WhatsApp RSVP bots: how they work and what to check

A bot sends each guest their own invitation by name, lets them answer with a tap, and asks the guests who say yes your follow-up questions. It writes every answer into one list, reminds only the guests who haven’t answered, and tells you which messages failed.

Official bots send through WhatsApp’s Business Platform, either with Meta’s own API or through a provider such as Twilio (WhatsApp Business). Meta sets the rules they follow on wording, consent and cost.

Unofficial bots drive an ordinary WhatsApp account with WhatsApp Web scripts or a modified app. WhatsApp’s terms rule out “bulk messaging, auto-messaging, auto-dialing, and the like” (WhatsApp), and WhatsApp can suspend accounts that break its messaging guidelines (WhatsApp). If the bot sends from your number, you risk losing it.

The free WhatsApp Business app adds greeting messages, quick replies and customer lists (WhatsApp Business). You still count the answers yourself.

• ·Meta approves the first message.More than 24 hours after a guest’s last message, a business can send only templates Meta approved (Meta). Your own words go in the messages after the guest replies.
• ·US guests don’t get invitations.Meta treats an event invitation as marketing; it is Meta’s own example (Meta). WhatsApp doesn’t deliver marketing messages to US numbers (Meta).
• ·A few guests may not get it. WhatsApp caps how many marketing messages one person receives from all businesses, based on how many they read (Meta). Your tool should show you who they are.
• ·Guests must expect to hear from you.WhatsApp’s business policy lets you message only people who gave you their number and agreed to hear from you, and you must honour opt-outs (WhatsApp Business).
• ·Every invitation costs money. Meta charges for each one delivered, by message type and country (Meta).

• ·Whose number sends the messages?
• ·Does it send through Meta’s API or a provider such as Twilio?
• ·Does each guest get their own message, with buttons to tap?
• ·Where do the answers go, and can you export them?
• ·Does it remind only the guests who haven’t answered, and how often?
• ·Does it show which messages failed?
• ·What does it say about US numbers?
• ·How does it charge, and can you try it free on a small event?

You need a Meta business portfolio (Meta), a phone number that isn’t already on WhatsApp (Meta), approved templates, which can take Meta up to 24 hours to review (Meta), and code that matches replies to guests and sends reminders.

A new account can message 250 people a day, and business verification raises the limit (Meta). Twilio says verification can take several weeks (Twilio). Unless you run events every week and have a developer, a ready-made tool costs less.

For a small group that already shares a chat, post a WhatsApp Event; see how to get a headcount in a WhatsApp group. For an open sign-up, use a form; see Google Forms vs WhatsApp for collecting RSVPs. If most of your guests have US numbers, no official WhatsApp tool can invite them; see the Evite alternatives compared.

1. Step 01

   Avently sends from its own number

   Avently sends through WhatsApp’s Business Platform, via Twilio, from its own WhatsApp Business number. Your number sends nothing.

2. Step 02

   Each guest answers in their own chat

   Every guest gets a message with their name, the event name and date, and buttons for yes, no and opt out. The guests who say yes answer your follow-up questions and get the event page link.

3. Step 03

   The answers land in your guest list

   Avently writes each answer to a guest list in your Google Drive and shows failed messages on the dashboard. You remind the guests who haven’t answered, up to twice each.

The first 25 invitations each month are free. The rates after that are on the pricing page.