‎Setting Up Adhoc Conversational WhatsApp Survey Distribution

Setting Up Adhoc Conversational WhatsApp Survey Distribution

Updated

3 days ago

The Conversational WhatsApp Survey feature allows you to send surveys directly within WhatsApp, where your respondents can answer questions through an interactive chat experience. Ideal for collecting real-time feedback, this method lets users respond conversationally without ever leaving the WhatsApp platform, making the survey process smooth, familiar, and engaging. You can distribute these surveys either ad hoc or by setting up automated triggers. This article guides you through the ad hoc distribution method.

Business Use Cases

A conversational WhatsApp survey distribution is simply one way of conducting WhatsApp surveys. Let us take a look at the use cases:

Gathering event feedback through a Conversational WhatsApp Survey: Organizations can collect feedback after events (such as workshops, webinars, and conferences) by using conversational surveys via WhatsApp, which allows participants to respond directly in the chat. This method offers a comfortable and easy experience that boosts engagement and improves the quality of responses. The surveys are crafted to be concise, interactive, and designed to encourage participation. This straightforward approach leverages WhatsApp’s informal, highly engaging environment, enabling quick and honest feedback while providing organizers with immediate, actionable insights to evaluate and enhance future events.
Participants can complete the survey entirely within the WhatsApp chat, without being redirected to another application or website, ensuring that the interaction is intuitive and smooth. The chat-like structure of the survey resembles a natural conversation, leading to significantly higher engagement and quicker completion rates.

A Standard WhatsApp survey distribution is one approach to conducting surveys on WhatsApp, and it shares the core value of all WhatsApp surveys, such as accessibility and wide reach. However, a conversational WhatsApp survey offers additional advantages over the standard method. It provides a seamless user experience, allowing respondents to complete the survey directly within the WhatsApp chat without needing to open an external link or switch platforms, which makes the process more intuitive and reduces friction. Additionally, it leads to higher engagement rates, as the conversational format feels more like a natural chat, increasing the likelihood of prompt and complete responses.

Prerequisites

In order to access the WhatsApp distribution, you must have access to the following View and Edit Distribution permissions at the Survey Level.

Setting Up Adhoc Conversational WhatsApp Survey Distribution

Let us have a look at detailed steps:

Go to Distribution tab and select WhatsApp distribution.
Select Conversational Survey Distribution.
Go to Details page and fill in these details:
1. Distribution Name: Add a meaningful name to the distribution.
2. Distribution Description: Add a meaningful description.
3. WhatsApp Business Account: Select the WhatsApp business account from the dropdown.(Mandatory)
  Before configuring a distribution, you must select a valid WhatsApp Business Account for which you have publishing rights. The system blocks progression if no valid WhatsApp Business Account is selected. You can see WhatsApp Business Account details such as verification status, tier, and quality rating during selection. Once at least one invite is sent, the selected WABA becomes locked and cannot be changed the click Next.
Go to Message section and fill in the details:
All WhatsApp messages used in a distribution must be created and approved in the Creative Library before they can be used. A distribution cannot be configured or sent unless all referenced message assets are in an approved state. For each message type, you can:
1. Select an existing approved template of the required type, or
2. Create a new asset by navigating to the Creative Library using the + Creative button and submitting it for approval.
  Once approved, the asset becomes available for selection in the distribution.
  1. Go to Invitation Message section and fill in the details:
    1. Creative: You can choose an approved template from the Creative dropdown. Else you can click on + Creative and create one.
      The Invitation Message is the primary message sent to recipients. It is the first WhatsApp message delivered as part of the distribution. Should the respondent interact with it, the Language Selection Message is sent next (if relevant), or the first question is sent.
      Note: The creative and its distribution must use the same WhatsApp Business Account.
    2. Go to Reminder Message (optional) section and fill in the details, Reminder messages are sent to recipients who have not yet submitted the survey. Each reminder contains the same survey link as the invite, allowing recipients to start or continue the survey from where they left off and you can toggle to fill in the details:
      1. Creative: You can choose an approved template from the dropdown.
        Note: The creative and its distribution must use the same WhatsApp Business Account.
      2. Reminder Setup: You can configure:
        The number of reminders to be sent.
        The interval between reminders (for example, every 3 days).
        For example, if you configure: Interval: 3 days, Number of reminders: 2.
        The first reminder will be sent 3 days after the initial invite, and the second reminder will be sent 3 days after the first reminder.
        Note: The creative and its distribution must use the same WhatsApp Business Account.
      3. Language Selection Message: This is the message which allows the user to choose which language they want to continue their journey on. You could choose to skip this message, if you already know the user’s language within rule engine and then click Next.

Go to Translation section and navigate to the Translation Conditions section and establish guidelines for sending messages in the correct language according to the recipient's characteristics. If no suitable condition exists, the message will be dispatched in the survey's default language. Ensure that translations are set up prior to sending the message.

Navigate to the Language section and choose the language that has been selected and published for that survey from the drop-down menu. You can click + Translation to add new languages aswell and click Add and define the condition and click Next.

Setup Transalations: Once you have established your message assets, you can choose to set up translations for your WhatsApp distribution. The delivery of this message is regulated as follows:
1. Auto-skip for single-language surveys: When your survey is set up with just one language, the Language Selection Message is automatically bypassed, eliminating the need to set up a language selection asset or display a dropdown with only one choice.
2. Auto-skip through translation conditions: A new toggle has been introduced in the Translation Conditions configuration screen (which is disabled by default). When activated, if a translation condition corresponds to a recipient, the survey will commence immediately in the determined language, bypassing the language selection step. This feature is beneficial when you can already deduce the language from profile, case, or transaction fields and prefer not to prompt the user to make a selection again.
Add languages to your distribution: If your survey already has multiple languages configured, those languages will automatically appear in this step. To add more languages:
1. Click the Language dropdown.
2. Select one or more additional languages you want to support.
3. Once added, each language becomes available for configuration within the distribution.
Define translation conditions
1. Translation conditions determine which language is used for each recipient.
2. For each language:
  1. Select the controlling field (Profile, Case or Transaction CF).
  2. Enter the value that maps to the selected language.
3. When a recipient matches a condition, the message is sent in that language.
4. If no translation condition matches, the WhatsApp invite is sent in the base language.
Assign message assets for each language: For every language you configure, you must select corresponding message assets.
1. Click Configure Translations.
2. Use the language switcher to change the language.
3. On the right-hand panel, select the approved creative for that language.
4. A preview of the WhatsApp message appears once a creative is selected.
5. You must also have approved assets in the translated language (for example, Spanish), connected to the same WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) as the base language assets and distribution.
  1. If no approved asset exists:
    1. Click the + Creative button to create a new asset directly from this screen.
    2. Submit the asset for approval before using it in the distribution.
6. Once translations are configured, click Next to proceed to scheduling.

How Translated Assets Are Applied

Translated message assets are optional and can be configured on a best-effort basis. Since WhatsApp template approvals, Meta review timelines, and associated costs may vary, you are not required to create translated assets for every message type. Survey distribution will continue even if some translated assets are unavailable.

Important considerations:

Base language assets are mandatory for all enabled message types.
If a translated asset is not available, the system automatically falls back to the base language asset for that message.

This approach ensures that distributions are not delayed while allowing every recipient to receive a valid WhatsApp message.

Example

Base language: English
Additional language: Spanish

Configured assets:

Invitation: English and Spanish
Reminder: English only
Thank You: English only

Result:

Spanish-speaking recipients receive the Invitation in Spanish.
Since translated versions are not configured for Reminder and Thank You messages, those messages are delivered in English using the base language asset.

Overall translation behavior

Utilize this section to grasp how the language selection for WhatsApp surveys operates during runtime, including instances when the Language Selection Message (LSM) is displayed or omitted.

Scenario	Behavior
Single language survey	LSM is skipped automatically. No language selection asset is required.
Multiple languages, toggle OFF (default)	LSM is always shown, even if a translation condition matches.
Multiple languages, toggle ON, condition matches	LSM is skipped and the survey starts directly in the resolved language.
Multiple languages, toggle ON, no condition matches	The survey falls back to the base language and LSM is shown.

Skip language selection when translation condition is satisfied

A toggle is available in the Translation Conditions configuration screen to skip the Language Selection Message when the recipient’s language can already be resolved through translation conditions.

Default state: OFF. The language selection step is shown as usual.
When enabled: If a translation condition matches, the survey starts directly in the resolved language.
Fallback behavior: If no translation condition matches, the survey uses the base language and shows the language selection step.

Dynamic sync of language selection options

The options for selecting a language are now aligned with the translations of the survey. When languages are either added to or removed from the survey, the language selection options are updated automatically.

Asset type	Dynamic sync behavior
Interactive List	Supported for up to 10 languages. If the survey has more than 10 languages, use a text-based asset instead.
Text / Reply by Number	Supported for any number of configured languages.
Modern / dropdown	Supported for any number of configured languages.

Language selection asset limits

The Interactive List assets can support a maximum of 10 languages. If the number of configured survey translations goes beyond this limit, the user interface prompts you to change to a compatible asset type, like Reply by Number or another text-based language selection asset.

Reclassification Handling: You can enable auto-pause for a WhatsApp distribution to prevent distributions from being sent if Meta reclassifies a template after it has already been approved.
1. If Meta reclassifies any template used in the distribution:
  1. All new invites are automatically paused.
  2. Messages that were already sent are not affected.
  3. To resume sending:
    1. Edit the paused distribution.
2. Replace the affected template with another approved template of the same type, or turn the toggle off
3. Save and resume the distribution.
Note on cost control and scheduling
Auto-pause can additionally serve as a cost-safety measure.
In certain situations, Meta may reclassify a template from a lower-cost category (like Utility) to a higher-cost category (such as Marketing) after the distribution has been established. To prevent sending messages under a more costly category, activating auto-pause guarantees that the distribution will automatically halt if this reclassification takes place.
This can relevant for scheduled ad-hoc distributions:
- Between the time a distribution is created and the time it is scheduled to run, Meta reclassification can occur.
- Auto-pause acts as a fallback to prevent unexpected costs or policy violations at send time.
For Send Now distributions, this functionality typically has a lesser effect because messages are dispatched instantly and do not extend over time. Conversely, for distributions planned days ahead or extended over a longer period, the auto-pause feature offers an extra level of security.
Go to Scheduling page.
1. Go to Schedule Distribution page and fill in the details:
  1. Type: You can select the type of distribution from the drop-down.
    1. Schedule: This option allows users to schedule the distribution for a specific date and time. For example, you may want to send an event feedback survey two days after the event ends. Simply enter the desired date and time, choose the sender account, and select the recipients.
    2. Send Now: This option allows you to send the distribution immediately after the configuration is completed and saved.
      Enter the sender account and choose your recipients, these can be individual profiles, profile lists, profile segments, or profile samples.
      For guidance on selecting recipients based on your needs, refer to the linked articles for more detailed information.
      The system automatically detects and skips duplicate profiles from the selected sources by default.
    3. Trigger Based: You can automatically distribute your survey based on workflow events or conditions.
      Note: When importing profiles for WhatsApp recipients into the audience profile, always specify the channel name as 'WHATSAPP_BUSINESS,' regardless of whether the recipient uses WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. This consistent channel naming across platforms is essential for proper WhatsApp profile imports. Using 'WhatsApp' instead of 'WHATSAPP_BUSINESS' can cause issues with WhatsApp distribution functionality. Instructions for importing will be added to the roadmap.
      Note: You can save your progress at any time by using the “Save as Draft” option. Schedule the distribution using one of the available scheduling options. Monitor responses and manage follow-ups through the WhatsApp Distribution Report.
  2. You can slide the toggle that states "Stop sending surveys if Meta changes template category" to avoid sending surveys when the template is changed.
2. Go to Recepients and fill in the details:
  1. Select the Recepient Type from the drop-down. You can select the recepient type from the drop-down.
    1. Profile Based: You can focus on identified users by utilizing profile lists, segments, or samples.
      1. Select the Profile Type, either profile, profile list or profile samples and select the value.
      2. In addition to selecting profiles from the dropdown, users can use the Advanced Profile Search option to open the audience manager overlay page where users can apply additional filters (e.g., custom fields, profile attributes) to narrow down the search results.
      3. The system aggregates all selected profiles and removes duplicates automatically.
    2. Transaction Based: Surveys can be distributed according to transaction records associated with the user profile.
      1. Transaction Group: Choose the Transaction Group that has been shared with the survey, and optionally apply filters to refine which transactions should receive the survey.
      2. Narrow down the scope of transactions using filters such as:
        Transaction Created Time: Define the time window from which qualifying transactions should be picked.
        Transaction Custom Fields: For example:
        Transaction group: Support Cases
        Send only when Region = India and Support Channel = WhatsApp
        Additional field-based conditions to refine the eligible transactions.
    3. Understanding the Recipient Summary: The panel on the right shows the total number of unique recipients
      1. Suppressed recipients who have opted out.
      2. Any duplicates identified.
3. Go to Survey Link Duration and fill in the details:
  1. Start Date and Time: You have the option to choose the start date and time for the duration of the survey link. If you do not specify a time, the survey will begin collecting responses as soon as the distribution is set up.
  2. End Date and Time: You can select the end date and time.
4. Navigate to the Distribution Setting section and toggle on AI Powered Conversations to enhance WhatsApp surveys with AI-driven interactions.
  1. Enable AI toggle to allow AI to reframe survey questions with a human and conversational tone.
  2. If this is enabled, the experience becomes similar to that listed in conversational surveys - i.e. the questions are dynamically modified based on the response to the previous question.
  3. For open-text responses, AI will trigger follow-up questions based on predefined objectives configured in the survey builder.
    Note: In the disabled state, survey questions will appear the same as defined in the survey builder.
5. Go to Distribution Tagging section and configure custom tags for reporting related to this distribution, Each custom field here will create a new column in the Responses Tab and click Save.
  You can also save your progress at any time by using the “Save as Draft” option.
  Note: The system will automatically check for duplicate profiles from the chosen sources and will skip them by default.
  When importing profiles for WhatsApp recipients in the audience profile ensure that the channel name is mentioned as “WHATSAPP_BUSINESS” irrespective of whether the recipient profile is WhatsApp or WhatsApp business. The channel name is kept consistent across platforms for importing WhatsApp profiles and if WhatsApp is added as a channel then problems might start occurring with the functioning of WhatsApp distribution. Importing instructions to be added as part of the roadmap.
  How to use it?
  - Schedule the distribution using one of the above scheduling options.
  - Monitor distribution metrics from the distribution Record Manager as the respondents start filling the survey and view distribution report.
    Note: Currently, WhatsApp distributions do not have a built-in "test" feature. Since conversational surveys depend on real-time interactions, it is crucial to test them directly within WhatsApp to assess the survey flow, AI-generated responses, and the overall user experience. To achieve this, create a test distribution aimed at a specific test account. This will help you identify and resolve any issues. Once you are content with the configuration, you can duplicate and modify the distribution as necessary before sharing it with your actual audience.
  Key Points to Note
  - When scheduling a WhatsApp distribution, ensure compliance with Meta's messaging limitations to avoid spamming users. The first message in a conversation must always be an HSM (Highly Structured Message). After that, standard template messages can be sent. However, if the respondent has not engaged within the past 24 hours, no further messages can be sent after two messages have already been sent. Consider this limitation when scheduling multiple distributions from the same WhatsApp sender account to the same profile, as exceeding these restrictions could result in distribution failure.
  - Only one active conversational survey is allowed per WhatsApp profile at a time. If a new distribution is created while another conversational survey is still active for the same profile, it will result in a distribution failure for that profile. This restriction is in place to ensure proper mapping of survey responses to the corresponding survey questions. Allowing multiple active conversational surveys for the same profile could lead to response mismatches or mixing of responses from different surveys, compromising data accuracy
  Best Practices
  - Clear and Concise Questions: Keep questions simple and focused.
  - Optimal Survey Length: Avoid overwhelming respondents with lengthy surveys.
  - Effective Use of AI: Utilize AI to enhance the conversational experience.
  - Adherence to WhatsApp's Terms of Service: Avoid spamming and respect user privacy.
  - Careful Scheduling: Avoid scheduling multiple active surveys for the same recipient.