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Creating Your First Workflow: "Welcome New Contacts"

Now that you understand what a workflow is, let’s create your first one! In this guide, we’ll walk you through setting up a simple workflow step-by-step. Don’t worry—it’s easier than you think!

Step 1: Choose a Trigger​

A trigger is the event that starts your workflow. Here’s how to choose one:

  1. Go to the Workflow Builder in your Exabloom account.
  2. Click Create Workflow.
  3. Name your workflow something descriptive, like "Welcome New Contacts".
  4. Select a trigger from the list. For example:
    • Message Sent: When an outbound message is sent.
    • Contact Replied: When a contact replies to a message.
    • Contact Created: When a new contact is added.

For this example, let’s choose Contact Created as the trigger. This means the workflow will start whenever a new contact is added.

Step 2: Add an Action​

An action is what Exabloom does after the workflow is triggered. Here’s how to add one:

  1. After selecting your trigger, click Add Action.
  2. Choose an action from the list. For example:
    • Send WhatsApp: Send a message to the contact.
    • Add Tag: Add a tag to the contact.
    • Update Contact: Update the contact’s details.

For this example, let’s choose Send WhatsApp as the action. This will send a welcome message to the new contact.

Step 3: Customize Your Action​

Now, let’s customize the action to fit your needs:

  1. For the Send WhatsApp action, type the message you want to send. For example:

    Hi {{contact.firstName}}, welcome to our community! We’re excited to have you here. 😊

    (Don’t worry—Exabloom will automatically replace {{contact.firstName}} with the contact’s actual first name!)

  2. Click Save to confirm your action.

Step 4: Publish Your Workflow​

Once you’ve set up your trigger and action, it’s time to turn on your workflow:

  1. Toggle the switch from Drafted -> Published at the top of the page.
  2. Click Save to publish your workflow.

That’s it! Your workflow is now live. Every time a new contact is added, Exabloom will automatically send them your welcome message.

Optional: Control Which Contacts Enter the Workflow​

If you want your workflow to run only for specific contacts, you can add a filter to your trigger. Filters let you decide exactly which contacts should enter the workflow. Here’s how to set it up:

Option 1: Only WhatsApp Leads​

If you want the workflow to run only for new contacts who reached out via WhatsApp:

  1. Go back to your workflow and click on the Contact Created trigger.
  2. Click Add Filter.
  3. Set the filter to allow only contacts with the tag whatsapp-lead-capture:
  • Field: Contact > Tags
  • Operator: Is any of
  • Value: whatsapp-lead-capture
  1. Save the updated Contact Created trigger.

Why this works: When a new contact is created from a WhatsApp message, Exabloom automatically adds the whatsapp-lead-capture tag to them. This filter ensures the workflow only runs for these contacts.

Option 2: Only a Specific Phone Number (For Testing)​

If you’re testing your workflow and want to make sure it only runs for a specific test contact (e.g., your own phone number), you can add a filter for that:

  1. Go back to your workflow and click on the Contact Created trigger.
  2. Click Add Filter.
  3. Set the filter to allow only contacts with a specific phone number:
  • Field: Contact > Phone Number
  • Operator: Is
  • Value: +1234567890 (replace this with your test phone number)
  1. Save the updated Contact Created trigger.

Why this is useful: This ensures the workflow only runs for your test contact, so you can test it safely without affecting real contacts.

Step 5: Test Your Workflow​

Before using your workflow with real contacts, it’s a good idea to test it to make sure everything works as expected. Here’s how to test your workflow:

Scenario 1: If You Did Not Implement Option 1 or Option 2​

  1. Add a Test Contact:

    • Go to your Exabloom contacts page and add a new contact using any phone number.
    • Since there’s no filter, the workflow will trigger for any new contact.

  2. Trigger the Workflow:

    • Once the test contact is added, the Contact Created trigger should activate the workflow.
    • Check if the welcome message is sent to the test contact.

Scenario 2: If You Implemented Option 1 (WhatsApp Leads)​

  1. Add a Test Contact:

    • Use a different WhatsApp number to send a message to the WhatsApp number connected to Exabloom.
    • If the phone number doesn’t exist as a contact in Exabloom, Exabloom will automatically create a new contact and tag it with whatsapp-lead-capture. This will trigger the workflow.

  2. Trigger the Workflow:

    • Once the test contact is added, the Contact Created trigger should activate the workflow.
    • Check if the welcome message is sent to the test contact.

Scenario 3: If You Implemented Option 2 (Specific Phone Number)​

  1. Add a Test Contact:

    • Make sure the test phone number you use matches the phone number specified in the filter.
    • Add the test contact manually or send a message from the test phone number to trigger the workflow.

  2. Trigger the Workflow:

    • Once the test contact is added, the Contact Created trigger should activate the workflow.
    • Check if the welcome message is sent to the test contact.

What’s Next?​

Now that you’ve created your first workflow and learned how to use filters, you’re ready to dive deeper into AND/OR logic to create even more precise filters. In the next guide, we’ll explain how AND/OR logic works and show you how to combine multiple conditions in your filters. Stay tuned!