The WhatsApp Business app sends automatic greeting and away messages. Quick replies are saved responses that an agent selects and sends. For replies triggered by a signup or customer event, use a WhatsApp Business Platform workflow with permission checks, approved templates where required, and a clear route to human support.

Last reviewed: 28 September 2026

Start with the job, not the automation label. Do you need to acknowledge an after-hours enquiry, help an agent answer a repeated question, or welcome someone who signed up on your website? Those need different controls. A saved shortcut will not do the work of a customer journey.

Choose the right kind of reply

• Greeting message: an automatic welcome when an eligible customer messages your business. It does not mean every new website subscriber receives a WhatsApp message.
• Away message: an automatic response to an incoming message during the schedule you choose. Use it to explain when a person can help.
• Quick reply: reusable text an agent selects, checks and sends inside a chat. Useful for opening hours, delivery questions or return instructions.
• Platform workflow: software connected to the WhatsApp Business Platform that responds to an event or message according to configured rules. The workflow, not API access alone, decides what happens next.

A marketing operations team managing 10K+ contacts needs to separate these jobs. Contact count alone does not make an API workflow necessary. Shared reply ownership, customer events, consent controls and Email + WhatsApp follow-ups are stronger reasons to evaluate one.

Set up replies in the WhatsApp Business app

The steps below follow WhatsApp’s current Android help instructions. Start from the Tools tab; check the iOS version of the linked help page if your menus differ. Keep your business hours and support details accurate before enabling messages.

1. Set an away message

1. Open Tools → Away message.
2. Turn on Send away message and edit the text.
3. Choose Always send, a Custom schedule, or Outside of business hours. The last option requires business hours in your profile.
4. Choose recipients: everyone, people outside your address book, everyone except selected contacts, or selected contacts only.
5. Save, then test with a contact included in those settings.

WhatsApp’s away-message instructions require an active internet connection on the device. An away message responds to an incoming chat; it is not a scheduled campaign sent to your whole list.

2. Set a greeting message

1. Open Tools → Greeting message.
2. Turn on Send greeting message.
3. Edit the message and select the intended recipients.
4. Save and test with a contact eligible to receive the greeting.

According to WhatsApp’s greeting-message guidance, the app sends a greeting when a customer first messages you or messages again after 14 days of inactivity in the chat. The device needs an active internet connection. Sending repeated test messages from a recent conversation is therefore not a reliable test of the greeting.

3. Create and use a quick reply

1. Open Tools → Quick replies and tap the add button.
2. Write the message, assign a shortcut and save it.
3. Open a customer chat and type / in the message field.
4. Select the saved reply, check its wording and send it.

The official quick-reply procedure requires selecting the response and sending it. Do not describe that shortcut as a keyword-triggered bot. Check names, order references and promises before sending; saved text can be fast and still be wrong for the conversation.

Message examples you can adapt

These are illustrative messages, not pre-approved WhatsApp templates. Replace every bracketed field with accurate information. Use a response deadline your team can actually meet.

• After hours: “Thanks for contacting [Business]. Our team is offline until [day, time and timezone]. We will review your message when we reopen. For urgent help, use [staffed support route].”
• First enquiry: “Hello, and welcome to [Business]. Are you asking about an existing order or choosing a product? Tell us which, and we will connect you with the right team.”
• Agent-selected delivery reply: “I can help check that order. Please share your order reference. Do not send payment card details in this chat.”
• Busy support queue: “We have received your message. The current expected reply time is [time]. You do not need to resend it; we will reply in this chat.”

An acknowledgement is not a resolution. “Your refund is being processed” is only appropriate after someone or a connected system has checked the refund status. Otherwise, say that the team will review the request.

When to use a WhatsApp Business Platform workflow

Move beyond app settings when the next response depends on a signup, an order event, a consent record or a team’s assignment rules. Define those requirements before choosing software. Our WhatsApp Business API setup guide for Indian teams covers account and onboarding decisions.

CampaignHQ, a Meta Business Partner, brings Email + WhatsApp customer engagement into one platform, with AWS supporting its infrastructure. Its visual workflow builder supports triggers, waits, conditions and channel steps. A shared customer profile and team inbox help connect follow-up work with the conversation.

Ask for a demonstration using your entry event, consent fields and reply-assignment process. A product feature list does not prove that your particular CRM connection or exception path is already configured.

An opted-in subscriber welcome workflow

For example, an Indian retailer’s CRM manager may want to acknowledge a new subscriber and offer help choosing a product. Keep the first response narrow:

1. Define entry. Use a verified signup event with a unique contact reference. An imported phone number alone should not start the journey.
2. Check permission. Confirm that the person agreed to receive the intended WhatsApp messages. Keep the permission record and check for a later opt-out.
3. Select the message route. A website signup does not open WhatsApp’s customer service window. A business-initiated welcome needs an approved template appropriate to its content.
4. Send one useful welcome. Identify the business, explain why the person is receiving it and offer a relevant next step. Configure duplicate-entry protection rather than welcoming the same person after every sync.
5. Handle replies. Route questions to a named team. Pause conflicting follow-ups while a person handles the conversation, and test that behaviour in your chosen platform.
6. Use email deliberately. Send longer guidance by email only when you have the appropriate permission. Do not use email to evade a person’s request to stop contact.

This is a workflow design to configure and test, not a promise that every integration arrives ready-made. For a longer retail sequence, use the separate D2C welcome-series guide. For channel roles, see our Email + WhatsApp journey planning guide.

Keep permission and human help in the workflow

The WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy requires permission for subsequent contact and respect for opt-out requests. On the Business Platform, a user message opens or resets a 24-hour customer service window. Replies within that window can use non-template messages; outside it, messages must use approved templates.

Automation during the window must also offer a prompt, clear and direct escalation path. That can include a human agent, phone, email or web support. Tell the customer which route is available and when it is staffed. A button saying “Talk to a person” is not enough if nobody receives the request.

Template approval is not a substitute for permission, and sending a template does not guarantee delivery. Treat opt-outs, failed sends and unanswered handoffs as conditions to handle, not reasons to retry indefinitely.

Test the response, the exception and the handoff

Use test contacts before exposing a live audience. Record the expected result for each case, then compare it with the message and inbox actually received.

• App schedule: test inside and outside business hours, including a contact excluded by recipient settings.
• Greeting eligibility: compare a first-time enquiry with a recent conversation.
• Quick reply: confirm an agent can find, edit and send the correct saved text.
• Workflow eligibility: test missing permission, an opt-out and the same event arriving twice. These should not produce unwanted welcomes.
• Window boundary: confirm the workflow chooses the permitted message type before sending.
• Human help: request an agent during and outside staffed hours. Check assignment, acknowledgement and what happens to queued follow-ups.

Measure first human response time and unresolved handoffs separately from automatic acknowledgements. For a welcome workflow, compare eligible entries, delivered messages, replies needing help, opt-outs and the intended completed action. A delivery receipt is not a purchase, and a demo-page visit is not a booked meeting.

Frequently asked questions

Can I set these replies in personal WhatsApp?

The setup described here is for the WhatsApp Business app and Business Platform. Use the business product that supports your workflow rather than giving an unofficial auto-reply tool access to customer chats.

Why is my greeting message not sending?

Check the internet connection, recipient settings and whether the contact qualifies for a first-message or 14-day-inactivity greeting. WhatsApp also says greeting messages are disabled when Meta Business Agent is connected. Review the active setup with its owner before changing or removing it.

How many quick replies can I save?

WhatsApp currently allows up to 50 stored quick replies in the Business app. Its help page also says quick-reply media files are not supported on Web or Desktop. Keep a focused library your agents can maintain; the limit is not a target.

Can I send an automatic welcome after someone fills in a website form?

Yes, with a connected Business Platform workflow, appropriate permission and the required approved template. An app greeting is triggered by an eligible incoming WhatsApp message, not by the website form itself.

Should an away message include a promotion?

Prefer a useful acknowledgement and a realistic route to help. Someone asking about a delayed order needs an answer, not an unrelated offer. Keep promotional journeys separate and apply the permission and message rules that fit their content.

Choose one response job to improve first

If agents repeat the same explanation, improve a quick reply. If customers message while you are closed, set a useful away message. If the response depends on customer events and team ownership, map the workflow before buying or building it. Connect that choice to your wider WhatsApp marketing plan without turning every service conversation into a campaign.

Written by CampaignHQ Team