How to build a chatbot for WhatsApp

In recent years, Chatbots have taken giant steps in a world that is becoming more and more digital. These little robots have been evolving to interact much better with us and give us better support experiences.

They have taken businesses to a new technological level and have managed to save companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in staff costs for the customer service sector.

More and more companies are creating their own chatbots and there are certain applications that are expanding their platform to offer them. An example of this is WhatsApp. In the next post we will tell you how to create Chatbots for WhatsApp.

What is a Chatbot

A Chatbot is a system or computer program powered with artificial intelligence capable of mantaining conversations with human beings.

They are in charge of simulating a human conversation. Their purpose is to help in the different customer service departments of all companies to save money and to ensure a more pleasant experience for customers. While most chatbot publicity focuses on customer-facing scenarios, there are significant employee benefits as well. A chatbot can help streamline workflows and assist employees with onboarding, data retrieval and satisfaction surveys.

Whatsapp

Before talking about what are the Chatbots for WhatsApp let's talk a little about what this application is. WhatsApp is an instant messaging tool that allows you to share not only text messages but also multimedia messages such as photos and videos through an internet connection.

It is widely used throughout the world and it can be said that it is the most popular of all. It works on any smartphone and also on your personal computer. Thanks to its popularity, WhatsApp has grown so much that it has been developing new options so that companies can make themselves known through this application.

Chatbots for WhatsApp

Chatbots continue to offer great benefits to businesses and consumers, and Chatbots for WhatsApp are trying doing the same. As the most popular messaging appication, WhatsApp opens a new channel where you can promote your products and offer customer support. Chatbots on WhatsApp allow you to automate those tasks, by running scripts or automatic answers 24/7 with little human supervision.

Although you may not believe it, creating a WhatsApp bot is simple and easy, but only when the best practices are implemented. This guide will help you gain more solid understanding of what a WhatsApp Bot is and how to make one.

What is a bot for WhatsApp

A WhatsApp Bot is a chatbot program or software that can be used specifically in the popular WhatsApp encrypted messaging application. A WhatsApp Bot can be used for conversational marketing, sales, promotions and can help you manage your support requests from clients, with little or no human supervision.

You can also give your customers assistance on how to purchase and answer their questions immediately. This allows you interact with a large number of customers more efficiently by offering responses to frequent questions automatically or by confirming appointments, purchases, and deliveries in real time, improving customer experience and saving you a lot of valuable time and money.

When you create your own WhatsApp bot, your e-commerce opportunities are endless. An by customizing the script that uses the WhatsApp bot you can customize the experience for all your customers.

The encryption of WhatsApp also makes it an easy and safe way to communicate with them in real time.

Creating a bot for WhatsApp

Creating a Chatbot for WhatsApp is easy when you have a clear strategy on how to do it. The construction of Chatbots for WhatsApp also shares similarities with the creation of a Facebook Messenger Bot, but offers more flexibility in personalization.

These are the steps you need to create Chatbots for WhatsApp.

Step 1: To create Chatbots for WhatsApp you must first Request the WhatsApp Business API.

In other words, before you can create Chatbots for WhatsApp, you should request the beta service called WhatsApp Business API or request to use their API through a third party (we can help you speed up the request and approval if you register on our platform). Currently, direct requests to WhatsApp are encouraged for medium and large-sized companies.

When requesting approval, you can choose to be a customer or a solution provider. The application also requires the name of your company, the URL of the website and the name and information of the company representative.

Once your application has been reviewed and approved, you can start using the WhatsApp API.

Step 2: Think about the conversation

If you want to make sure that your chatbot will answer your clients' questions, it is important to think about the dialogue when it is being developed. This applies not only to any of the Chatbots for WhatsApp but to all kinds of Chatbots in general.

That also includes thinking about how your robot should answer the questions you will most likely get.

You can choose between two types o conversations, directed and open. Directed conversations guide the user with the use of options and validations to a specific purpose, such as asking availability, order status, creating appointments etc. An open conversation lets users ask questions and send messages openly without being directed to a specific task.

Step 3: Use a chatbot creator and a host in a database

A chatbot platform, like ChatCompose, can help you save time by creating Chatbots for WhatsApp so you do not have to do it from scratch.

You can add scripts for specific tasks (lead generation, support ticketing, etc.), prebuilt response templates and conversation flows this way. A Platform will also help you improve the chatbot experience by showing you the accuracy of your responses, bounce rate and general sentiment of a conversation.

When you use a chatbot platform, you can create a demo of your application before producing the full version. This facilitates the visualization of the changes you need to make before investing more time and money in the production of your WhatsApp bot.

Step 4: Test your Chatbot for WhatsApp

Test your bot to make sure it works well by answering your customers. Fix errors and try again to check its functionality. This will guarantee that the product will be of high quality and that it is ready to improve the customer experience.

The work to develop Chatbots for WhatsApp does not have to be just for WhatsApp. You can use a platform, to create a General Bot that can be displayed on a variety of channels. This way you can install the same bot on different channels (Website, Facebook, Telegram etc.) to offer a standardized experience that uses the same scripts and responses on all channels.

Step 5: Install the chatbot on a number

Once your chatbot is developed and your number approved, you can install the chatbot on that number. You will only have to give it a name, an icon (optional), contact details, and link it with ChatCompose.

Step 6: Monitor and Improve your chatbot

You can monitor your chatbot conversations through our platform to gain knowledge on how to improve your responses and scripts. Check responses, the information captured and conversation abandonment of users to get tips on how to respond more accurately, and keep them more engaged.

Keep in mind that chatbots for WhatsApp work differently than chatbots for Facebook or the Web. You can read more information here.

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