How to use Yazi's WhatsApp bot and platform: A full guide with screenshots

Steps to launching a Survey

Yazi’s Web app

💎 NB Summary 💎

1. Title =Starter Phrase. The survey or campaign title is the phrase that will become the starter phrase in WhatsApp. I.e. if the title is ‘Eat healthy study’, sending ‘Eat healthy study’ to the WhatsApp bot will take you to the beginning of the survey (once the survey is launched).
2. Manually Save. Progress needs to be saved manually by clicking the orange save button.
3. Title under 24 Characters. Keep the title to under 24 characters so that the title can be a button in your Template message that invites people to participate in survey. Template message buttons are limited to 24 characters.
4. Formatting for WhatsApp.
5. 1. No ‘ordering’ questions
   2. No ‘grids’ - multiple choice or tickbox grids
   3. Do not use commas in multi-select options
   4. A multiple choice option answer can't be more than 50 characters

Yazi has a webapp that comprises of 5 key components:

1. Dashboard

See all survey campaigns created for a particular workspace

2. Specify audience

Choose demographics of audience you’d like to target. These demographic attributes are connected to the attributes in the signup:

• 1. Number of participants/respondents
  2. Country
  3. Age
  4. Gender
  5. Occupation
  6. Education
  7. Number Children

3. Create survey

Similar interface to Google forms or SurveyMonkey.

• 1. Types of questions: Single-select and multi-select multiple choice, Open text, Image/Video/Voice note
  2. 1. For multi-select:
     2. 1. Add this text to your question to show how they must answer: Select all that apply by giving the letters separated by comma (e.g. a, c, d)
        2. Don’t use commas in Answer options. The data for multi-select answers comes back as a string in a single cell with the answers separated by comma. Therefore, for Q16, you might have this answer: Basic essentials (such as food, housing, clothing), Leisure & entertainment (such as travel and media). This makes it very tricky for software to pickup which are separate answers and which are commas as part of answers. So, rather use a semicolon to separate list items.
  3. ‘Other’ question toggle which automatically asks ‘Which other/s?’ if the other toggle is selected
  4. Logic: Can skip or jump participants to certain parts of the survey or flow using logic in single-select multiple choice questions

4. Launch

Review the questions and audience selection. Once happy, launch the survey by selecting the invoice option and giving your email. The pricing listed here will not apply to you, as it is for the case in which Yazi provides the audience. A Yazi team member will then

5. Results

Bar graph of each response with ability to filter and select using both other questions and demographic information

NB: Product notes

1. Progress is not saved automatically, remember to save with the button
2. The webapp does not currently support ‘multi-player’ teams. One set of login details can thus be shared and used
3. Use the text format for a: voice note, Picture or video question
4. Pricing is calculated automatically for basic audience selections where Yazi recruits the audience. However, it is likely to change based on target quotas and incidence rates.

Question text

A question or message sent to a respondent in the bot can't be more than 500 characters

To explain something to a respondent (where you do not want it to be a question): Make it a Multiple Choice question and put 'Continue' or 'Understood' as the answer

Multiple choice

A multiple-choice option answer can't be more than 50 characters (Meta limit)

1-24 character multiple choice options appear as buttons

• 1 - 3 options appear as buttons in the chat
• 4 - 10 options appear in a burger menu show up as options when clicked

A question where 1 of the multiple choice options is 25-50 characters OR, if there are more than 10 answer options will appear with letters as the answer e.g. Option 1 is A, Option 2 is B etc

Multi-Select Multiple choice

Do not use commas in multi-select options as our system detects separate options by commas ❌

2. Submitting & managing Template messages

💎 NB Summary 💎

1. Button = Starter phrase. The button must be equal to the starter phrase that relates to the survey you are using the Template to invite people to. Add a ‘Custom’ Button to do this.
2. Type of Template: For survey invitations, select the Marketing type. For payment notifications, select the Utility type. Utility is cheaper than
3. Dynamic placeholders. To personalise the message, insert dynamic placeholders into the message e.g. {{1}}. They can only be inserted in the body of the message → We only support dynamic fields in the body.

Meta WhatsApp portal

A WhatsApp template message is a pre-formatted message that can be used to send information or updates to a group of people quickly. It is a specific message format that companies can use to send standardised notifications, such as purchase confirmations, delivery alerts, etc. 56. Unlike free-form messages, template messages are used to open marketing, utility, and authentication conversations with customers1. To use WhatsApp message templates, brands must jot down the desired message, save it as a template, and then select and customise it before sending it to the recipients2. Here are some guidelines to follow when creating WhatsApp message templates:

• Naming of template: The name of your message template can only contain lowercase alphanumeric and underscores (e.g. account_update_1) 5.
• Size of template: The message has a limitation of 1024 characters and cannot include new lines or line breaks5.
• Personalisation: Brands can personalise WhatsApp message templates with customisable placeholders, media headers, and Quick Reply or Call-to-Action buttons3.
• Approval: WhatsApp message templates must be submitted to WhatsApp for approval before use3.

This is where template messages are submitted for approval. Dynamic variables can be added to template messages so that the notification that is sent can be dynamic and personalised.

1. In the WhatsApp Manager, mouseover the suitcase icon (Account tools) and click "Message template
2. Click "Create Template" and select the type of template you want to create1.
3. 1. For survey invitations, select the Marketing type.
   2. For payment notifications, select the Utility type. Utility is cheaper than
4. Fill in the required fields for the template, such as the template name, category, and message body.
5. You can also add placeholders to your message body to personalise the message for each recipient.
6. Add
7. Once you have created your template, you can use it to send messages to your customers.

Templates typically take 1-3 days to be approved.

Add a footer: Opt-out from these messages anytime from the main menu

Choose a Custom button

Message Analytics

Turn on message tracking so that you can get an analysis of the results

It also shows usage, conversations and engagement with the bot in a dashboard

Meta Costing Notes  

• WhatsApp messaging costs will be billed to your company directly via your  Meta Business Manager. This is subject to change according to Meta  WhatsApp pricing.  
• WhatsApp charge per conversation, not per individual message.  Conversations are 24-hour message threads between you and your  customers. They are opened when messages you send to customers are  delivered.  
• WhatsApp pricing is in USD and at the current exchange rate, the costing is as  below:

3. Recruiting participants to the survey (inviting them in):

💎 NB Summary 💎

1. Matching up columns with variables in Template. Make sure your CSV lines up with the dynamic variables you created in the Template message in Meta.

Now the survey is live in the bot but it needs to be accessed by the participants. Participants can access surveys in 2 ways:

1. Notification or Template message. Client can upload a list of contacts to bulk message app and send those people a ‘Template’ message in WhatsApp inviting them to participate in the research.
2. Survey menu on WhatsApp. Only participants who meet the required demographics will qualify for the survey.
3. Create WhatsApp link with starter phrase. Recruit people to study by generating a custom link to the study in WhatsApp that, when clicked, will open WhatsApp to your number and populate the WhatsApp text box with the Starter phrase for the survey. Once they send it, it will take them to the beginning of the survey in the client’s WhatsApp bot number. I.e send WhatsApp link to people in SMS, Facebook Messenger, Email or digital ads with link as button.

The Rather Chat app (explained below) enables template messages or notifications to be sent to participants, inviting them to do the survey.

1. Notification or Template Messages

To send a notification or Template messages:

1. Submit Template message to Meta with starter phrase as button
2. Create the Template message layout with external_id and var1 & var2 etc. depending on Template message body
3. Download a CSV of contacts you want to message: Cell number + dynamic variables in columns that coincide with Template message structure
4. Go to Rather Chat app and select Triggers
5. Create a new broadcast by selecting the template you want to send (pulls from Meta), uploading the contact list CSV and pressing Create!

Format of CSV for Template Message

The information in the CSV document must be arranged to match the WhatsApp Template message it is going to be used on.

External_id → Cell number (must contain country code)

var1 → First variable placeholder ( {{1}} )

var2 → Second variable placeholder ( {{1}} )

Note:

• Template message will fail if duplicate cell numbers are sent
• Dynamic Variables cannot be used in buttons as the Rather Chat app doesn’t support them

• Dynamic link using UTM parameters in URL

• Child books 136 takes respondent to survey - starter phrase

2. Survey menu on WhatsApp

Survey will be available to people to access and complete in the survey menu if they meet the survey’s demographic requirements

4. WhatsApp message blast (‘Bulk SMS’) & Agent chat:

💎 NB Summary 💎

1. Send bulk message.
2. 1. Choose the Template you want to send
   2. Upload the CSV
   3. Send it
   4. See delivery and read-rate analytics (after 1-3 min)

Choose Template you want to send

1. Choose a pre-approved template message you will use for your survey
2. Upload a CSV with a list of the participants you want to reach out to
3. Send it to your list of participants

Several Template Messages

Template messages are not limited to only invite messages, you can also send:

• Survey redo Message
• Survey completed message
• Incentive paid message
• Failed survey Message

Paying Participants

Only applicable if using Yazi’s participant incentive management system

• Payment methods currently supported through API:
• • Reloadly - Airtime payments to Rest of Africa
  • 6DOT50 - Aggregator voucher currency to South Africans
• Set amount in local currency

Format of Payment CSV

• Column A: userId → User ID of participant
• Column B: amount → amount in local currency (E.g. ZAR if SA or Ksh if Kenyan)
• Column C: status → Pass or Fail
• Column D: survey → Survey ID
• Column E: referral balance → Referral amount in local currency

How to pay

1. Send ‘Admin portal’ in WhatsApp
2. Select ‘Pay Users’
3. Upload CSV in WhatsApp

Example Run Through

1. Launch survey in Yazi webapp

Launch Survey called: New Survey Campaign

2. Submit Template message : Meta

Set reply button as survey title

Header → Text

New Survey

Body

Hey {{1}} 👋
It's AI-BO Surveys here - this is our new number (Yazi Research)!

We have a quick survey opportunity for you:

Time: *2 min* ⏰
Reward: *R10* 💸

Just press *Child books 136* to begin.

Footer

Opt-out from these messages anytime from the main menu

Quick reply

Button 1: Child books 136

Button 2: Main menu

3. Create CSV to send to : Sheets example

The template only has one variable and it is for the participant’s name so we only need 2 columns. Download file as a CSV.

👉 Get Google Sheet example here

4. Send Template message in Yazi App

5. Share your Survey

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