Category: Basics

Viber may not be the most popular messenger in Russia, but it would also be unwise to forget about its users. In this article, we will look at how to create a bot in Viber and how to set up its behavior logic.

Step 0: Come up with the bot’s logic

(sorry for the joke with step 0, but this is really something you need to think about BEFORE you even start doing anything)

To begin with, draw out—on paper or in any tool convenient for you—how and what the bot should do in response to various user actions.

Try to think in terms of “what does the user do” — “what does the bot show in response” — what text, images, videos, buttons?

Buttons, in particular, are very helpful for managing user behavior and offering them a choice of possible actions. Ranging from “rate how much you liked it…” (if it’s a feedback bot) to “what are you interested in: repairs, balcony glazing, etc.”

Another important point is to think through how people will actually get to the bot? Where will you show the link to it, or a QR code for accessing it (for example, at your reception desk)?

If people aren’t coming to the bot, if it’s unclear how to access it at all, then there’s no point in doing anything else)

Step 1: Creating a bot in Viber

• Go to the Viber website: Visit the official Viber partners website.
• Account Registration: If you don’t have a Viber account yet, you’ll need to go through the standard registration process by entering your contact details, such as your email address and phone number.
• Creating the bot: Click Create Bot Account, and you can start creating your bot.
• Bot setup: You will be prompted to come up with a bot name, upload its avatar, write a description, and choose a category (this doesn’t affect anything). Note — WE DID NOT FIND a way to change the bot’s avatar after you upload it. So be very careful about which avatar you upload, otherwise you’ll have to create the bot again.
• Getting the Token: After successfully creating the bot, you will receive the bot token. This key is secret and should be kept in a safe place (whoever knows it can control your bot).

Step 2: Setting the bot’s logic

There are two main ways to create a bot in Viber and define its logic:

• Using a bot builder or bot management platform. These tools offer ready-made solutions and templates, which simplify the process of creating a bot. For example, Chotam.ru — an excellent bot builder for Viber and other messengers, where you can set up the bot’s logic once and use it in different messengers you need for communicating with clients.
• Programming the bot yourself. This method requires certain programming skills and is much more difficult compared to using a bot builder.

The bot’s logic in Viber can be set in a bot builder or bot management platform. This includes defining the rules by which the bot will interact with users. If you decide to program the bot yourself, the process of setting the logic will be much more complicated and will require deeper programming knowledge.

Step 3: Testing and launch

After you create a bot in Viber, it’s important to test it to make sure all functions work correctly. Then the bot can be launched and start serving users.

How to create a bot in Viber is a question that interests many. However, note that Viber is not the most popular platform; you might want to start with creating a bot in Telegram (which is much more popular in Russia).

Thanks to the availability of various tools, such as bot builders and bot management platforms, this process can be relatively simple. However, programming a bot yourself is a more complex option and requires certain skills. The choice of method depends on your goals and your level of programming knowledge.

Many people like the buttons in Telegram mailings they receive, and therefore ask themselves the question “how to make a button in Telegram” in their messages.

In today’s world, attracting users’ attention is one of the key factors for the success of any business.

Buttons in Telegram messages open up great opportunities for interacting with your audience. Instead of asking users to enter complex commands or follow links, you can simply offer them to press a button right in the message.

Thus, the interaction process becomes as convenient and pleasant as possible, which increases the likelihood of it being completed.

However, there is one feature — only bots can use buttons in Telegram. In a regular message from a regular user sent to another user, you cannot insert a button.

On the one hand, this is a kind of limitation — but it opens up additional opportunities for marketing and customer interaction through bots. And there are not only buttons there!

Bots can automatically answer customer questions, bots can offer a choice of further actions (again — in the form of buttons), bots can send messages at once to everyone who has subscribed to them (in fact — just started interacting with them).

How to make a button in Telegram — Step 1 — create a bot

To create a bot in Telegram that can use buttons in messages, you need to follow these steps:

• First, you need to create the bot itself. For this, Telegram has a special service bot @botfather. It will help you register a new bot and get a token for API access.
• When the bot is created, you need to connect it to a bot builder (or write code for it yourself — this is much more difficult). This will allow it to work and perform the necessary actions, including using buttons in messages.

We have a very detailed article on how to create a bot in Telegram.

Step 2 — connect the bot to a bot builder

After your bot is created, you connect it to a bot builder/platform for bots.

This is a very simple action and usually only requires copying the token from your bot, which you will get from the service bot @botfather (see previous step).

There are a huge number of bot builders, and even trying them all would take several days — we recommend using Chotam.ru — a simple, reliable builder with an intuitive graphical interface at the “draw an arrow” level.

Step 3 — set up logic and buttons

After you have connected your bot to the bot builder, you start setting up the bot’s logic there and at what point the bot offers the user a choice in the form of buttons.

This is quite difficult to describe at once for all builders — because they all have different interfaces, but usually everything starts with some initial condition block, where the “start” is set — what the bot should start responding to. For example, pressing the “Start” button or the /start command — it’s the same thing.

After that, you usually enter the message text that the bot replies with, and there you also choose whether there will be buttons in this message, and if so, which ones.

And you also set up further messages in response to button presses.

We understand that this sounds very “vague”, but indeed, the interface is different in every builder. One way or another, hundreds of bots appear every day, which means people somehow cope with this task)

In the same way, any bot builder has the ability to send mailings to subscribers. And in it you set — what text, images, and buttons will be there. At the same time, you also need to define what will be shown to the user in response to pressing these buttons.

Don’t be intimidated by these words — usually this is done in just a few clicks, depending, of course, on the user-friendliness of the builder’s interface.

How to make a button in Telegram — but why?

Buttons make interaction with bots simple and convenient, which helps increase user activity.

You’ve probably come across such feedback collection (no matter which messenger) many times — like “You were at our bar/fitness center/cinema today, etc. — please send a number from 1 to 5 to rate how much you liked it.”

It is very inconvenient for a person to enter numbers —

• you need to switch the keyboard to number mode,
• you need to press the desired number (a very small button) and not miss,
• you need to press the Enter key.

Therefore, the level of interaction with such surveys is much lower than when real buttons are used.

Well-visible, large buttons on the screen require only one thing — to press the desired one — this is ONE action.

With buttons, you can create interactive polls, simplify navigation through the bot, enable quick booking or ordering of goods and services. All this makes buttons in Telegram a powerful tool for increasing conversion and improving the effectiveness of customer interaction.

Therefore, how to make a button in Telegram is not only a technical question. It’s a question of how to make interaction with your audience simpler and more convenient, which directly affects the effectiveness of your business. Creating a bot and using buttons in Telegram is an excellent way to achieve these goals, and the Chotam bot builder will do a great job with this task.

In this article, we will look at how to send a broadcast in WhatsApp. Today, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messengers in the world. Thanks to its simple and convenient interface, millions of people around the world use WhatsApp for personal and business communication. However, one of the most useful features WhatsApp can offer is the broadcast function.

The easiest way is to use the official broadcast connection and connect the WhatsApp broadcast service Chotam.ru

In general, there are 4 fundamentally different ways to send a broadcast:

• Via WhatsApp Business API (legal method)
  • pros: personalization is possible (each user can be addressed by their name or, for example, the name of the service they used), you can connect a chatbot and automate communication, low risk of ban, you can send thousands of messages within minutes
  • cons: price — about 7 RUB per outgoing message + the cost of the broadcast/chatbot platform — from 500 RUB per month.

• pros — free,
• cons: relatively much manual work, no personalization, those who have not added you will not receive it, no buttons, cannot connect a chatbot

• pros: free
• cons: relatively much manual work, no personalization, cannot connect a chatbot

• pros: relatively inexpensive (depends on the platform), you can connect a chatbot, personalization is possible.
• cons: high risk of ban, you will not be able to send thousands of messages in a reasonable foreseeable period.

Let’s look at them one by one.

How to send a broadcast in WhatsApp LEGALLY — via Business API

WhatsApp Business API is a tool developed for businesses that want to interact with customers via WhatsApp on a “corporate” level.

One of its advantages is the official ability to send broadcasts. Including — with the insertion of buttons, names, or other variables into the broadcast text.

This is the BEST and recommended way to send a broadcast in WhatsApp.

Below are the steps for this process.

Step 1: Get access to WhatsApp Business API

To use WhatsApp Business API, you need to connect your number. This is usually done through the website of a WhatsApp connection partner.

You need to have a Facebook account and a “business” created in Facebook to connect this.

Please note that the approval process may take some time, and WhatsApp usually provides access only to companies that meet certain criteria.

Step 2: Set up your Business API profile

After you are granted access, you need to set up your profile in WhatsApp Business API. Here you can add information about your company, such as name, description, contact details, and logo.

Step 3: Integrate with a broadcast platform/chatbot builder

WhatsApp Business API does not have an interface for creating and sending broadcasts, as in regular WhatsApp. Instead, you need to integrate the API with your customer relationship management (CRM) system or connect a BROADCAST PLATFORM, such as Chotam.ru

This may sound “scary”) but in fact, it is no more difficult than a few clicks and copying/pasting a line with a token. In reality, it takes a couple of minutes, we have a video about this.

You can also develop your own system that will send requests to the API to send messages, but this is extremely expensive.

Detailed documentation on WhatsApp Business API, including information on how to send messages, is available on the official WhatsApp website.

Another important advantage of connecting a broadcast platform or chatbot builder is that you can also use other messengers, for example, Telegram, and also set up automation and a chatbot there, usually — for the same money.

Step 4 (optional): Business verification

If you plan to send more than 250 messages per day, you need to go through so-called “business verification” in Facebook.

To do this, you need to upload two documents:

• Name confirmation — usually OGRN is suitable for this
• Address and phone confirmation — for this, an invoice issued to YOUR organization, where your phone and address are indicated, is usually suitable. They must be indicated exactly as in your Facebook account. We at Chotam provide you with full support in this matter, including helping you upload documents together via Zoom.

Step 5: Create a broadcast template

In WhatsApp, you are only allowed to send approved and moderated messages. Usually, creating such a template is not difficult and is done using the connected platform.

You can also create a template simply in the Facebook business account.

Step 6: Send the broadcast

Upload your recipient list to your platform/sender and send the broadcast.

The process differs from system to system, but in general is not difficult and is described in the system instructions.

We also RECORDED A VIDEO where you can see how simple and easy it is to create broadcasts in WhatsApp via Chotam.

Important notes:

• WhatsApp Business API is mainly intended for “notifications” or “alerts”. All broadcasts must comply with WhatsApp’s policy on active communication. For example, all sent messages must be user-initiated (i.e., the user must first write to you or explicitly subscribe to receive messages).
• WhatsApp may impose limits on the number of messages you can send via the API to prevent spam.
• Do not forget to comply with data protection and privacy laws when using WhatsApp Business API.

How to send a broadcast in WhatsApp via the WhatsApp Business app

You can send a broadcast the traditional way — via the app on your phone.

Step 1: Create a contact list

The first step is to create a list of contacts to whom you want to send the broadcast. You can add contacts manually or import them from your phone’s address book.

Step 2: Create a broadcast

Once you have a contact list, you can start creating a broadcast. Here’s how to do it:

• Open WhatsApp Business and go to the “More” or “…” menu in the top right corner of the screen.
• Select “New broadcast”.
• You will see a list of all your contacts. Select the contacts you want to send the broadcast to, then tap “Done”.

Step 3: Write and send your message

Now that you have a broadcast, you can write and send your message. Enter your message in the input field as usual, then tap “Send”. Your message will be sent to all contacts in your broadcast.

Important notes

• Remember that a broadcast in WhatsApp sends individual messages, not a group message. This means that replies to your broadcast will come to you as separate messages, not in one group chat.
• Note that WhatsApp does not allow you to send broadcasts to those who have not added you to their contacts. This is done to protect users from spam.
• Be careful with the number of messages you send, as too much activity may result in temporary or permanent blocking of your account.

In conclusion, broadcasting in WhatsApp is a powerful tool for reaching a large number of people. However, like any other tool, it should be used responsibly and with respect for WhatsApp’s rules and regulations.

How to send a broadcast in WhatsApp by creating groups

Step 1: Create a group.

To start, you will need one group; gradually, you will add more as they fill up.

Step 2: Add subscribers to your group.

You can add up to 256 subscribers to one group.

Step 3: When you need to send something to everyone — a “kind of” broadcast — just make a post in the group.

Step 4: If necessary, create another group, and so on, as they fill up.

How to send a broadcast in WhatsApp via “grey” connection

“Grey” connection is when you connect your WhatsApp to a broadcast platform that “pretends” you are sending the broadcast from your phone “manually”.

This method violates WhatsApp’s terms of use, and if you send a significant number of messages you need to be extremely careful — set up various message randomizations and choose the duration of pauses between them.

We DO NOT RECOMMEND this method and mention it only for informational purposes.

Step 1: Connect your phone to the “grey” broadcast platform. Usually, this is done by “pointing your phone at the QR code on the screen”

Step 2: Depending on the sender’s capabilities — set up the message text and the bot’s reactions to user actions

Step 3: Upload the database with phone numbers, and possibly names.

Step 4: Start the broadcast — remember the need for message randomization and long pauses.

WhatsApp Business API offers greater flexibility and power for companies that want to use WhatsApp to interact with customers. However, this tool requires a more technical approach and compliance with strict WhatsApp policies.