Chatbot Marketing & Conversational Automation

Step 1 — Gather context

• a) WhatsApp Business
• b) Telegram
• c) Facebook Messenger
• d) Instagram DMs
• e) Website live chat widget
• f) Viber
• g) Multiple channels / omnichannel
• h) Not sure yet — help me choose

• a) Lead qualification — ask questions, score, route to sales
• b) FAQ / support — answer common questions automatically
• c) Product catalog / e-commerce — browse, recommend, purchase
• d) Appointment booking — schedule meetings or demos
• e) Welcome / onboarding — greet new subscribers, set expectations
• f) Re-engagement — win back inactive contacts
• g) Order tracking / transactional — status updates, notifications
• h) Full conversational sales funnel

• a) No-code visual builder only
• b) Comfortable with webhooks and basic integrations
• c) Developer — want API-level control

Step 2 — Strategy and approach

Choosing the right channel

Chatbot flow design principles

1. Start with the happy path — map the ideal conversation first, then add fallbacks
2. Keep messages short — 1-3 sentences per bubble, max 2 buttons per step on mobile
3. Use buttons over free text — structured input reduces misunderstanding and drop-off
4. Always offer a human handoff — "Talk to a person" option at every decision point
5. Set expectations early — "I'm a bot — I can help with X, Y, Z or connect you to our team"
6. Respect platform rules — WhatsApp and Messenger enforce 24-hour messaging windows; outside that, you need pre-approved templates
7. Track key metrics — bot activation rate, completion rate, handoff rate, CSAT

Lead qualification bot framework

Greeting → Qualify (role, company size, need) → Score → Route
  ├── Hot lead → Instant handoff to sales rep
  ├── Warm lead → Book a demo link + add to nurture sequence
  └── Cold/unqualified → Helpful content + newsletter opt-in

• What brings you here today? (intent)
• What's your role? (authority)
• How many people on your team? (company size / fit)
• When are you looking to get started? (timeline)
• What's your biggest challenge with X? (pain point)

FAQ bot structure

1. Menu of topics — 4-6 top categories as buttons
2. Sub-menus — 2-3 levels deep max before offering human handoff
3. Fallback — "I didn't understand that. Here are the topics I can help with: [menu]"
4. Escalation — after 2 failed attempts, auto-route to human agent

Step 3 — Platform-specific guidance

In SendPulse

1. Go to Chatbots → select your connected channel → Create Flow
2. Use the visual drag-and-drop builder to add steps:
   • Message — text, images, files, buttons
   • Condition — branch based on user input, variable values, or tags
   • Action — set variables, add/remove tags, subscribe to mailing list, create CRM deal
   • Filter — segment by contact properties
   • API Request — call external APIs mid-flow
   • AI Step — use ChatGPT/AI to generate dynamic responses
   • Delay — wait before next step
   • Random — A/B test different paths
3. Set triggers: keywords, subscription, button click, or webhook
4. Test in the preview pane before publishing

• Connect via WhatsApp Business API (requires verified Facebook Business Manager)
• 24-hour messaging window — free-form messages only within 24 hours of last user message
• Outside window: use pre-approved template messages (POST

  /messenger/whatsapp/send_template

  )
• Template categories: marketing, utility, authentication

• Add an "Open chat" action step to transfer from bot to human agent
• Agents see conversations in SendPulse's Live Chat panel
• Bot pauses during human conversation; resumes if agent closes the chat
• Set business hours — outside hours, bot collects contact info for follow-up

• Trigger chatbot flows from Automation 360 workflows (e.g., abandoned cart → WhatsApp message)
• Use chatbot events as Automation 360 triggers (e.g., bot completed → add to email sequence)

POST /messenger/telegram/send          # Send Telegram message
POST /messenger/facebook/send          # Send Facebook message
POST /messenger/whatsapp/send          # Send WhatsApp message (24hr window)
POST /messenger/whatsapp/send_template # Send WhatsApp template (outside window)
POST /messenger/instagram/send         # Send Instagram message
POST /messenger/viber/send             # Send Viber message
GET  /messenger/{platform}/contacts    # List subscribers per channel

For full SendPulse platform setup, use

/sales-sendpulse

.

In ManyChat

• Flow Builder — visual drag-and-drop with conditions, delays, smart delays, A/B splits
• Keywords — trigger flows based on specific words in user messages
• Growth Tools — QR codes, comment triggers (Instagram), m.me links, website widgets
• Instagram automation — auto-reply to story mentions, comments, and DMs; trigger flows from Reels comments
• Shopify integration — abandoned cart recovery, order confirmations, product recommendations via bot
• Live chat — pause bot, human takes over, resume bot when done
• API: REST API for sending messages, managing subscribers, and triggering flows programmatically

In Tidio

• Lyro AI — trains on your FAQ/help center content, answers questions automatically
• Visual chatbot builder — drag-and-drop flows for lead capture, FAQ, product recommendation
• Channels: website widget, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, email
• Shopify/WooCommerce plugins — product cards, order lookup in chat
• Handoff — seamless transfer from Lyro/bot to human agent with full conversation history

In Intercom

• Fin AI — resolves support questions using your help center, previous conversations, and custom data
• Custom Bots — visual builder for lead qualification, routing, meeting booking
• Channels: website messenger, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, SMS, email
• Custom Actions — call external APIs from within bot flows
• Workflows — automate routing, tagging, assignment based on bot conversation outcomes

In Drift (Salesloft)

• Playbooks — target visitors by page, company, intent; show personalized bot greetings
• Fastlane — qualify known leads instantly via form-to-chat conversion
• Meeting booking — bot checks rep calendars and books meetings inline
• Revenue orchestration — bot data flows into Salesloft cadences and CRM

In HubSpot

• Chatflows — visual builder with if/then branching
• Qualification — ask questions, create/update contacts, route to owner
• Meeting booking — connect to HubSpot meetings tool
• Knowledge base — AI answers from your help articles (Service Hub Pro+)
• Channels: website, Facebook Messenger

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Building your first bot (step-by-step)

1. Define the goal — one bot, one job (don't try to do everything in one flow)
2. Map the conversation — sketch on paper: greeting → questions → outcomes → handoff points
3. Build the happy path — create the flow for the ideal conversation first
4. Add fallbacks — what happens when the user says something unexpected?
5. Set up handoff — configure human takeover with business hours and offline message
6. Test with real users — recruit 5-10 people to test; watch for confusion points
7. Iterate — check completion rates; fix the step where most users drop off

Metrics to track

Common mistakes

• Too many questions — 3-4 qualification questions max before offering value or handoff
• No escape hatch — always let users reach a human; hiding the option kills trust
• Generic greeting — "Hi! How can I help?" loses to "Hey! Looking for [product category]? I can help you find the right fit in 30 seconds"
• Ignoring platform rules — sending promotional WhatsApp messages outside the 24-hour window gets your number banned
• Not connecting to CRM — bot conversations should create/update contacts and trigger follow-up sequences

Gotchas

• WhatsApp 24-hour window is strict — if you send a non-template message outside the window, it silently fails or gets your account flagged. Always check

  last_activity

  timestamp before sending.
• Facebook/Instagram 24-hour rule — similar to WhatsApp, Messenger has a 24-hour standard messaging window. Outside it, you need message tags (limited to specific use cases like confirmed event updates or account updates).
• Template approval takes time — WhatsApp message templates require Meta review (hours to days). Don't wait until launch day to submit templates.
• Bot-to-human handoff state — most platforms pause the bot during human chat but don't always resume correctly. Test the full cycle: bot → human → bot resumes.
• Multi-channel subscriber identity — a user on WhatsApp and Telegram is often two separate contacts in the platform. Merging/deduplication requires matching by phone or email.

Step 5 — Related skills

• /sales-sendpulse

  — SendPulse platform help (chatbots across 7 channels, visual flow builder, Automation 360)

• /sales-live-chat

  — Live chat widget setup and optimization (non-bot focused)

• /sales-sms-marketing

  — SMS campaigns and automation (non-conversational)

• /sales-cadence

  — Multi-channel outbound sequences (email, call, social — structured outreach vs. conversational)

• /sales-email-marketing

  — Opt-in email marketing (broadcasts, automations, newsletters)

• /sales-integration

  — Connect chatbot platforms to CRM, helpdesk, and other tools

• /sales-audience-growth

  — Grow your subscriber base (pop-ups, lead magnets, opt-in forms — feed contacts into bot flows)

• /sales-do

  — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:

  npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skills sales-do

Examples

Example 1: WhatsApp lead qualification bot

Example 2: Multi-channel FAQ bot

Example 3: E-commerce abandoned cart recovery via Messenger

Troubleshooting

Bot sends messages but users don't see them

Bot flow gets stuck in a loop

Human handoff doesn't work during business hours