simple and quick to use.

A chatbot is a 24x7 support software you as a growing business require to increase customer satisfaction, elevate lead generation through data collection and, assist in FAQs and queries. It is available at every hour to help your customers when an agent or sales staff cannot attend to. We hope that this guide provided an overview of WhatsApp Chatbots and the benefits of partnering with a WhatsApp Business tool like Gallabox. Book your demo today or start our 7-day free trial and embark on your Chatbot journey.

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ChatbotAutomation#Import 2024-01-27 04:08#yathindhar