The Ultimate Guide To Whatsapp Automation 2024 (With Examples)

If you are a founder or marketer using WhatsApp, you know how some of the tasks are menial but need to be done repeatedly.

Like replying to 10 new leads daily about your shop’s opening time, if your hero product is in stock, or responding to repeated queries like “Where is my order”? What if you could automate all the replies to these frequently asked questions?

Well, the answer is yes. With WhatsApp automation, you can automate query resolution, schedule messages, keep customers informed about their orders, sell within WhatsApp, and do much more.

An average WhatsApp user opens the app 8 out of every 10 days. That's a lot of chances for you to connect with your customers.

So, let’s understand how to make those chances count with smart automation.

What is WhatsApp Automation?

WhatsApp automation is a fancy word for tools and technology that do the heavy lifting for you.

It’s setting up a system that automatically handles things like sending messages, answering common questions, and updating customers about their orders so you don’t have to.

For example, imagine you run an online store. Instead of manually messaging every customer about their order status or upcoming sales, automation lets you set up these messages to go out automatically at the right time.

Top 5 Benefits of WhatsApp Automation

Here are the top 5 reasons why should you care about automating your WhatsApp:

1. Reduce Agent Workload by 90% and Improve Productivity: Automation can be your best friend if you've got a customer support team.

For example, companies using QuickReply.ai's WhatsApp chatbots have seen a 90% reduction in repetitive queries, allowing their teams to focus on more complex customer issues.

By setting up chatbots, you can automatically handle FAQs and routine tasks like order tracking, freeing up your team to tackle challenges that need a human touch.

Why does this matter? Think about it—every repetitive question your team doesn't have to answer is time they can spend on more valuable interactions.

These bots can handle everything from simple queries like "Where is my order?" to more complex issues like product recommendations based on customer preferences.

This speeds up response times and ensures customers get the information they need whenever needed.

2. Keep Customers Informed: Have you ever missed an appointment reminder or a delivery update? It’s frustrating, right?

According to a Narvar Consumer Report, 83% of consumers expect regular communication about their purchases, and 53% say they won’t purchase from a brand again if they don’t receive timely updates about their order status.

With WhatsApp automation, you can ensure this never happens to your customers. Set up automated notifications for order confirmations, delivery updates, or even reminders about upcoming appointments.

3. Run Automated Personalized Marketing Campaigns: Want to nudge a customer who browsed your site but didn’t buy anything? Or remind someone about the items still sitting in their cart? Automation can handle that, too.

You can set up drip campaigns that automatically send personalized messages based on what your customers are doing, helping you to close more sales without lifting a finger.

4. Sell Within WhatsApp - Imagine chatting with a customer on WhatsApp, showing them your products, taking their order, and even processing the payment—all without leaving the app.

Sounds great, right? That’s precisely what you can do when you combine WhatsApp Catalogs with automation.

WhatsApp Catalogs let you set up a mini-store right inside your chat. Your customers can browse your products, pick what they like, and purchase—all in one place.

When you add automation into the mix, things get even better.If you’re curious about how to set up a WhatsApp Catalog, we’ve got a handy guide to help you through the process.

‍5. Increase Customer Satisfaction by Taking Feedback: How do you know if your customers are happy after a purchase? With WhatsApp automation, you can quickly gather their feedback as soon as they receive the order.

QuickReply.ai makes this easy. You can collect feedback on WhatsApp and, with native integrations to Loox and Judge.me, automatically send it to your review repository.

This ensures all your reviews are stored in one place, no matter where they come from, boosting your Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT) and fostering stronger customer loyalty.

How Does WhatsApp Automation Work?

Now, let's talk about how all these automation are possible with WhatsApp:

Before diving into advanced automation, let’s start with the basics—what you can do with the WhatsApp Business App.

Then, we’ll explore how to take things to the next level with the WhatsApp Business API.

Basic Automation with WhatsApp Business App

The WhatsApp Business App is designed for small to medium-sized businesses to manage customer interactions more efficiently.

While it lacks the power of the Business API, it still offers some valuable automation features that can greatly improve your communication with customers.

1. Setting Up Away Messages:

• What It Does: Away messages are automated responses sent when customers message you outside business hours.
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• How to Set It Up:
  1. Open the WhatsApp Business App.
  2. Go to Settings > Business Tools > Away Message.
  3. Toggle on the Send Away Message option.
  4. Customize your message (e.g., “Thanks for reaching out! We’re currently closed but will get back to you during business hours.”).
  5. Set a schedule for when the message should be sent.

2. Setting Up Greeting Messages:

• What It Does: Greeting messages are automated messages that welcome new customers or greet existing customers after a period of inactivity.
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• How to Set It Up:
  1. Go to Settings > Business Tools > Greeting Message.
  2. Toggle on the Send Greeting Message option.
  3. Customize your greeting (e.g., “Welcome to [Your Business Name]! How can we help you today?”).
  4. Select the recipients (all new contacts or only certain people).

3. Quick Replies:

• What It Does: Quick replies are pre-written messages that can be sent with just a few taps, saving you time on repetitive responses.
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• How to Set It Up:
  1. Go to Settings > Business Tools > Quick Replies.
  2. Add a new quick reply (e.g., “/hours” for your business hours).
  3. Use the shortcut in chats by typing “/” followed by the quick reply keyword.

Limitations of WhatsApp Automation with the WhatsApp Business App

If you’re running a small business or working solo, the WhatsApp Business App is a solid tool to get you started with automated responses. It’s simple, easy to set up, and does the job for basic needs.

But, if you’re running a larger business or trying to connect with a global audience, the WhatsApp Business App might feel slightly restrictive. Here’s why:

1. Broadcast Limit: Limited to 256 users and only reaches contacts who’ve saved your number.
2. Limited Auto-Replies: Can’t set up specific auto-replies for different scenarios.
3. No Analytics: No tools to track how your messages are performing.
4. No Agent Tracking: Can't monitor team performance.
5. No Chatbot Integration: Chatbots aren’t supported.
6. No Third-Party Integration: Can’t connect with other software or CRMs.
7. No Automated Notifications: Can’t automate order updates or similar messages.
8. No Clickable Buttons: Messages can’t include clickable buttons.
9. No Green Tick Verification: Can’t get the official WhatsApp “green tick.”

If you want to overcome these limitations and need more advanced features, the WhatsApp Business API is your best bet.

It’s designed to handle these more complex use cases and helps you automate your WhatsApp communications.

Advanced Automation with WhatsApp Business API and QuickReply.ai

When your business outgrows the basic capabilities of the WhatsApp Business App, it’s time to explore the more advanced options available through the WhatsApp Business API.

This is where QuickReply.ai comes in. It unlocks a whole new level of automation that can transform customer interaction.

Automated Abandoned Cart Messages:

• What It Does: QuickReply.ai automatically sends reminders to customers who leave items in their cart without completing the purchase. It integrates with Shopify and other e-commerce platforms to make this seamless.
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• How to Set It Up:
  • Log in to your QuickReply.ai dashboard.
  • Navigate to the Campaign section by hovering over the left-side panel.
  • Click on Create New Campaign.
  • Name your campaign and select the appropriate trigger (e.g., abandoned cart).
  • Customize the workflow by selecting a message template, configuring delays, and adding personalized elements.
  • Set exit conditions to define when the campaign should stop for a user.
  • Launch the campaign and let the automation handle your WhatsApp messages.

Here is a video to make your life easier -

Automated Product Browsing Abandonment Messages:

• What It Does: If a customer browses products on your site without adding anything to their cart, QuickReply.ai can automatically send a message suggesting those products or offering related items.
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• How to Set It Up: All steps, except for the trigger, are the same as shown in the abandoned cart message automation setup video. You need to select the trigger as Product Browsing Abandonment.

WhatsApp Chatbots (Keywords and NLP)

• What It Does: QuickReply.ai helps you deploy chatbots that respond to customer queries based on keywords or intent [thanks to the power of Natural Language Processing (NLP)]

These chatbots can handle a wide range of interactions by understanding specific keywords or the overall intent behind a customer’s message, ensuring relevant responses.

If the bot cannot resolve the issue, it seamlessly transfers the conversation to a human agent.

For more insights on better utilizing the chatbots, check out our in-depth guide on WhatsApp chatbots.

It explains how chatbots can enhance your customer support and marketing efforts.

• How to Set It Up: Setting up a chatbot for order tracking on QuickReply.ai is quite easy. Follow these steps to build and deploy your chatbot effectively:

1. Login to the QuickReply.ai Dashboard: Start by logging into your QuickReply.ai account. This will bring you to the main dashboard, where you can access all the necessary tools.‍
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2. Access the AI Builder: On the left side of the dashboard, hover over the navigation panel to reveal additional options. Click on AI Builder to begin creating your custom chatbot.‍‍
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3. Create a New Bot: In the AI Builder section, navigate to Custom Bots. Click on the Create Bot button and give your bot a meaningful name that reflects its purpose, such as "Order Tracking Bot."
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4. Design the Chat Flow: Now, use various nodes to design the bot’s flow. To enhance the customer experience, you can add text responses, quick-reply buttons, set delay timers, and other interactive elements. This is where you define how the bot will interact with users.‍
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5. Configure Trigger Keywords: Once the flow is set, configure the keywords that will trigger the chatbot. For example, you can use keywords like "Track Order" or "Order Status" to prompt the bot. Ensure that the keywords align with common customer queries.‍
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6. Deploy Your Bot: After configuring the flow and keywords, your bot is ready to go live.

Here is a video on how to create an order-tracking chatbot using QuickReply.ai that triggers based on specific keywords:

Essential Tools for WhatsApp Automation

You have got limited options when it comes to the tools that help you automate your WhatsApp. Here are the two most used ones:

1. WhatsApp Business App: Perfect for small businesses, the Business App offers basic automation like quick replies and away messages. However, if you’re looking to do more—like managing large volumes of messages or running advanced marketing campaigns—you’ll find it a bit limited.
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2. WhatsApp Business API: This is where the real power lies. The API lets you automate everything, from chatbots to drip campaigns to CRM integrations. It’s built for businesses that need to scale their communication and want to do it efficiently.

Best Practices for WhatsApp Automation

Having a tool and knowing how to use it are two separate things. To make sure you’re getting the most out of WhatsApp automation, here are some best practices:

1. Set Up Bots to Resolve Queries Instantly: The faster you can respond to customers, the better.

Set up your chatbots to handle the most common questions and tasks right away. This keeps customers happy and frees up your team for more complex interactions.

Here are the few which you must setup if you are an e-commerce brand -

Welcome Series: Start strong with 2-3 messages to greet new customers, similar to what you might do in an SMS flow.

This is your chance to make a great first impression and introduce them to your brand.

Abandoned Checkout: Don’t let those carts slip away! Set up 1-2 messages to remind customers about their abandoned carts, nudging them to complete their purchase, much like an SMS flow.

Post-Purchase Flow: Keep the communication going even after the sale.

A good post-purchase flow might include 1-3 messages, but we recommend 2 for a balanced approach:

• Thank You Message: Show your appreciation right after the purchase.
• Shipping Notification + Thank You: Keep them informed and thankful.
• Review Request: (Optional) If you like to follow up more, you could add a request for a review after the product is delivered.

Customer Winback: Re-engage past customers with a win back flow that brings them back into the fold.

Whether it’s a special offer or a reminder of why they loved your brand, this flow can reignite interest.

2. Run Bulk Marketing Campaigns: Use automation to personalize and segment your bulk marketing campaigns.

Don’t just blast the same message to everyone—target your messages to specific customer groups and schedule them to go out at the best times.

Also, don’t forget to filter out inactive users to ensure you’re reaching the right people.

3. Set Up Drip Campaigns: Keep your customers engaged with automated follow-ups and reminders.

For example, Renee Cosmetics used a two-step abandoned cart recovery campaign with QuickReply.ai, which worked wonders for them.

You can read about their success here.

Common Automation Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Even though WhatsApp automation is a powerful tool, there are some pitfalls to watch out for:

1. Account Health Risk: Sending too many irrelevant messages can lead to spam complaints, hurting your account’s health. Avoid this by using segmentation and personalization. QuickReply.ai makes this easy with its automation tools.
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2. Wasted Ad Spend: Sending messages to inactive users is like throwing money down the drain. Use automation to filter out dead audiences and ensure your campaigns reach people likely to engage.

     3. Lost Sales and Customer Dissatisfaction: Slow responses can cost sales and frustrate customers. With automation, you can ensure that your customers get timely responses, keeping them happy and more likely to purchase.

Real-World Examples of WhatsApp Automation Benefits

Here are a few D2C businesses that have leveled up their WhatsApp game using QuickReply.ai.

1. Dermazone: How frustrating is it when customers leave items in their carts and… disappear? Dermazone, a beauty brand, had the same problem. So, they decided to give QuickReply.ai a try.
   
   By setting up automated follow-up messages—a friendly nudge to remind customers about those forgotten products—they recovered 20% of those abandoned carts. That’s like getting back one in every five lost sales! Pretty cool, right? You can learn more about what they did here if you're curious.
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2. The Wellness Shop: Now, take The Wellness Shop as another example. They wanted to get their customers to spend just a little more each time they shopped.
   
   By using QuickReply.ai to automate their add-to-cart process, they didn’t just get customers to buy—they got them to buy more. Their average order value went up by 15%! Plus, those automated follow-ups kept customers coming back for more.

Wrapping Up: Ready to Automate Your WhatsApp?

In a short time, we’ve covered a lot about WhatsApp automation—from setting up chatbots that save you time to running personalized marketing campaigns that boost sales.

Whether you’re looking to reduce your team’s workload, keep your customers informed, or drive more revenue directly through WhatsApp, automation is the way to go.

And the best part? You don’t have to figure it all out on your own. QuickReply.ai makes it easy to implement these automation strategies, helping you get the most out of your WhatsApp marketing without the headache.

If you’re curious to see how all this can work for your business, why not book a demo with QuickReply.ai?