Automatic WhatsApp replies, rules and chatbots

Rules: when, only if, then

A rule has three parts. When picks what starts it. Only if narrows it down with conditions. Then lists what WatMark does. You can combine conditions in AND or OR groups, and give each rule a cooldown so it does not repeat.

The Automations screen has four tabs: Rules, Chatbots, Business hours and Activity. Activity shows what ran over the last 30 days.

Triggers

First message runs once, the first time a number writes to you. Message has keywords matches words such as price or menu, as contains, exactly, starts with, or a pattern. Any message runs for every message, usually combined with a condition such as outside business hours.

Customer returns runs when someone writes again after some days of silence. Button tapped runs when a customer taps a reply button or menu option you sent. Media received covers photos, video, voice notes, documents, locations, contact cards, stickers and cart orders. Came from an ad runs when a chat starts from a Facebook or Instagram ad. No agent reply runs when a customer is still waiting after some minutes.

Conditions and actions

Conditions can check business hours, contact tags, a custom field such as city or plan, whether the chat is assigned to an agent, whether the contact is saved or subscribed, the day of the week, the time of day, or a chatbot answer.

Actions can send a message, buttons (up to 3) or a menu (up to 10 options), send a file, or send a template message, which works even after the 24-hour window closes. They can also start a chatbot, add or remove tags, assign an agent, update a contact field, subscribe or unsubscribe a contact, notify agents, pause automations, wait, or call a webhook for your own system. Messages can use the contact's name, phone number, your business name and the customer's message.

A chatbot builder with a test chat

Chatbots are built on a visual canvas on a wide screen, and as a step list on a phone. Steps include Message, Buttons, Menu, Question, Condition, Action, Campaign, Delay, Talk to agent, Go to chatbot and End. A Question step saves the typed answer and can check it as text, number, email, phone or date.

Talk to agent assigns an agent and stops the bot, so a person takes over. A built-in test chat, drafts and publishing let you try a bot before customers see it.

Start from a recipe

Rule recipes cover a welcome message, an away message, a keyword reply, a returning customer, an agent who did not reply, an opt-out with STOP, a file received, and an ad lead. Chatbot recipes cover an FAQ menu and collecting lead details, or you can start from a blank chatbot.

Safety settings

Set opening hours, with holiday dates. Stay quiet while an agent is chatting. Cap the number of auto replies per minute to prevent reply loops. Choose keywords that let a customer leave a chatbot. Pause or resume automations for a single chat.

The Try it box lets you type a message as a customer would and see what would happen. Nothing is sent.

Works with assignment and Meta leads

Rules can hand a chat to an agent, and auto-assign can spread new chats between your team by round-robin or least-loaded. A Came from an ad trigger lets you answer people who arrive from Facebook or Instagram ads straight away.

Templates, consent and messaging charges

Template messages outside the 24-hour reply window need Meta's approval before they can be sent. Marketing, utility, authentication and service are billed differently, and Meta's charges are separate from the WatMark subscription. The pricing calculator shows the UAE rates for each category.

Automation is not a way to message people who have not agreed to hear from the business. Automated sends still follow WhatsApp's messaging rules, and the opt-out recipe lets customers reply STOP.

For reminders after a booking, WhatsApp Scheduling has its own set of rules: confirmation, a reminder 24 hours before and 2 hours before, then feedback and follow-ups after the visit.

Suggested replies stay with the employee

AI suggests replies from conversation history and can surface conversation insights. An employee reviews, edits, and then sends. AI does not send replies to customers. You can turn it on or off in Settings. Translation helps you read a message in another language while the original stays available.

The AI assistant is an add-on on Starter, Business, and Enterprise. It is separate from rules and chatbots, which reply with what you set up.