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Using forms in automations

A published form becomes really useful once automations send it and react to it. This page covers the Send form (flow) step, the Form submitted trigger, how answers map into your CRM and ActiveCampaign — and a complete, copy-ready webinar registration funnel.

If you haven’t built and published a form yet, start with Building a form.

Sending a form: the “Send form (flow)” step

In the automation builder, add a step from the Messaging group called Send form (flow). Its settings:

  • Form (flow) — pick one of your forms. The step shows the form’s fields underneath so you can confirm it’s the right one. If the selected form isn’t published yet, the builder warns you: it would only be delivered to your own WABA admins, not to regular contacts.
  • Wait for the form to be submitted before continuing — checked by default. With this on, the automation pauses at this step and only moves on once the contact has responded (normally: submitted the form). Untick it if the rest of the automation shouldn’t wait — for example when the follow-up is handled by a separate Form submitted automation.

Reacting to a submission: the “Form submitted” trigger

Every completed form fires the Form submitted trigger. When you add it to an automation you can choose:

  • Any form — the automation starts whenever any form is submitted.
  • A specific form — it starts only for that form.

This trigger is the cleanest way to react to submissions, because it runs no matter how the form was sent — from another automation, a test send, or a form the contact opened days after receiving it. Typical reactions: add a tag, send a confirmation, notify your team, start a reminder sequence, or hand the conversation to the AI agent.

You can combine both patterns: one automation sends the form (with Wait… unticked), a second one — triggered by Form submitted — handles everything after.

Where the answers go

On submission, and before any trigger fires:

  1. Contact fields. Every answer is saved on the contact (visible under Fields & detected data on the contact page). A name field fills the contact’s name if it was empty. From then on, answers are usable across Nybero — in segments, conditions and message personalization.
  2. Inbox. The chat shows ”📋 Form completed” with all answers, so anyone replying has context. See Inbox.
  3. ActiveCampaign (if enabled on the form): contact upsert by email, your field mapping, the form’s tag, and the WhatsApp number into AC’s phone field. Configured per form — see Building a form and ActiveCampaign. For additional AC actions inside the automation itself, use the Set ActiveCampaign tag and Set ActiveCampaign field steps.

The AI agent politely steps aside

If you use the AI agent, you don’t need to worry about it “talking over” your form. While an automation is waiting on a form (or any conversational step), it owns the dialog with that contact — and the AI agent stays silent until the automation is done. The two never compete for the same conversation. More on this in AI agent handover.

Helping contacts discover the form

A form only fires when something triggers it. Give contacts easy ways to do that under Marketing → Chat entry:

  • Ice Breakers — up to 4 tappable suggestion chips shown when someone opens a fresh chat with your number (e.g. “Webinar info & sign-up”). Tapping one sends its text as a message.
  • Commands — up to 30 slash commands (e.g. /webinar with a description) that appear whenever the contact types /. Tapping one sends the command name as a message.

Both simply send text — so pair them with an Inbound message keyword trigger that matches that text and sends your form. Click Save & sync to WhatsApp after editing; changes go live on your number right away. Also worth wiring up: opt-in entry points and inbound webhooks as further ways into a form funnel.

Complete worked example: webinar registration

Goal: whenever someone writes “WEBINAR”, they get a registration form (name, email, preferred date). On submission they’re tagged, get an instant confirmation, and enter a reminder sequence.

Step 1 — Build and publish the form

  1. Marketing → Forms → create Webinar registration.
  2. Message text: Great that you're interested, {{first_name}}! Grab your spot here 👇
  3. Button label: Register now
  4. Fields:
    • Full name — Text, Required
    • Email — Email, Required
    • Preferred date — Date, Required, help text “Our webinar runs Tue & Thu at 6 pm”
  5. Optional but recommended: tick Capture opt-in consent (GDPR) so the registration doubles as a documented opt-in, and Send to ActiveCampaign (push to CRM) with the tag webinar-registrant if you use AC.
  6. Click Save & publish and wait for the Published pill.

Step 2 — The registration automation

Create an automation Webinar signup under Automations:

  1. Trigger: Inbound message keyword, keyword webinar. The default match mode also catches “webinar” inside a sentence — a contact writing “WEBINAR” or “info about the webinar please” both start the automation (keywords are not case-sensitive).
  2. Step 1 — Send form (flow): select Webinar registration, leave Wait for the form to be submitted before continuing checked. The contact just messaged you, so the 24-hour window is open — the form delivers instantly.
  3. Step 2 — Add tag: webinar-registered.
  4. Step 3 — Send message: the confirmation, sent the moment they submit (window is open — they just replied via the form):

    You're in, {{first_name}} 🎉 We've saved your preferred date. You'll get a reminder from us before the webinar — see you there!

  5. Step 4 — Wait for: e.g. 1 day.
  6. Step 5 — Send WhatsApp template: a pre-approved reminder template, e.g. webinar_reminder. Use a template here on purpose: by reminder time the 24-hour window may be closed, and only approved templates can be delivered then. Add further Wait for + Send WhatsApp template pairs for a “day before” and “starting soon” reminder.
  7. Name it, switch it to active, and save.

Because Step 2 waits, the tag and confirmation only happen for people who actually submit. Someone who never opens the form never gets “You’re in”.

Step 3 — Make it discoverable

Under Marketing → Chat entry:

  1. Add the Ice Breaker “Webinar info & sign-up” — shown to everyone opening a fresh chat.
  2. Add the Command /webinar — “Webinar info & sign-up”.
  3. Click Save & sync to WhatsApp.

Both send the word “webinar” into the chat — which is exactly what your keyword trigger listens for. Promote the keyword everywhere: “Message WEBINAR to +49 … on WhatsApp” works on ads, social posts and your website.

What happens end to end

  1. A contact writes “webinar” (or taps the ice breaker / command).
  2. The form message arrives; they tap Register now, fill in name, email and preferred date inside WhatsApp, and submit.
  3. Nybero saves all three answers on the contact, tags them webinar-registered, pushes them to ActiveCampaign (if configured), and sends the confirmation.
  4. The reminder templates go out on schedule — and if the contact replies with questions in between, your team sees the full registration in the Inbox, or the AI agent answers once the automation has finished its conversational turn.

Troubleshooting

  • The form never arrives → Is the form Published (not Draft)? Is the automation active? Was the contact inside the 24-hour window when the step ran? Check the run’s error details in the automation’s statistics.
  • The form arrives but the contact “can’t open” it → It was probably sent while in Draft (e.g. right after an edit) — draft forms only open for your own WABA admins. Republish.
  • Answers don’t show up in ActiveCampaign → The AC push needs an email: either the form has an Email field the contact filled, or the contact is already linked to AC. Also check that the AC connection is enabled under Integrations.
  • More in Troubleshooting.