What you'll build
By the end of this guide, your form will send a WhatsApp message by itself whenever something happens. A customer gets a confirmation the moment they submit. They get an update when their status changes. Your team gets an alert when something urgent comes in. Every message goes out from your own WhatsApp Business number, personalized with answers from the form submission.
When to use this
Customers place an order or book an appointment, and you want them to get a confirmation on WhatsApp right away.
You change a status on a form submission (Approved, Shipped, Ready for pickup) and the person should hear about it without you messaging them by hand.
Your team should get a WhatsApp alert when a high-priority form submission arrives.
You want a reminder to go out a day before an appointment, not right when someone books.
You only need to send a message. You don't need anyone to read and process the reply.
ℹ️ Formaloo has two ways to use WhatsApp. This guide covers Send WhatsApp message in Advanced logic, which sends one message automatically. If you want an AI agent to chat with people and fill your form from their replies, see how to send outbound WhatsApp campaigns and collect replies with AI agents in Formaloo. Both use the same WhatsApp connection, so you only set it up once.
Step 1: Connect your WhatsApp Business number
Formaloo doesn't provide a shared WhatsApp number. Each workspace connects its own, so messages come from your business name.
1. Open Apps & integrations: Click your profile icon in the top-right corner of your Formaloo homepage, then select Apps & integrations.
2. Open Send WhatsApp: Search for Send WhatsApp and open it. If it isn't installed yet, install it first.
3. Check the prerequisites: Open the Connection tab. You'll need a Facebook Business account and a phone number for your business.
4. Click Connect WhatsApp: Formaloo shows a short confirmation page. Click Continue with Facebook to open Meta's login window.
5. Review the permissions: Meta shows what you're allowing Formaloo to do, like sending messages from your number. Click Continue.
6. Choose your business assets: Select or create a Business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business account (WABA). This is the account Meta uses to hold your number and your message templates. Click Continue.
7. Finish Meta's setup: Follow the remaining screens to register your number and verify your business.
ℹ️ Business verification is run by Meta, not Formaloo, and it isn't always instant. Your connection may show as pending for a while.
⚠️ Meta only allows one active connection per Facebook Business account. If that account is already connected to a WhatsApp number in another workspace, use a separate Facebook Business account or business portfolio for this one.
8. Confirm the connection: When setup is complete, the Connection tab shows your number as Active. You can also disconnect it from here later.
Step 2: Create a WhatsApp message template
A WhatsApp message template is not the same as a Formaloo template or an email template. It's the approved text of the message Meta allows you to send.
1. Open Templates: In the Send WhatsApp app, go to the Templates tab and click + Create template.
2. Name your template: Use lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores only, with no spaces. For example: order_confirmation.
3. Choose a category: Order confirmations, appointment updates, and status changes are usually Utility.
4. Choose a language: Select the language the message will be sent in.
5. Write your message: Click + Insert variable wherever the text changes for each person. For example:
Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is confirmed. We'll message you again as soon as it ships!
💡 Use variables for anything personal, like a name, an order number, or an appointment time. You'll connect each variable to a form field in Step 3. Keep the rest of the message the same for everyone.
6. Submit for approval: Click Submit for approval. Meta reviews it, which can take up to a day, though it's often faster.
⚠️ Create your templates here, in the Send WhatsApp app, before you build your logic rule. The logic rule only lets you pick an existing template. If your template is still waiting for approval, it can't be sent yet.
Step 3: Connect a Formaloo agent
Send WhatsApp messages go out through a Formaloo AI agent, the same agent behind CC Formaloo.
1. Enable CC Formaloo on your form: Open your form in the editor and click the AI button in the tool island at the top. In the Integrations tab, select CC Formaloo, if it isn't turned on for this form yet.
2. Fill in the instructions and context: Tell the agent about your business and how it should sound when it talks to people. The agent already knows your form fields, so use these to shape its tone and behavior. For example:
Tone: "We're a small online store. Be friendly and short, not formal."
Business context: "These messages confirm orders and share shipping updates. Customers may reply with questions about delivery."
Style: "Keep messages short and clear. Don't use technical words."
💡 The agent still works without instructions, but filling them in makes your messages sound like they came from your team, not a generic bot.
3. Save your changes: Click Save Changes. Your agent now shows up as an option when you add a Send WhatsApp message action.
ℹ️ This only needs to happen once per form. After that, every WhatsApp rule on that form can use the same agent.
🔗 Want to learn more about how the agent itself works? See how to use CC Formaloo to collect data from email threads.
Step 4: Send a message when a form is submitted or updated
Send WhatsApp message can run at two moments, depending on where you add it in Advanced logic:
On Submit runs once, the moment someone submits your form. Use it for confirmations, like "Your order is confirmed" or "Your booking is received".
On Update runs when someone edits a form submission that already exists. Use it to tell people about changes, like "Your order has shipped" or "Your application is approved".
Both work the same way: you set a condition, pick an approved template, choose who receives the message, and fill in the template's variables with answers from the form submission. The only difference is the tab you add the rule in, and the condition you use.
ℹ️ Can people reply? This action sends a message. It doesn't collect or process replies. If you need replies turned into form data, use WhatsApp campaigns with AI agents.
Example:
a job application form with Full Name, Email Address, Phone Number, and Status (Received, Accepted). When an applicant's status changes to Accepted, they get a WhatsApp message right away.
1. Open Advanced logic: Open your form in the editor. In the form settings panel on the right, click Advanced logic.
2. Add an On Update rule: Click the On Update tab, then click Add rule.
3. Set the condition: Choose Status, then is changed to, then Accepted.
4. Choose the action: Under Then, select Send WhatsApp message.
5. Pick your template: Next to Using, choose the approved template you created in Step 2, for example jobapplication.
6. Choose the recipient: Next to To, select the Phone Number field. The message then goes to the applicant.
7. Fill in the variables: Under Select values for template variables, connect each variable to a form field. Here, {{1}} becomes Full Name and {{2}} becomes Email Address.
8. Choose the agent: Next to By, select the agent you set up in Step 3, for example Job Application.
9. Save: Click Save. Now every time you change an applicant's status to Accepted, they hear the good news on WhatsApp, without anyone messaging them by hand.
💡 Want to confirm applications too? Add the same action to an On Submit rule with the condition Always, and use a template like "Hi {{1}}, thanks for applying! We've received your application."
💡 Sometimes the message shouldn't go out right away. A reminder a day before an appointment is a good example.
🔗 New to Wait? See how to delay actions and send timed reminders with Wait logic
More ideas you can build
Appointments: Confirm a booking on submit, then send a reminder with Wait a day before the visit.
Event registrations: Confirm a spot right away. When someone's status changes from Waitlisted to Approved, send them the good news.
Applications and approvals: Tell applicants the moment their status changes to Approved or Needs more info.
Internal alerts: When a form submission comes in with Priority set to Urgent, message your support lead's number.
Final result
Your form now keeps people informed on WhatsApp without you lifting a finger. Customers get a confirmation the second they submit. They hear about status changes the moment you make them. Reminders go out on time, and your team gets alerts where they'll actually see them. Everything is sent from your own business number and personalized with each form submission.