Build Your First WhatsApp Chatbot in 15 Minutes

A step-by-step walkthrough for building a keyword-triggered WhatsApp chatbot that handles FAQs, qualifies leads, and escalates to human agents — no coding required.

What Can a WhatsApp Chatbot Do?

A MotherBot chatbot listens for incoming messages, matches them against keyword rules, and sends back automated replies — including text, images, interactive menus, and buttons. Common use cases:

• FAQ automation — answer the top 10 questions without any human involvement
• Lead qualification — collect name, email, budget before routing to sales
• Order status — trigger a lookup and reply with shipping info
• Appointment booking — guide the user through a booking flow

Chatbots run 24/7 and respond in under a second.

Anatomy of a MotherBot Chatbot

Every chatbot consists of:

• Trigger rules — keywords or patterns that activate the bot
• Response nodes — what the bot says in reply
• Action nodes — update a contact field, assign to an agent, add a tag
• Handoff rules — when to transfer to a human

Step 1: Create a New Chatbot

1. Navigate to Chatbots in your dashboard.
2. Click New Chatbot.
3. Give it a name and optional description.
4. Toggle it Active when you're ready to go live.

Step 2: Add Your First Trigger

Click Add Trigger. You can choose:

• Keyword match — fires when a message contains "price", "order", "help", etc.
• Exact match — fires only when the message is exactly "STOP" or "START"
• First message — fires on every new contact's first inbound message
• Fallback — fires when no other trigger matches (great for "I didn't understand that" replies)

Example: FAQ trigger for pricing

• Trigger type: Keyword match
• Keywords: price, pricing, cost, how much, fee
• Match mode: Any keyword

Step 3: Build the Response

In the response editor, add a Text Message node:

Our plans start at ₹999/month for up to 1,000 contacts.

You can view full pricing at: https://motherbot.io/pricing

Would you like to speak with someone? Reply YES and we'll connect you.

Then add a Condition node: if the next message contains "YES", add a tag sales-lead and assign to the Sales agent group.

Step 4: Add a Fallback

Always add a fallback trigger so no message goes unanswered:

"Sorry, I didn't quite get that 😊 Type MENU to see what I can help with, or type AGENT to speak with a human."

Step 5: Test Before Going Live

MotherBot's Test Mode lets you send messages to the chatbot from your own WhatsApp number without it being live for all contacts. Walk through every scenario before activating.

Advanced: Using Interactive Buttons

Instead of asking users to type keywords, use WhatsApp interactive buttons for a cleaner UX:

1. Add an Interactive Message node.
2. Set the body text: "How can I help you today?"
3. Add buttons: Pricing, Track Order, Talk to Agent.
4. Add conditions for each button reply ID.

Interactive buttons work best for structured flows where there are 2–3 clear paths.

Chatbot Analytics

From the Chatbots page, click into any chatbot to see:

• Total conversations handled
• Handoff rate (% transferred to human)
• Most triggered keywords
• Average conversation length

If your handoff rate is above 40%, your FAQ coverage is too narrow — expand your keyword list.