Chatbot flows

A chatbot flow is a conversation you build once and WhatsApp Marketing runs for you. You drag blocks onto a canvas: messages, buttons, questions, products. When a customer sends one of the flow's keywords, it starts.

Flows are best at the journeys customers repeat every day: browse products, check an order, leave their details, ask for a person.

Build a flow

Go to Flow Builder and click Create Flow.

In the Flow start block, add the keywords that should start the flow, such as Shop, Products or Hi.

Drag blocks from the Content Block panel onto the canvas.
Fill in each block: its text, buttons or conditions.
Link the blocks, so each button or answer leads to the next step.

Click Save Changes.
Back in Flow Builder, turn the flow on.

From then on, any customer who sends one of its keywords gets the flow.

The blocks

Messages

Block	Sends
Text Replies	A plain text message
Quick Replies	A message with up to three buttons to tap
Image	An image, with an optional button
List	A list of options to choose from
Template Message	An approved template, with quick reply buttons

Products

These show products from your catalog. See Catalog.

Block	Sends
Section List	Products grouped into categories
Single Product	One product, with its image and a checkout link
Multi-Product	Several products in one message, with images and checkout links

Collecting information

Block	Does
Ask a Question	Asks the customer something and saves the answer as an attribute
Set Attributes & Tag	Saves a value or tag on the contact, for example from a button they tapped
Attribute Validation	Checks an answer is in the right format, such as an email address, before saving it

Anything a flow saves shows up on the contact, so you can filter and broadcast on it later. See Tags and attributes.

Choosing a path

Block	Sends the customer down a path based on
If/Else Conditioning	Their answer or an attribute, such as their city
Time-based Conditioning	The time of day, such as inside or outside business hours
Date-based Conditioning	The date

Handing over to your team

Block	Does
Request Intervention	Moves the chat to Requesting Chats in Live Chat, for a person to pick up

Link it to a button such as Talk to a person. Customers who tap it move to the Requesting tab in Live Chat. See Live Chat.

Keywords

The keywords in Flow start decide when the flow runs. A customer who sends one gets the flow.

A keyword can also be a regex, a pattern that matches any message containing certain words. With a regex, a flow keyed on "plant gifts" can start when a customer writes "I want to buy plant gifts".

Pick keywords customers actually send. Hi catches the most common first message. Shop, Order or Track suit flows with one job. Tell customers the keyword, for example in a broadcast: "Reply SHOP to see this week's new arrivals."

When the flow cannot answer

A flow only understands what you built into it. If a customer writes something that matches no path, they get no reply, unless you set a fallback.

Set one under Fallback & Intents. A good fallback says the bot did not understand, and offers the main menu or a person.

Start a flow from a template

A flow can also be connected to a template. In Flow start, click Choose Template and pick an approved template with quick reply buttons.

You can connect up to three templates to a single flow.

Build flows that work

Give every screen a way out. Add a Talk to a person button to your main menu, and to any step where customers tend to get stuck. A customer trapped with a bot leaves.

Keep each message short. A chat is not a web page. One question or one choice per message, with buttons, gets further than a paragraph and a list of instructions.

Ask only what you will use. Every question is a step where a customer can give up. If you are not going to filter or personalise on an answer, do not ask for it.

Use buttons over typing. Quick replies and lists are faster for the customer and give you clean answers. Free text is for things you cannot list, such as an email address, and that is where Attribute Validation earns its place.

Test it as a customer. Send the keyword from your own phone and go down every path, including the wrong answers. Most broken flows have a button that leads nowhere.