WhatsApp Automation: Automate business processes via WhatsApp [2024 Guide!]

Would you like to send automated WhatsApp messages? And have them triggered automatically based on business events in your CRM, marketing automation system or store system?

Would you like to automate business processes and be able to access WhatsApp as a communication medium?

Thanks to the "WhatsApp Business Platform" and Chatarmin, you can realize not only this, but also many other workflow automations. And all without generic and limited Zapier integrations or other pseudo-WhatsApp automations that quickly reach their limits.

Because the use cases are endless, the integration possibilities enormous, and we go the extra mile for our customers to enable highly specialized and vertical WhatsApp integrations.

91% of customers will leave your company's website if customer service is poor. Source: financesonline

We are convinced that most WhatsApp automations are relevant in use cases that involve direct customer communication. Of course, there are WhatsApp automation options when dealing with stakeholders, partners or employees.

But the main task of WhatsApp automations will be to boost new customer acquisition and to manage existing customer care and documentation.

That's why Chatarmin is also focusing on WhatsApp automations that facilitate, personalize and automate lead generation, lead enrichment and retention marketing via WhatsApp. And the whole thing is infinitely scalable and GDPR-compliant.

The workflow automation you want via WhatsApp includes the automation of various work processes. Instead of a manual sequence of activities, the whole thing is automated and autonomous based on an IT infrastructure.

With the Chatarmin Flow Builder, you can create WhatsApp automations yourself and trigger them with any conceivable "trigger event", such as customer activity or webhooks from your CRM, store system or other tech stack.

Depending on whether the initial information transfer comes from WhatsApp or is already available via CSV import or integration in Chatarmin, the direction of the data flow with WhatsApp Automations behaves differently.

What is WhatsApp automation?

For us, a "WhatsApp automation" is a process that is subject to certain logics and rules and is "fully automated" on the basis of these, i.e. it does not require any human intervention or additional work steps. "WhatsApp Automation" acts on its own and is automatically triggered and completed as soon as certain rules are met.

Basic use cases frequently seen "WhatsApp Automation"

Here you will find an overview of important standard use cases of WhatsApp automations:

You can set absence times and automated absence notes via WhatsApp in any reputable WhatsApp CRM.

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The German Shopify brand "Madame Pompadour" relies on the standard support WhatsApp automation of the out-of-office note.

This is what an out-of-office note looks like as a WhatsApp automation in the "Flowbuilder" from WhatsApp Marketing Tool Chatarmin:

Integrate if/else splits and filters in your out-of-office note to identify only real customer requests as support requests

WhatsApp automation greeting message

A greeting message is another way to greet the customer

• greet the customer
• ask for additional information
• segment through
• to tag
• prepare for their request to be processed shortly

This is what a WhatsApp automation "Greeting message" in the Chatarmin backend can look like for you as a WhatsApp marketeer or suport employee:

This Chatarmin customer uses the WhatsApp automation "Greeting message" to welcome customers and ask them for more information. The ticket or chat is then processed manually

Why use WhatsApp Automations as a company?

WhatsApp is infinitely scalable and GDPR-compliant thanks to Chatarmin. In addition, smaller companies can easily be on WhatsApp Business. So Chatarmin as a WhatsApp CRM is necessarily only useful and relevant for larger data sets and communication volumes. Above a certain size, a customer database must be managed using automation, campaigns, logics and process rules. Manually processing thousands of support requests is impossible. Sending tens of thousands of WhatsApp newsletters individually is also impossible. Especially when filtering and sorting by tags or segments is required.

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This WhatsApp campaign was sent to so many recipients that it would be operationally impossible to manage manually.

With WhatsApp automations, we now go one step further and talk about system-overlapping integrations and interactions. This is impossible to process manually anyway, as you simply cannot identify which logics from which of your software systems your target groups are now subject to.

This is why the use of WhatsApp Automations is mandatory when using WhatsApp marketing software.

When you decide on your first WhatsApp automations for your WhatsApp use cases, you will not only have to choose between:

• "inbound messages", i.e. "user-initiated" automations, and
• "outbound messages", i.e. "business-initiated automations"

You also need to consider whether you want to go with the conventional and well-known "static" chatbot logic or whether you want to go down more modern and self-learning paths via AI integration.

Static WhatsApp automations

"Static WhatsApp Automations" are basically established "If>Then" logics as you already know them from Excel. This is what it looks like in the context of the Chatarmin segmentation function:

Select "one" or "all" contexts and define filters that work like process rules. Use these segments as if/else splits in flows, or as addressees in campaigns.

If you are considering using segmentation as "if/else" logic in the flow builder, you can easily steer your "flow traffic" in the right direction using WhatsApp automations. This is what it looks like in Chatarmin's automation tool:

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WhatsApp CRM Chatarmin allows so-called process rules and logics such as "ANY/ALL" and "IF/ELSE" for WhatsApp automations via segments, tagging, activities and cross-software segmentation options.

Let's now take a look at the differences to AI chatbot logics - apart from static chatbot rules for WhatsApp automation. In other words, what the whole thing can look like using artificial intelligence.

AI WhatsApp automations

Chatarmin founder and namesake Armin Daryabegi recently recorded an AI WhatsApp logics video for one of our customers, where he describes how you can program the Chatarmin Flow-Builder to let an artificial intelligence-based interface communicate with your end customer via WhatsApp automation.

The advantage of AI-WhatsApp-Automations is that

• the AI chatbot is fully automated and can respond and react to all requests
• the AI chatbot recognizes when it does not understand a request and inquires accordingly
• the AI chatbot automatically identifies and communicates cross-system data via Chatarmin integrations such as Shopify & Klaviyo
• the AI chatbot does not require complex WhatsApp automations in the Chatarmin Flowbuilder

The disadvantages of the AI chatbot compared to static process rules for your WhatsApp automations are

• that the AI chatbot can also be buggy
• that the AI chatbot can evaluate, process and pass on incorrect information
• that the self-learning algorithm of the AI chatbot can be programmed incorrectly
• that the technology of most of our customers, such as ChatGPT3.5 wrappers, is not fed enough data sets and information to process enough requests to justify the use of an AI chatbot for WhatsApp automations

So it's up to you which WhatsApp automation path you take. Let us advise you on the right choice for you:

Johannes Mansbart

CEO & Co-Founder

Book a slot

How to create a WhatsApp-Automation

1. Verify WhatsApp Business account
2. Create WhatsApp template
3. Create WhatsApp automation workflow
4. Define the entry point (‘flow trigger’) for your WhatsApp automation
5. Use if/else splits, (conditional) delays and other conditions
6. Test WhatsApp automation in testing mode
7. Switch workflow live! Activate your WhatsApp automation

WhatsApp Automatisierungen: Grundlagen, Logiken und Prozessregeln

The baseline for automated WhatsApp-Workflows are principal process rules.

Introduction of process rules:

Process rules consist of simple "IF > THEN" statements, as you may know them from Excel: IF certain event X occurs, THEN activity Y is executed.

In practice, process rules are often more complex. Activities can be subject to parallelization (AND) and conditioning (OR). We call these the so-called "Any" and "Or" logics, i.e. "also" or "or" or "and" logics. This is because it is usually not enough to have a "query" and a simple logic that your WhatsApp automation should fulfill. There are often several conditions at once that your WhatsApp automation needs to understand and synchronize. Parallelizations are easy to understand. Two or more activities can take place at the same time or be carried out independently of each other without waiting for each other.

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In practice, segmentations are so-called "process rules" that you can use in Chatarmin's segmentation and then utilize for WhatsApp automations such as campaigns or flows.

While "ready-made automation solutions" such as zapier or zoho are extremely limited in their use cases, Chatarmin works daily on so-called "native integrations", which require "hard-coded" rules and logics that can be extended infinitely and at will according to customer requirements. This is one of the reasons why Chatarmin is developing highly specialized and verticalized solutions like our Shopify & Klaviyo integrations for eCommerce, thereby pushing other non-specialized WhatsApp CRM softwares out of this very specific market.

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Chatarmin is Austria's only WhatsApp CRM and develops highly specialized vertical SaaS solutions for WhatsApp automations that are scalable and GDPR compliant

WhatsApp Automations: A deep dive into the world of WhatsApp automations

We define the following categories of apps to give you a feel for WhatsApp Automations in your tech stack:

• Lead Ad Platform (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, Google...)
• Leadform App (Typeform, Google Form..)
• CRM platform (Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive..)
• Calendar app (Calendly, Google Calendar, cal.com..)
• Team chat app (Slack, Microsoft Teams...)

Depending on your tech stack, all these software infrastructures can interact with Chatarmin via WhatsApp Automation and automate data flows and workflows.

Use Case 1: Lead Ad Platform + Chatarmin

Click to WhatsApp Ads are based on the logic that you do not underlay the CTA of your social media advertising with your website, landing or product page. Instead, you "send people into the chat with your WhatsApp profile", so to speak. This has the advantage of a much higher lead generation. While on average only 3-6% of visitors to stores become buyers, you can use this lever to convert up to 50% or more of your clicking audience into warm WhatsApp leads.

META "Click To WhatsApp" ads with WhatsApp chatstart link as CTA. Goal: Lead gen instead of direct conversion

The Link to WhatsApp chat start awaits you in the ad, which automatically collects and saves the cell phone number and WhatsApp user name of your leads. With WhatsApp marketing you can then take advantage of a better CLTV and a "long-tail retention effect".

Use Case 2: Leadform App + Chatarmin

I recently discussed this at length with Claudio Marseglia from "SIXT Neuwagen". Sales funnels based on Typeforms have an email dependency problem. The low lead quality, coupled with weakening email marketing KPIs lead to poor funnel retention figures. At the same time, "low-quality leads" are super happy to provide incorrect data, including a non-existent telephone number. This cannot happen with WhatsApp-First.

Fintech WhatsApp lead gen and WhatsApp lead enrichment flow as an A/B test to traditional typeform sales funnels that are email-first

Another underestimated conversion uplift comes with "WhatsApp-first sales funnels": You can guarantee to retarget people by phone, as they simply have to provide their cell phone number to progress in the funnel. Especially with sales products such as

• seminars
• webinars
• high-quality and high-priced products
• Travel, events, master classes
• B2B products

can make the difference between the financial success or failure of your campaign - or even your entire company.

Use Case 3: CRM platform + Chatarmin

Our Klaviyo-WhatsApp-Integration is our CRM hobbyhorse when it comes to WhatsApp-CRM integrations. Via flow triggers like

• Custom Klaviyo Events
• Standard Klaviyo Events
• Event filter
• Klaviyo Inflow Webhooks

WhatsApp Automations can be triggered directly from the system infrastructure of your Martech stack. All thanks to a simple WhatsApp automation in Chatarmin:

Select "Klaviyo Events" or "Klaviyo Webhooks" in Chatarmin to trigger WhatsApp flows automatically via CRM triggers.

You can easily use the webhooks of your email marketing CRM to trigger WhatsApp campaigns automatically. This works with any CRM that offers an API. Chatarmin, for example, already has one for customers:

• Emarsys
• SAP systems
• zendesk
• Hubspot
• Salesforce
• Pipedrive
• wix
• Omnisend

and many other email marketing solutions. This means that your WhatsApp automation can be automatically triggered and sent automatically via WhatsApp from your email CRM in Chatarmin using an "API endpoint" - i.e. a so-called "webhook".

This is particularly suitable for retargeting automation if email is not effective enough or the end customer does not react, interact or convert in the desired way via email.

Use Case 4: Calendar App + Chatarmin

Take a look at how the Austrian Fintech "froots.io" synchronized and linked Chatarmin with Calendly:

Austria's fintech startup "froots" uses Chatarmin's Calendly integration via WhatsApp automation for mobile-first sales funnel improvements.

Use Case 5: Teamchat App + Chatarmin

Who doesn't dream of it? Do you work with Microsoft Teams, zoom, Slack, or even all three? And would you like to send automated WhatsApp messages to team members, partners or customers? Depending on whether a meeting is approaching, you want to document meeting transcripts, or something happens in Teams or Slack that you want to trigger a WhatsApp automation based on? As always, Chatarmin has the answer and offers you all the possibilities to have your individual workflows mapped as WhatsApp automations via Chatarmin using our "Custom Integrations" and "API Endpoint Calls" in our Flow Builder.

Imagine the founder announces an important company update and everyone gets a WhatsApp automation as well - sick!

Create and use workflow automations with Chatarmin

In addition to our WhatsApp CRM function, there are some other exciting Chatarmin features that are all focused on WhatsApp Automations and automated WhatsApp workflows:

1. chat widget:

It is repeatedly requested by our customers, and in some cases used across the board. The conversion rate of so-called "chat start widgets" or "chat-in bubbles" is a whopping 0.5-2.5%. That's not bad at all.

Simply write to us by clicking on the chat icon on our website.

Especially for high-AOV ecommerce cases that sell products that require explanation, the "chat widget" can make a lot of sense. A WhatsApp chat start bubble can also be useful for other deals that require explanation.

The fact is, while chatbot widgets only allow anonymous exchanges with potential customers, WhatsApp Chatstart allows you to immediately secure the customer's lead and retarget them again and again, as well as have the important historical documentation during the exchange in Chatarmin that makes high-quality personal customer support possible in the first place.

2. profile automation:

Chatarmin customers can have a WhatsApp automation integrated into their WhatsApp chat via so-called "profile automation", which is played out to the customer via automation. This includes a unique individual "profile link", which the customer can use to enrich their data and specify their preferences in a browser-optimized screen in their own mobile browser.

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Send Chatarmin "Profile" to experience profile WhatsApp automation

This saves the company extensive lead enablement flows, and can ask the customer or lead to fill in and define address, birthday, email address and tags themselves. Fields can be defined as mandatory fields.

3. CRM Lead Enrichment:

We have covered the topic of WhatsApp lead enrichment sufficiently in Chatarmin's blog posts. What we have not yet fully explored is that not only Chatarmin data, but also email CRM or store data can be processed directly via WhatsApp by the end customer. And without the customer having to leave WhatsApp or even noticing anything.

In the following video I explain what WhatsApp Marketing - syncing your leads between WhatsApp, email and shop - looks like in practice:

Source: Chatarmin, Q2 2024

Find more info about lead-enrichment between Chatarmin and Klaviyo WhatsApp integration here:

Klaviyo lead creation, lead enrichment and "property sync" via Chatarmin WhatsApp automation

In this example, you can ask your customers about their data, preferences or purchasing behaviour, for example, and not only tag them statically in Chatarmin, but also enrich and synchronize "properties" directly in Klaviyo Email CRM with Chatarmin integration. Without your lead noticing, let alone having to leave WahtsApp.

4. CRM Trigger:

Your (Email) CRM has the following options:

• Tagging
• Segmentation
• properties
• Data fields
• Activity logs
• Interactivity profiles

and much more. Now, your WhatsApp CRM can react automatically not only to "events" or "webhooks" from your CRM or CDP. WhatsApp automations can also be triggered when your customer fulfills a certain (email or store) activity pattern, which in turn is subject to process rules or logics that underlie WhatsApp automation.

Chatarmin segment that can trigger automations, be used for if/else splits in the flow builder, or serve as a reception criterion for your next WhatsApp newsletter.

5. store system trigger:

Store systems and their "API endpoints" can also trigger WhatsApp automations. For Chatarmin, this is primarily for the use cases:

• Abandoned Checkout Retargeting
• Postpurchase automation
• Shipping info via thank you page widget

exciting.

This is what the results of Abandoned Checkout Retargeting via WhatsApp Automation look like:

Chatarmin customer results of a Shopfiy Abandoned-Checkout-Retargeting WhatsApp-Automation_

The postpurchase automation is simply triggered on the "Shopify Webhook Order Paid" and is in turn subject to the construction of an automation in the Chatarmin flowbuilder. This is what it looks like for the end customer:

Abandoned Checkout WhatsApp Automation by Chatarmin customers 8-figure-eCom-Brand "waterdrop®

The Thank You Page widget on the thank you page of your online store, thanks to which your customers can request their shipping information, looks like this:

Shopify WhatsApp-Leadgen Thank You Page Widget for Shipping Info when shipping goods

This is what the corresponding flow looks like in the Chatarmin automation tool:

Shipping confirmation flow thanks to Thank You Page Widget on your Shopify thank you page via Chatarmin WhatsApp automation_

6. event and activity triggers:

Even if your customer fulfills certain (non-)activities, for example via email or behavior in the store, a WhatsApp automation can be triggered. The prerequisite for this is that a WhatsApp number can also be assigned to the store visitor or email lead.

For example, sunset, winback or abandoned browse automations via WhatsApp can be used here.

You duplicate email automations to a certain extent, but retain the cost-recommended prioritization of:

• Email
• WhatsApp
• direct mailings

as retention marketing pillars in mind.

7. chatbot and "buzzword" triggers:

The most "primitive use case" of WhatsApp lead generation is the so-called "WhatsApp chatstart link", which you can easily create using a WhatsApp link generator. You can also specify which "prefabricated word" your customer should send with just a "one-click".

This starts a WhatsApp automation that you have already created in Chatarmin's Flow Builder, which only reacts to this one (or more predefined) buzzword(s).

This "Kloster Kitchen" WhatsApp automation is a welcome flow that responds to this "buzzword" embedded in the chat start link: "Hello dear Kloster Kitchen team, I would like to become part of your WhatsApp community and receive a discount!"_.

If these logics are still unclear to you, feel free to book your WhatsApp consultation with us at any time:

Johannes Mansbart

CEO & Co-Founder

Book a slot

[BONUS] Differences of WhatsApp Automations between WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Business Platform

We have described the differences between "the three WhatsApps" in detail elsewhere. Therefore, in this paragraph we will only focus on the automation differences between "WhatsApp Business App" and "WhatsApp Business Platform".

Now that you have once again clarified the distinction between

• (WhatsApp Private App)
• WhatsApp Business App
• WhatsApp Business Premium
• WhatsApp Business Platform ("API" - Chatarmin)

we will now turn to our final conclusion on WhatsApp automations

WhatsApp automations summary: Everything you need to know about WhatsApp automations

We hope that you now have a good overview of the theoretical dimensions and practical use cases of WhatsApp automations.

• WhatsApp flows and flow triggers
• CRM and store integrations
• AI and static chatbot applications
• Business processes, rules and logics
• Segmentation in outbound and inbound
• Practical use cases of WhatsApp automations

are all topics we have covered in this blog post. We hope you now feel comfortable and a whole step ahead. If you would like to have a personal conversation with us, please book in and get to know us and our WhatsApp automation solutions: