You can use ActiveCampaign’s WhatsApp Messaging feature to create a chatbot flow that automatically recognizes your clients and personalizes interactions.
This article walks you through the steps to create an inbound Support flow using WhatsApp Messaging. This flow prompts contacts and leads for their account name during the first run, then uses that information in subsequent interactions within the same flow. We will use Conditional, Go To, Update Contact, and Question flow steps to achieve this.
Note that personalization does not extend from flow to flow. Follow the steps below for each flow that should use personalization.
Take note
This setup requires a custom contact field. This field must exist in your account before following the steps below. In this article, we reference an example of a custom contact field named “contact.account.”
Create a chatbot flow that recognizes clients
- Click WhatsApp > Messaging Flows.
- Click “New Messaging Flow.”
- Under the “Details” tab, give your flow a short yet descriptive name. Then click “Next.”
- Under the “Trigger” tab, you’ll determine how contacts enter your flow. For this example:
- Select “Inbound Message”
- Select “Specific text”
- Enter the text to match
- Optional: Click the “Match exact message?” toggle. If this is “Off,” we will check if the inbound message contains any of the text you entered
- Click “Next”
-
Add the “Conditional” step to your flow:
- Set the condition to check if your custom field “contact.account” is empty
- Select the “Yes” button
- Your step now has two branches: Path 1 (if the account property is empty) and Else (if the account property is not empty)
- Under the “Path 1” branch, click the node (+) and add the “Question” step.
-
Configure the “Question” step to ask the contact for their account name. For example, “Please provide your account name.”
- For “Answer type,” use the “Free text” option
- Provide an answer validation message
- Select what happens if the contact doesn’t answer the question correctly, if they don’t answer within a specific period of time, or do something else if the message fails to send
- Next, add the “Update Contact” step to update the contact record with the information automatically. To do so:
- Click the node (+) under the “Question” step and add the “Update contact” step
- To configure the “Update contact” step, click the “Custom” tab, then “+ Add property”
- Select “Account” from the first dropdown field
- Click the lightning icon in the second field, then select “Step variables” > the Question step you just created
- Ask the contact what the issue is with a personalized message:
- Click the node (+) and add another “Question” step
- Configure the Question step and ask the contact how you can help them, using their account name in the message
- Next, build out the “Else” branch. Under the “Else” branch, click the node (+) and add the “Go to” step.
- Set the “Go to” step to go to the question that asks how you may help the client today.
- When finished, click the “Publish” button to activate your flow.
Example flow structure
Your flow should now have the following structure:
-
Conditional Step:
- Check if “contact.account” is empty
-
True Branch:
- Question Step: Ask for the account name
- Update Contact Step: Save the account name to a custom property
- Question Step: Ask how you may help the user today
-
False Branch:
- Go To Step: Jump to the question that asks how you may help the user today
Final Steps
-
Test the Flow:
- Send a test message to your support number to ensure the flow triggers correctly and the account name is saved
-
Monitor and Optimize:
- Monitor your chatbot's performance and make adjustments as needed to improve response times and customer satisfaction