How to create a survey campaign
Who it is for: whoever manages the account
Campaigns let you send automated surveys to a list of contacts over WhatsApp: the platform sends the questions, interprets the answers, branches depending on what each person answers and hands off to a person when needed.
The "New Campaign" wizard (5 steps)
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1. General | Name and basic campaign data |
| 2. Batch | Upload the contact list (CSV/Excel) |
| 3. Questions | Design the questions and their branching |
| 4. Settings | Sending hours and retries |
| 5. Review | Review everything before activating |
Step 2: upload contacts (Batch)
Upload a CSV, XLSX or XLS file (up to 10 MB). TalkAI detects the phone column if it is named phone, telefono, numero, number, celular or tel.
- Phones must be in international E.164 format (for example
+5491122400772). Argentine national numbers are normalized automatically. - Duplicates are discarded.
- Any other column (name, date, amount, etc.) is saved and can be used as a variable in your messages.
When the upload finishes you see a summary: valid contacts, invalid rows (with the reason) and duplicates removed.
{{nombre}}, the CSV must have a column with that name. TalkAI warns you if one is missing.Step 3: questions
Each question can be one of these types:
- Buttons: the contact picks among options (max 3).
- List: dropdown menu (max 10).
- Free text: the contact answers whatever they want (you can validate the content).
- Message: informational text, without waiting for an answer (ideal for welcome or closing).
Questions with buttons or a list are usually tied to an approved WhatsApp template. Messages support variables ({{nombre}}, {{fecha}}, etc.).
Step 4: sending settings
- Time window: start and end time, and days of the week. Outside the window, messages wait for the next valid slot.
- Time zone: the one you choose is respected.
- Retries: how many times to retry if the contact does not answer, every how many minutes, and the maximum time before marking them as "expired".
Real-time tracking
With the campaign active, the panel shows each contact's status, updated live:
| Status | Means |
|---|---|
| Pending | Waiting for the first send |
| Sending | Message on its way |
| In progress | Waiting for the contact's answer |
| Completed | Finished the survey |
| Expired | Time ran out without completing |
| Escalated | Handed off to a person or the AI |
| Deferred | There was an active conversation in the Inbox and sending was postponed |
You also see overall progress, the response rate and the detail of what each contact answered.
To build flows that change depending on the answer, see Branching, free text and escalation.