Today’s virtual communication status proves how social messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp Chatbot, have dramatically impacted non-physical communication. People, nowadays, are using social messaging platforms, more than anything else, as the channel of virtual communication. 

Notably, one of the constantly growing and expanding messaging channels is WhatsApp. The recently stand-alone channel was acquired by Facebook last 2014, which also marks the continual success of the messaging platform. 

WhatsApp is a free online messaging service that users may use to interact with their friends and family. Regardless of mobile device type, WhatsApp is utilized for group messaging, calls, and multimedia sharing. The program also allows users to communicate with one another globally. 

In the last two years, analytics shows that WhatsApp usage skyrocketed by 40 percent and is now delivering roughly 100 million messages each day. 

The continual and constant dramatic success of WhatsApp affects the field of messaging channels and opens opportunities in the field of e-commerce. Many businesses are now witnessing the power of WhatsApp to generate leads and increase ROI by serving as an effective connection between consumers and businesses. 

In this article, we will list and discuss the seven essential things you should know about WhatsApp and WhatsApp Chatbot. Continue reading

WhatsApp Businesses and WhatsApp API

As already mentioned, the dramatic success of WhatsApp in the field of virtual communication also has opened limitless opportunities for businesses. And this gives way for the development of WhatsApp Businesses and WhatsAPI- a new robust tool for businesses to connect and communicate to their consumers. 

The WhatsApp Business allows you to engage with your consumers, showcase your products and services, and respond to client inquiries. You may establish a catalog to exhibit your items and utilize unique capabilities to automate, sort, and reply to consumer communications using the application. This service is built with small businesses in mind. 

On the other hand, WhatsApp API, which stands for WhatsApp Application Programming Interface, is a tool for businesses to automate business-customer conversations and create WhatsApp chatbots for customer service and notification delivery. WhatsApp API is specifically catered to help businesses establish better and more responsive client communication. 

These new applications aim to small company owners and major corporations to make their lives easier. They quickly give vital company information to existing and future clients while also introducing new features to boost efficiency and productivity.

WhatsApp for Businesses Salient Features

WhatsApp Business is a highly effective e-commerce tool. Thanks to numerous new features that the platform keeps on launching, WhatsApp is becoming a terrific shopping destination, especially during distant times. Let’s take a deeper look at the WhatsApp Business app features that you may use to your benefit.

Business Profile

Create a business profile that includes valuable information for your customers, such as your address, business description, email address, and website. Business accounts assist companies in gaining the loyalty of their customers. A business profile provides a recognizable “face” and identification to the company. To get a “verified” badge next to your company name, you must verify your account by submitting the necessary documents. This will allow WhatsApp to validate that your business is a legitimate business account. 

When fulfilling your Business profile account, be sure to include the following details. 

• A brief description of your company
• The address of your business
• Contact details, including email address, phone number, hotline number
• Website
• Opening hours

Quick Replies

WhatsApp Business also comes with a quick response feature. These are regular messages that answer frequently asked questions. Quick answers allow you to save and reuse messages that you commonly send, allowing you to respond to frequently asked queries quickly. Simply pick “respond with message” from your email, make your edits, and presto – a new message with the modifications is sent.

To set quick replies:

1. Tap More options > Business tools > Quick replies in the WhatsApp Business app.
2. Tap the Add button.
3. Tap Message to compose your message.
4. Please remember that media files are not supported in quick replies on the web or desktop.
5. Set the keyboard shortcut for your rapid reply by tapping Shortcut.
6. SAVE the file.

To use quick replies as an attachment: 

1. Open a conversation
2. Click Attach > then Quick Replies
3. Choose the desired quick reply. The message will appear automatically in the text entry area.
4. You may either edit the message or just press the Send button.

To use quick replies from the text input field:

1. Open a conversation
2. Tap “ Message” then type “/”. This will show up all your quick replies, including default replies.
3. Choose the desired quick reply. 
4. You can edit the message or send it as it is. 

Automated Greeting and Away Messages

WhatsApp messaging brings people together. When WhatsApp users attempt to contact your firm for the first time, they will get a kind welcome on their screen! It’s the same as saying “Hello.” However, you may also opt to explain who is looking after them and ask if they have any concerns or difficulties. This way, each time they message you, they will get more acquainted with your organization through individualized conversation.

When your consumers try to call you after hours, an away message may be a terrific way to set the tone. Instead of just saying you’re not accessible after a particular time, you may give your customers a suitable, personalized answer that tells them who to contact for their needs at whatever hour it is.

You may also change your away status message to be sent after you leave the workplace. You can choose from Always send, Custom schedule, or After your work hours, as your away status.

Contact Label

Businesses have several types of contact. There are people with whom you work, people with whom you interact, and people with whom you must conduct business. It might be challenging to maintain relationships with everyone! You may arrange your contacts to avoid getting misplaced. You recall their names, email addresses, and the last time you communicated with them.

Labeling your contacts help you organize and find your catches and contacts quickly. You can customize labels with different colors or names and add them to an entire chat or particular messages within a chat.

To create a new label: 

1. Launch WhatsApp Business.
2. Select CHATS > More options > Labels from the menu.
3. Tap Add, then input a label name and press OK.

Please keep in mind that you can create up to 20 labels.

To apply a label to a chat: 

1. Launch WhatsApp Business.
2. Hold down the conversation and then tap Label.
3. Tap SAVE after selecting the required labels.

To apply a label to a message: 

1. Launch WhatsApp Business.
2. Hold the message down for a few seconds, then tap More options > Label message.
3. Tap SAVE after selecting the required labels.

Note: Labels will appear stacked if numerous labels are applied to a particular message. 

To find labeled content:

1. Launch WhatsApp Business.
2. Select CHATS > More options > Labels from the menu.
3. Select a label.

You may also view all labels linked with a discussion by tapping on a customer’s profile photo or group symbol from the CHATS screen.

To manage labels: 

Select CHATS > More options > Labels from the menu. Select the label you wish to manage by tapping it. You can make the following modifications:

• To edit a label: go to More options > Edit label.
• To change the color of a label: go to More options > Choose a color.
• To remove a label: press it > More options > Delete label > YES.
• To start a new broadcast: tap the label > More options > Message customers. To draft and submit your message, tap the checkmark. ( Note: You can not send a broadcast message using labels to a group.  A broadcast message prepared using labels will only be delivered to particular consumers.)

Message Statistics

WhatsApp for Business allows you to generate analytics of your conversation. These statistics will assist you in better understanding your customers’ involvement and experience. The function displays the number of messages sent, delivered, read, and received.

To access your statistics: 

1. WhatsApp Business 
2. Tap More options 
3. Business tools 
4. More options
5. Statistics

Catalogs

Catalogs help you quickly engage with new consumers by giving them a handy way to browse all of the products and services your company offers. With catalogs, you don’t have to send each item, price, and description individually, as you used to. Everything is now simply gathered on your WhatsApp page, and you no longer need to refer your consumers to the website or elsewhere. It also allows you to easily keep your brand in front of more people in order to engage with them and make a purchase.

You may add information to each item in your catalogs, including the price, description, and product code. This is far more convenient for your consumers than asking you about each item individually or switching from WhatsApp to the website.

To add a product or service to your catalog: 

1. Navigate to More options > Settings > Business tools > Catalog in the WhatsApp Business app.
2. Tap Add new item if you’re making a new catalog.
3. Tap the + sign, then choose Add Images.
4. Tap Gallery to upload photos from your computer or camera to capture new photos. You have the option of uploading up to ten photos.
5. Give the name of a product or service. Optional information for the submitted product includes a price, description, website link, and product or service code.
6. SAVE the file.

Interactive Business Messages

By using interactive buttons in your communications, you can make them more enticing to your clients while also making their experience more smooth and pleasurable.

WhatsApp Business offers two interactive messaging options:

• CTA: By clicking this button, the user will be sent to a particular homepage or will be able to make a phone call.

• Quick reply: This allows users to respond with predetermined alternatives rather than typing in the answer manually.

Interactive buttons in messages make communication easier, faster, more precise, and more comfortable for your customers. They make the trip more accessible and the customer experience better, which leads to increased levels of engagement with your organization.

Please keep in mind that these are paid choices. If you want to use template messages with buttons, you must pay for each message you send. The cost for these messages is available here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing/.

Including interactive buttons in your WhatsApp messaging necessitates coding. You can discover more details here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/api/messages/message-templates/interactive-message-templates.

 List Messages and Reply Buttons

Alongside the CTA and Quick Reply features, WhatsApp also introduces the new formats of interactive messaging: the List Messages and Reply Buttons. 

The new list messages feature allows you to add up to ten options, allowing users to just click on the desired option rather than entering it in. When communicating with a business, this messaging provides a more straightforward and more consistent approach for users to pick. Using list messages is best when you want to present various options to the client, including: 

• Return requests
• Appointment booking
• Seating choices
• Selecting nearby stores or locations
• Take-out menus

On the other hand, the reply buttons enable users to quickly select one of up to three possibilities by pressing on the chosen option. This messaging allows users to choose from a menu more quickly when communicating with a company. They are most suited for circumstances where a generic response is insufficient and customer-centric, tailored replies are required, such as:

• Changing personal information
• Reordering an earlier order
• Including extras as options
• Requiring a refund
• Making use of loyalty points
• Selecting a Payment Method

Facebook Shops Integration

Facebook Shops is a service that enables you to build unique shopping experiences for your companies and efficiently connect them throughout the Facebook family of applications. You may interact with potential clients and exhibit your products and services through your shop. It’s a must-have for every expanding business.

When you connect your WhatsApp Business account to your Facebook store, you may have consumers who visit your shop send you a message via the WhatsApp Business app. To integrate your WhatsApp account to your Facebook Shops: 

• You must have a WhatsApp Business account.
• Make yourself an administrator on your Facebook Business Manager account.
• Connect your Facebook Page and Catalog accounts with the same Business Manager account.
• You must have permissions to manage the page for the Facebook Page and permissions to manage the catalog for the Catalog on Business Manager.

WhatsApp Chatbot

When conversing on an app or website, a chatbot is a conversation system that attempts to simulate natural discourse between a user and a company. Text or voice communication can be used to solve user queries without the need for a human interface.

Chatbots are intended to respond to particular user input and answer common queries. Some chatbots remain quite rudimentary, providing limited (but valuable) replies to simple user requests. Others are even more complex, relying on the brilliance of AI and machine learning to replicate human speech.

They can be designed to answer questions, provide FAQs, run surveys, confirm appointments, or assist customers in resolving issues.

The end result of this technical alchemy is a quick and straightforward automated communication tool that keeps customers happy while reducing staff stress.

Specifically, the WhatsApp chatbot is an automated software that operates on the WhatsApp network and is powered by rules or artificial intelligence (AI). People connect with the WhatsApp chatbot using the chat interface, just like they would with a real person. It’s a collection of automated responses that mimics a human conversation on WhatsApp.

Why Use WhatsApp Chatbot

WhatsApp has exploded in popularity in recent years, with more than 2 billion users worldwide as of the most recent census. It continues to expand at a rate of about half a billion users every two years. WhatsApp is now anticipated to process more than 750,000 messages each second.

Interestingly, studies reveal that WhatsApp is a popular platform for individuals of all ages, ranging from 15 to over 50, with a minimal variation in adoption rate. As a result, WhatsApp is now a viable choice for almost every business.

Given that most of your consumers use the WhatsApp messaging program, it makes sense to incorporate WhatsApp into your business. We’ve been urged over and again to go where the people are. And nearly 5 million firms have already done so.

But besides these numbers that might entice you to leverage WhatsApp Chatbot, there are more reasons why it is highly beneficial to use the technology. Here are some of the other reasons why you should use WhatsApp Chatbot

1. WhatsApp Chatbot is Highly Accessible

WhatsApp is one of, if not the, most popular messaging channels. So it is almost certain that many of your probable customers are already using the platform. Hence, it is an excellent opportunity for businesses to provide the consumers with a service or assistance using the platform they are already utilizing. 

WhatsApp’s popularity also entails that many of your consumers are already familiar with the platform’s functions. Hence, it allows communication to take place without requiring necessary training and arduous setups. It also entails that most consumers already have the application on their smartphones. 

2. WhatsApp ChatBot is Available 24/7

Chatbots are capable of providing round-the-clock customer service. And so it allows you to connect and interact with your consumers even it is already past your business hours. 

By integrating a WhatsApp Chatbot, rest assured that your business can answer frequently asked questions of your consumers intelligently. Hence, you don’t need to have 24/7 customer service, which helps you save money and labor. 

3. WhatsApp Chatbot Improves Customer Service

Integrating WhatsApp Chatbots into CRM and ERP can help you and your business with various customer relationship operations. You may use the chatbot to send notifications and reminders, present product catalogs, give real-time responses to customers’ queries, and gather comments from the customers.

Since the interaction is real-time and is powered by artificial intelligence, it eliminates the scenario that customers have to wait for a response. In cases that the chatbot can not handle the queries of a particular customer, the chatbot will hand over the customer to a human. 

4. WhatsApp Chatbot Increases Engagement

WhatsApp bots have a high response rate because they enable client involvement on several levels, exchanging messages back and forth. As a result, it is an interactive and visual medium that encourages engagement through active involvement. Customers may have a two-way discussion with the firm to obtain rapid replies. These back-and-forth responses also imply that clients may obtain immediate answers to their questions.

5. WhatsApp Chatbot Optimizes Marketing Campaigns

Since WhatsApp is a well-established marketing tool readily accessible to most people, most businesses use WhatsApp bots for advertising new product arrivals, new services, forthcoming events, and reduced deals to their clients worldwide. The bot supports many formatting styles and the incorporation of multimedia, allowing the marketing team to be more creative in their campaigns. Businesses may analyze consumer data and give customized suggestions on products and services by incorporating them into CRM.

WhatsApp integration enables a company to automate routine marketing chores such as emailing and social media posting, freeing up the marketing and sales teams for more strategic work. The ability of WhatsApp bots to use broadcast lists to deliver outbound and broadcast alerts aids in marketing campaigns. WhatsApp bots also allow clients to sign up for corporate newsletters and promotions.

How to Create a WhatsApp Chatbot

If you use the right tool to create your WhatsApp Chatbot, the process is pretty straightforward. Using the best Chatbot platform allows you to accomplish the task without a single line of code. 

The process involves the following: 

1. Applying for WhatsApp API
2. Creating a Chatbot
3. Selecting A Chatbot Application
4. Testing Your WhatsApp Chatbot
5. Installing the Chatbot on A Number

Take a look at the in-depth guide on both steps. 

Applying for WhatsApp API

WhatsApp API is necessary to create a WhatsApp chatbot. And there are two ways you can apply for WhatsApp API: 

• As an end client
• As a solution provider

Regardless of what you considered, you will need to provide your business’ substantial details, including the name of your company/business, your website’s URL, and the name and information of your company’s representative. 

Building a WhatsApp Chatbot

When building a WhatsApp chatbot, you got two options: code it or use a no-code platform. 

Obviously, it is wiser and more preferable to use a robust no-code platform since it will help you save time. And since time is money for businesses, it will also help you save money.

In addition, using a robust chatbot platform can also ensure that you can implement your WhatsApp chatbot faster since it bypasses coding. Many platforms also offer valuable WhatsApp chatbot features that can truly optimize the customer experience you can provide to your contacts. 

Your WhatsApp chatbot should be built with the following core components regardless of your choice. 

• Frequently Asked Questions: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are a set of questions commonly asked by your customers along with their respective responses.
• Flow.  A flow-based chatbot works through the predefined conversational flow, which means the conversation is already mapped. When a consumer initiates a discussion, the chatbot assists them step-by-step through the conversation flow chart.
• Intents and entities. You can also create FAQs with intents to handle specific system entities, including date and location. It will also enable the chatbot to handle custom entities. 
• Keywords. The keyword is an essential factor when it comes to providing your clients a default yet accurate response. It will help the AI identify which response should be delivered to the customer.

Selecting a Chatbot Application

After successfully creating your chatbot, your next step is to select a chatbot application. There are various chatbot applications you can select from, so you don’t have to start from scratch. Additionally, you’ll be requiring a database to host the chatbot.

WhatsApp requires a database to host the WhatsApp business API client. This criterion protects the integrity of end-to-end encryption.

When using a chatbot application, you may construct a sample version of your application before releasing the complete version. This allows you to visualize the modifications you need to make before investing additional time and money in developing your WhatsApp bot.

Testing Your WhatsApp Chatbot

To ensure that your bot is working correctly, you must run a test. This will help you identify and repair any errors. After several changes, it is also crucial to retest the bot. This ensures that the product is of excellent quality and ready to improve the client experience.

The endeavor to build WhatsApp Chatbots does not have to be limited to WhatsApp. You may use a platform like Nerdigital to build a General Bot that can be shown across several channels. This not only saves your consumers time and improves their experience, but it also fosters a sense of trust and loyalty that may carry you far.

Installing the chatbot on a number

Once your chatbot has been constructed, and your number has been approved, you may install it on that number. You simply need to give it a name, an icon (optional), contact information, and connect it to nerDigital Chatbot Solutions.

Remember that chatbots for WhatsApp behave differently from chatbots for Facebook or the Web.

5 Best WhatsApp Chatbot

There are a lot of WhatsApp automation services you can use, but to tell you honestly, only a few stand out. Here are 5 of the best WhatsApp Chatbot platform.

nerDigital Chatbot Solutions

nerDigital, one of the leading marketing solutions platforms, also offers chatbot solutions.  nerDigital Chatbot Solutions features an excellent yet user-friendly user interface (UI). It also features flow customization to create an AI-based conversation pattern that the system will use to provide a great customer experience.

nerDigital Chatbot is also a one-stop marketing platform, enabling businesses to do all their mission-critical tasks. The platform enables you to sell products, book appointments, nurture leads, capture contact info, and build relationships, all in a single robust chatbot platform. 

The service also provides other automation alongside WhatsApp automation, including Messenger Marketing Automation, Instagram Automation, Email and SMS Automation, and more. 

Thanks to the nerDigital Chatbot Marketing templates, you can now visually build engaging chatbots within a few seconds using their Visual Chatbot Builder with the simple drag-and-drop interface. 

But, the best thing about nerDigital Chatbot is their extensive list of applications and services you can integrate the solution to. nerDigital offers integration to Zapier, Active Campaign, PayPal, WooCommerce, and more.

Agentbot

Aivo was founded in 2012 with the goal of streamlining customer communication. Agentbot is one of their solutions. Agentbot, like other bots, allows marketers to create conversation flows, but it does it with the assistance of AI.

The attractively designed UI of Agentbot distinguishes it. It’s straightforward, with an easy-to-use design decision tree to assist you in swiftly creating the most efficient conversation flow.

Agentbot also aids in the advancement of conversation flows depending on client engagements. You may train your bot (using AI) to provide better replies to client inquiries and even incorporate cool features like GIFs.

Agentbot excels in reporting and analytics, which is a critical component for building agile businesses. It offers a wealth of analytical data that is directly tied to consumer interactions.

These statistics include the types and amounts of interactions, the average time spent on the chat, and qualitative comments on your exchanges (think successful and incomplete interactions).

You may also integrate with a variety of applications. Custom API integrations are also available; however, their list is not as extensive as most want. Agentbot may now be linked to Zendesk, Salesforce, Zapier, and Genesys.

ChatCompose

ChatCompose is a chatbot tool powered with the functionalities that powerful chatbot tools are built with. The platform is equipped with artificial intelligence and natural language processing to help forecast what your audience is looking for and, where their searches may be somewhat wrong, what they meant to say. 

It also has an autocorrect feature, an intelligent tool that complements its natural language function, making it easier to detect user meaning and purpose. But, aside from AI and NLP, these technologies are useless without smart integrations, of which ChatCompose has a plethora. It’s compatible with the most prominent messaging, support, and social networking platforms, so you’ll be able to use it with WhatsApp with ease.

Suppose you need to provide your audience with more methods to interact with your company. In that case, ChatCompose can link with your CMS, CRM, Mailchimp, SendGrid, Slack, and event processing payments, as well as have speech recognition to handle phone calls.

ChatCompose also provides a wealth of tools to assist clients in understanding and implementing their products. The platform also provides access to a variety of use cases, such as answering inquiries, lead generation, customer service, making reservations, constructing surveys, and more.

SnatchBot

SnatchBot has established itself as the ideal chatbot option for companies of all sizes. Its front-end and back-end functions make it a strong candidate. This implies that it may be used in a variety of ways, which few bots can.

It also includes an excellent range of features. Sentiment analysis, automated voice recognition, sharing, and collaboration are some of our favorites (allowing you to build your chatbot alongside colleagues). You also have access to a synonym library, the ability to read whole conversation histories, the ability to switch platforms (from website chat to Telegram), and the ability to hand off talks to live agents. 

Last but not least, Snatchbot has comprehensive analytics. You may measure query performance by query type and platform and compare it to your key performance indicators (KPIs).

While our list contains various drag-and-drop chatbot capabilities that make them simple to use, we discovered one more feature to be a godsend for busy marketers. SnatchBot includes a bot shop. It’s packed with template bots that you can buy and use in your ecosystem, saving you hours of conversation flow design time.

While those as mentioned earlier are primarily frontend functionality, as previously said, SnatchBot can also execute backend activities. Reading and writing databases, scraping data from the web, connecting to APIs, copying and pasting, filling forms, transferring files and directories, and logging in and out of online and corporate applications are examples of these. It can also compute, extract documents, read emails and attachments, and collect social media statistics.

Landbot.io

Landbot.io has a friendly UI and drag-and-drop WhatsApp chatbot creation capability. Large businesses, including Uber, LG, T Systems, Ernst & Young, and L’Oreal, also use it. The utilization of rich media was one component of their product that piqued our interest. Brands can deal with videos, photos, GIFs, and other media, effortlessly incorporating them into scripts to improve consumer experiences.

Landbot.io, like other bots, allows you to create integrations to help gather data in real-time. Mailchimp, Zapier, Slack, Google Analytics, Sendgrid, and Salesforce are other connectors.

They also take pleasure in their ability to use situations to create hyper-personalized, flowing interactions. While bots are built to take and carry on real-time conversations, Landbot.io also provides humanitarian assistance. You may take over client conversations at any time, which is very useful if you want to deal directly with a hot new lead.

You’ll be hard pushed to find a tool with as many features as this one. Landbot.io has several innovative methods for you to interact with your audience. You may, for example, execute customized ads with complicated criteria to discover the right audience for your product. You can also utilize the feature to acquire extra subscribers for your business account by creating conversational opt-ins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the frequently asked questions about WhatsApp Chatbot.

Final Words

WhatsApp is a network that connects billions of people every day and is now providing companies with limitless opportunities to reach and engage with their large audience. Companies can now communicate with consumers on the platform they want, using WhatsApp chatbots to do it rapidly and at scale, thanks to WhatsApp for Business.

Before developing WhatsApp chatbots, you need to know the platform’s constraints. Building the bot on your own might be difficult and time-consuming.

Many chatbot-building platforms may assist you in developing the WhatsApp bot, including nerDigital Chatbot Solution. Still, you should exercise caution when selecting your vendor since some of these platforms will not assist you in obtaining WhatsApp business clearance. And you won’t be able to deploy your chatbot until WhatsApp authorizes you.