Qualify Facebook Leads on WhatsApp: Buttons, Tags, Round-Robin

What this workflow does

• Runs for every new lead of a chosen Facebook or Instagram lead form, the moment WaBot imports it.
• Sends an approved template with three quick-reply buttons: Call me today, Send details, Not now.
• Tags the contact with its form (form:harbour-view) and assigns the chat round-robin, so every lead has an owner from the first second.
• Call me today: tags hot, marks the contact as a lead, replies, and creates a call task due in 30 minutes for the owner.
• Send details: tags warm and sends the brochure. Not now: tags not now and sends a polite close; nothing else goes out.

Why it works

Speed and sorting are the whole game with lead ads. The template reaches the lead within a minute of the form, while they still remember what they clicked. Three buttons are easier than a question: the lead doesn’t have to type, and your team doesn’t have to interpret “ok send”.

The buttons do the qualifying for you. A Call me today tap is intent you’d otherwise discover after three calls, and it becomes a tag, a lead mark and a task with a deadline in one go. Round-robin from the start means the owner already sees the chat when the tap arrives, and tagging by form tells you later which ad brings the hot leads.

Build it in WaBot, step by step

Workflows are on the Base Plan (₹9,240/year + GST); Starter (₹840/month + GST) has the inbox and campaigns but not workflows, and connecting your number on the Free plan starts a 15-day Base Plan trial. You need Meta Ads connected and the form imported as in the setup post, an approved template with three Quick Reply buttons (Settings → Templates: under Quick Reply click Add Button three times; titles up to 25 characters; a Name variable is filled from the lead’s name), and sales logins (Settings → Users) with app notifications on; assignments arrive as a push, not an email.

Workflow A: the first message, tag and owner

1. Open Automation → Workflows and click Add workflow. Name it Lead ads: Harbour View. Under How should it run? choose Manual, and under Build with pick the Form editor.
2. Click Choose a trigger → Started manually; the lead form will start it for each new lead.
3. Click Choose an action → Send a template, pick your three-button template, and under Variables set Name to Customer Name. Leave Wait before sending at 0.
4. Action: Add to groups or tags → under Select Tags add form:harbour-view.
5. Action: Assign to team member, How to choose: Round-robin, and pick your salespeople under Teammates.
6. Click Save, make sure the step shows Step on, and click Turn on workflow.

Connect the form to Workflow A

1. Open Settings → Meta Ads → Lead forms. On the form’s card make sure Auto-import is on (no import, no follow-up), then click Follow-up.
2. Choose Run workflow, pick your WhatsApp channel, and pick Lead ads: Harbour View under Workflow (only manually started workflows are listed).
3. Click Save. Only leads that arrive after you turn this on get the follow-up.

Three lead forms? Make three copies of Workflow A with three tags (form:harbour-view, form:lakeside, form:villas) and connect each form to its copy. Workflow B below serves all of them.

Workflow B: what each button does

1. Click Add workflow again. Name it Lead ads: button replies, How should it run? Automatic, Start from Blank, Form editor.
2. Step 1, trigger: Customer sends a message. When a customer sends a WhatsApp Interactive quick reply buttons message where the title is exactly Call me today.
3. Actions, in this order: Add to groups or tags → tag hot; Mark as lead; Send a message, Text only (“Great! Your advisor will call you within 30 minutes”); Create follow-up: Call {{name}} today, Harbour View ad, Due in 30 minutes, For: The chat’s assignee, the owner Workflow A picked.
4. Click Add step. Same trigger, title Send details. Actions: tag warm, then Send a message, Media based, with your brochure PDF and a caption. The tap opened the 24-hour window, so a normal message is fine.
5. Click Add step. Same trigger, title Not now. Actions: tag not now, then Send a message, Text only: “No problem, we won’t message again. Reply any time if that changes.”
6. Click Save, switch each step to Step on, clear the Set up panel and click Turn on workflow.

Test it

On Workflow A, click Send a test: the template goes to your own WhatsApp at once. Tap each button and watch Workflow B tag the chat; each step’s Runs list shows who it ran for and why anything failed. Then submit your own lead form from Facebook’s form preview and check it under Settings → Meta Ads → Leads, where the follow-up shows Sent, Pending or Failed (workflows guide).

Messages you can copy

First message (approved template, Quick Reply buttons Call me today / Send details / Not now; marketing category):

Hi {{1}}, thanks for your interest in Harbour View 2 & 3 BHK homes near the metro 🏡 Prices start at ₹68 L with possession in 2027. How can we help you next?

Hot reply (Workflow B, normal message):

Great! Your advisor will call you within 30 minutes from this number. Save it so you don't miss the call 📞

Variations and tips

Related reading: WhatsApp for real estate, following up when a lead goes quiet and the Click-to-WhatsApp ads guide for ads where the lead messages you first.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the first message have to be a template?

A lead from a Facebook or Instagram form has never messaged you on WhatsApp, so there is no 24-hour window and only approved templates are delivered. The tap on a button opens the window; replies after it can be normal messages.

Can the workflow use the lead’s form answers, like budget or project?

No. A manually started run gets the contact’s name, phone and email only. The form’s “Send WhatsApp template” mode can map answers into the template but can’t tag or assign; a form uses one mode or the other.

Why no delays in the first workflow?

In manually started runs, template delays are applied twice and message delays are ignored, so keep Wait before sending at 0 there and put timing into the automatic workflow.