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TL;DR – How to Create a WhatsApp Chatbot
A WhatsApp chatbot is an automated tool using rules or AI to handle customer conversations on the WhatsApp API.
Prerequisites: You need a WhatsApp API account and a customer conversation management software, such as
respond.io.
Use templates: The easiest way to create a chatbot is by using respond.io's pre-made workflow templates.
Customize for your needs: There are templates for different use cases, such as appointment scheduling, answering FAQs, and qualifying leads.
Struggling to keep up with an increasing number of WhatsApp conversations? You’re not alone. As your business expands, managing high volumes of chats can be overwhelming. In this blog, we’ll explore how a WhatsApp chatbot can transform the way you engage with customers.
What is a WhatsApp chatbot?
A WhatsApp chatbot, or WhatsApp bot, is an automated software designed to engage with customers on WhatsApp using either Artificial Intelligence (AI) or pre-programmed rules. It can help businesses handle large volumes of conversations, answer frequently asked questions, collect information and qualify leads without the help of a human agent.
Flow-based chatbots vs. AI chatbots
Here's a look at the differences between a rule-based (or flow-based) chatbot and an AI chatbot. A rule-based chatbot typically follows a workflow, for example, a customer starts a conversation, the chatbot sends a greeting and presents options or a question for the customer. The next steps are based on the customer's answers.
While this method extensively automates conversations, there are still limitations, and interactions are less personalized. A well-trained AI chatbot, on the other hand, can answer more than a standard list of FAQs and have more complex conversations with the customer.
The best AI chatbots — also known as AI agents — can take on specific roles, manage entire conversations end-to-end, and act almost like a human agent would. However, it's important to choose your WhatsApp business AI chatbot carefully to ensure it performs the tasks that you need without going off the rails.
Let's explore why businesses using WhatsApp need chatbots and how they can benefit from them.
Why do businesses need a whatsApp chatbot?
Every conversation your business has is an opportunity for growth. As leads expect quick responses, meeting those expectations is crucial to keeping them engaged and preventing lost sales opportunities.
Imagine it’s the middle of the night, you're off the clock, but your business is still engaging with customers across the globe, regardless of time zones, holidays or business hours. That’s the beauty of having a WhatsApp auto reply chatbot in place. It’s like having a team that never stops, ensuring your leads and customers get timely responses, no matter when they reach out.
Not only does this make your business accessible round-the-clock, but it also maintains the quality of conversations by using approved messaging in your business voice and tone. You could even use an AI agent to process and respond to audio messages, follow up on stalled conversations, or even respond to customer calls with natural and professional tone.
By helping customers with routine queries, chatbots also free up your team, allowing agents to focus on more complex and high-value conversations that require a personal touch to help you reach your conversion goals faster.
Now that you understand the value chatbots bring to businesses, let’s look at some businesses that have benefited from chatbot automation.
How Various Industries Benefit from WhatsApp AI Chatbots
To see how different industries use WhatsApp chatbots and AI agents to streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and boost growth, let’s take a closer look at how they’ve integrated chatbots into their processes.
Education: GETUTOR uses respond.io's AI agent to respond to inquiries quickly and gather student information and preferences for more efficient tutor matching.
Retail: In the same way H&H Skincare increased repeat business by up to 60%, chatbots can improve business results by providing immediate responses to retail queries, helping customers book appointments and performing other tailored automated interactions.
Cosmetology: Bella Piel uses chatbots to provide 24/7 customer service, offer personalized product recommendations and deliver WhatsApp marketing messages when relevant to enhance the overall customer experience and boost sales.
Now that you know the benefits of incorporating a WhatsApp chatbot into your business processes, here’s what you need to build one.
Turn conversations into customers with respond.io's official WhatsApp API ✨
Manage WhatsApp calls and chats in one place!
2 Requirements for Building a WhatsApp Chatbot
To build a WhatsApp chatbot, you need a WhatsApp API account and messaging software like respond.io, as the API lacks a front-end for managing messages — unlike the WhatsApp Business App.
Once you can access both, create a WhatsApp chatbot using respond.io.
How to Create a WhatsApp Chatbot for 3 Different Use Cases
With respond.io, you can create a WhatsApp chatbot using ready-made Workflow templates or by creating an AI agent using templates for receptionist, sales agent or support agent. These templates save time and effort as they are pre-tested and ready to work seamlessly.
1. WhatsApp Chatbot for Seamless Appointment Scheduling
Respond.io’s Click to Chat Ads: Appointment Scheduling workflow template lets you automate appointment scheduling, so leads can independently book appointments with you. When they click on your business’s ad, they are instantly connected to a booking system such as Calendly, where they can instantly select a convenient time slot.
This automation provides a seamless experience for your leads but while freeing up your agents to focus on higher-value tasks by eliminating the back-and-forth of manual scheduling. Additionally, you can sync contacts who book an appointment by integrating with a WhatsApp CRM.
2. WhatsApp Chatbots for Answering Customer FAQs
A common and valuable use case for a chatbot is handling common inquiries. A WhatsApp chatbot for this can be set up in two ways: Menu-based or AI-based.
A menu-based chatbot works well for simple processes or if you want to bring customers through a specific pre-defined path. The Simple Chat Menu template helps businesses greet leads with a welcome message and a menu of their products/services. Leads can select the desired product or service instantly and be taken through a relevant workflow.
For more complex conversations, an AI-based chatbot is the best choice due to its ability to leverage a knowledge base, learn from past interactions, and adapt to diverse queries. Respond.io's AI support agent provides detailed, human-like answers based on its knowledge of your business.
Because respond.io’s AI runs tasks in smaller, focused steps, answers are generated faster and with higher accuracy—particularly for long or multi-step queries.
Beyond answering questions, AI Agents can also update contact fields, adjust Lifecycle stages, apply tags or categories and even close conversations with an auto-summary when an interaction is resolved. If needed, the bot can still hand the conversation over to a human agent, but in many cases it now operates fully autonomously.
Both approaches cater to different business needs, and you can even combine them to provide a comprehensive customer service experience.
3. WhatsApp Chatbots for Lead Qualification and Chat Assignment
Not every lead is high-value, so it’s essential to qualify them efficiently to ensure that high-value customers get the attention they need while agents avoid wasting time on unqualified leads.
There are several ways to qualify leads depending on your business needs. For instance, the Click-to-Chat Ads: Share Product Info + Route to Sales template shares key product information, like composition and price, before asking the lead if it is interested in purchasing the product.
Interested leads can speak to an agent to complete the purchase, while uninterested leads can simply drop off—ensuring your sales team only engages with qualified leads.
Best Practices for Optimizing Your WhatsApp Chatbots
Regularly monitoring your chatbot’s performance through user feedback and analytics is key to spot areas for improvement. Enhancing the bot, updating its knowledge sources and adding fallback responses for unrecognized queries ensures a smoother experience for leads.
A seamless handoff to human agents helps resolve issues effectively, leaving no customer frustrated. Frequent testing further ensures your chatbot remains efficient and adaptable to evolving customer needs.
For AI Agents, define clear rules so they know when to act autonomously — updating records, adjusting stages or closing chats — and when to escalate to a human for more complex or sensitive cases. With respond.io’s instant human takeover, these escalations feel seamless, as the AI stops responding the moment an agent joins the conversation.
Ready to Create a WhatsApp Business AI Chatbot?
With WhatsApp's broad reach and user-friendly interface, implementing a WhatsApp chatbot for your WhatsApp Business Platform API is a smart move toward better customer communication and growth. Following the steps outlined in this article, you can create a highly effective chatbot tailored to your business needs.
Are you ready to try out a WhatsApp business AI agent for your business? Sign up for respond.io for a free trial and create a WhatsApp chatbot!
Turn conversations into customers with respond.io's official WhatsApp API ✨
Manage WhatsApp calls and chats in one place!
FAQs about WhatsApp Chatbot
Can AI Agents answer business calls?
Yes, AI agents can answer voice calls if you use the right tool. On respond.io, you can configure the AI agent’s voice, add instructions and test the experience before going live. This gives you full control over how calls are handled. Unlike standalone voice bots, respond.io’s AI Voice Agent is fully integrated into a unified inbox, allowing businesses to manage messaging and voice interactions in a seamless thread with every customer, with shared logs and reporting.
How can I use AI Agents to follow up on customer conversations?
If conversations are left hanging pending a customer’s response, you can set your AI Agent to nudge them with a relevant follow-up question. For example, respond.io’s AI Agent goes beyond simple time-based nudges or workflow triggers. It uses conversation history to understand its context and determines when and how to follow up. This understanding helps it avoid contacting customers whose issues are already resolved, and to send personalized, human-like nudges at the right time.
Can AI Agents understand and respond to audio messages?
Yes. Respond.io’s AI Agents can now process voice notes and audio recordings sent by customers across supported messaging channels. The platform automatically transcribes audio into text and integrates it directly into the AI Agent’s conversation context. This means the AI can understand the intent, nuance, and details of spoken messages and respond naturally, maintaining a seamless conversational flow, whether the customer prefers typing or speaking.
This feature is especially valuable for voice-first users, common in regions like the US, LATAM and Southeast Asia, where people frequently communicate via voice notes.
Further Reading
Want to learn more about WhatsApp and automation on respond.io? Check out these articles:
