How to Route Ad Leads with Keywords
When someone taps your ad that clicks to WhatsApp, they usually send the pre-filled message you set in the ad.
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When someone taps your ad that clicks to WhatsApp, they usually send the pre-filled message you set in the ad. You can use that message to give each ad its own conversation: create a custom automation on the ads that click to WhatsApp source for each pre-filled message, each with its own Additional instructions and replies.
How it works
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In your ad, you set a pre-filled message that appears in the customer's WhatsApp chat when they tap it — e.g., "I want info about Plan A". See how to create ads that click to WhatsApp for the full ad setup. Keep these messages short and distinct so keywords can match them reliably.
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In Chatfuel, you create a custom automation whose keyword matches that pre-filled message.
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When the lead sends the message, that automation answers — with its own instructions, so a whitening lead and an emergency lead get completely different conversations from the same number.
Messages that match no keyword fall through to the source's base automation, so no lead goes unanswered.
Set it up in Automations
- Go to Fuely AI → Automations.
- Under WhatsApp, open ads that click to WhatsApp.
- For each ad message, create a custom automation: give it a name, add the pre-filled message as a keyword (e.g.,
Service A), and write the Additional instructions for how the AI should handle that lead. - Turn each rule on.
Repeat for each ad variant. The customer experience now changes depending on which ad they clicked.
Or ask the AI Co-Worker
Tell it what you want in chat:
"For WhatsApp ad leads whose first message is 'Free consultation', create an automation that offers to book a slot this week."
It creates the rule and confirms what it set.
Example
You run a dental clinic with three Facebook ads, all pointing to the same WhatsApp number:
| Ad | Pre-filled message | Custom automation | What its instructions do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teeth whitening promo | Whitening | Whitening | Presents the offer and its price |
| Dental implants | Implants | Implants | Qualifies the lead and books a consultation |
| Emergency dental | Urgent | Urgent | Triages and offers the nearest slot |
A lead who taps the whitening ad sends "Whitening" and the Whitening automation takes over. A lead from the emergency ad sends "Urgent" and gets triaged right away. Someone who edits their message into something unrecognizable falls through to the base automation.
Tips
- Exact matches win. A rule matching the exact text beats a rule that merely contains it — Chatfuel picks the winner by a fixed priority order. Use the same text in your ad's pre-filled message and in the rule's keyword.
- Keep messages simple. One or two words work best. Long sentences are harder to match, and customers sometimes edit them.
- The base automation is your safety net. Keep it enabled with good general instructions so unmatched leads still get a useful answer from your Knowledge Base.
- Prefer targeting the ad itself? Instead of keywords, a custom automation can target a specific ad by its ID — useful when several ads share the same pre-filled message.
- Multiple ads, one number. Run as many ads as you want pointing to the same WhatsApp number; the rules keep each lead on the right path.