Onboarding
What it is
Onboarding is BotBat's guided setup wizard that walks new accounts through every essential step required to become fully operational. The wizard covers organization configuration, messaging channel connection, contact import, chatbot creation, and a test campaign send. A persistent progress checklist tracks your completion status, and personalized recommendations based on your selected use case help you focus on the features most relevant to your business goals.
The onboarding experience is designed to take approximately 20 to 30 minutes when completed in a single sitting. Each step includes contextual guidance, validation checks, and links to detailed documentation so you can proceed confidently without prior BotBat experience. If you need to pause, the checklist saves your progress and you can return at any time from the Account menu.
Onboarding is not only for brand-new accounts. It also serves as a structured orientation tool for new team members joining an existing workspace, and as a re-entry point when your team wants to explore a new use case (for example, shifting from customer support to marketing campaigns). The use-case selector adapts its recommendations accordingly.
When to use
| Scenario | Why Onboarding helps |
|---|---|
| Just created a new BotBat account | The wizard launches automatically and guides you through every critical first step, from organization setup to sending your first test message. |
| Returning after skipping initial setup | If you skipped onboarding steps earlier, return to the checklist at any time to complete them. Incomplete steps are highlighted for easy access. |
| Orienting a new team member | Share the onboarding checklist link with new team members so they understand the platform setup, even if the workspace is already fully configured. |
| Exploring a new use case | If your team initially set up BotBat for customer support but now wants to use it for marketing campaigns, revisit the use-case selector to get recommendations tailored to the new goal. |
Steps
1. Start the onboarding wizard
When you first log in to a new workspace, the wizard opens automatically. To return later, navigate to Account > Onboarding. The onboarding dashboard also appears as a banner on the main Dashboard until all steps are completed, serving as a persistent reminder of remaining setup tasks.
2. Select your use case
Choose your primary use case from the available options: Customer Support, Marketing and Campaigns, Transactional Notifications, or a custom combination. This selection personalizes the recommended setup steps, feature highlights, and template suggestions throughout the rest of the wizard. You can change your selection later without losing progress.
3. Set up your organization
Enter your organization name, upload your company logo, select your timezone, and choose the default language. These settings appear across the entire platform and in customer-facing messages (such as email footers and chatbot headers). Accurate timezone configuration is especially important because it affects campaign scheduling, SLA calculations, and log timestamps.
4. Connect your first channel
Choose a messaging channel from the available options: WhatsApp, SMS, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, or Web Chat. Each channel has its own guided connection flow. For WhatsApp, this includes phone number registration and Meta business verification. For SMS, it covers sender ID registration and country selection. For social channels, it involves OAuth authorization with the respective platform.
The table below summarizes what each channel requires during the connection step:
| Channel | Connection requirements | Typical setup time |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number, Meta Business Account, display name, business verification | 1 day to 3 weeks (verification dependent) | |
| SMS | Sender ID or short code, target country selection, compliance steps | 1 to 5 business days |
| Facebook Messenger | Facebook Page admin access, OAuth authorization | 5 minutes |
| Instagram Business account, Facebook Page link, OAuth authorization | 5 minutes | |
| Web Chat | Copy and paste the embed snippet into your website | 5 minutes |
5. Import contacts
Upload a CSV file of your existing contacts, or connect a CRM integration (such as HubSpot, Salesforce, or a custom API) to sync contacts automatically. When uploading a CSV, the wizard presents a column mapping interface where you match your CSV headers to BotBat contact fields (name, phone number, email, tags, custom attributes). A preview of the first 5 rows lets you verify the mapping before starting the import.
6. Create your first chatbot
Use the simplified chatbot builder to create a basic welcome flow. The wizard guides you through three components: a greeting message that introduces your business, a menu offering 2 to 3 options for common requests (such as "Talk to support," "Check order status," or "Browse products"), and a handoff step that transfers the conversation to a live agent when needed. This basic flow prevents the "dead air" experience when customers message outside business hours.
7. Send your first campaign
The wizard walks you through a small test campaign to verify your end-to-end setup. Select a contact segment (a sample segment is pre-created for you), choose a message template (a starter template is provided), and either schedule the send or trigger it immediately. This test validates that your channel connection, sender identity, template approval, and contact data are all working correctly.
8. Review the progress checklist
The onboarding dashboard shows a checklist of all setup steps with their completion status. Green checkmarks indicate completed steps, while incomplete steps display a brief description of what remains. Click any incomplete step to jump directly to it.
9. Explore personalized recommendations
Based on your selected use case, BotBat surfaces feature recommendations tailored to your goals. For example, a marketing-focused account sees recommendations for audience segmentation, A/B testing, and campaign analytics, while a support-focused account sees recommendations for chatbot flows, ticket integration, and SLA configuration.
Common pitfalls
| Pitfall | How to avoid it |
|---|---|
| Skipping channel connection | Without at least one connected channel, you cannot send or receive messages. This is the single most critical setup step and should never be deferred. |
| Importing contacts without consent | Ensure all imported contacts have opted in to receive messages from your business. Sending to non-opted-in contacts violates platform policies and can result in sender registration suspension. |
| Rushing through the chatbot step | Even a basic chatbot prevents dead air when customers message outside business hours. Invest a few minutes in a proper welcome flow with clear menu options. |
| Ignoring use-case recommendations | The recommendations are based on patterns from thousands of similar businesses. Skipping them means you may miss features that would significantly improve your workflow. |
| Not verifying the test campaign | The test send validates your entire setup: channel, template, sender, and contacts. If it fails, debug now rather than discovering configuration issues during a real campaign launch. |
Complete all onboarding steps in a single sitting if possible (approximately 20 to 30 minutes). Teams that finish onboarding in one session adopt BotBat features significantly faster than those who spread it over multiple days, based on data from thousands of workspace activations.
Onboarding checklist summary
| Step | Required | Can be skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Select use case | Yes | No |
| Organization setup | Yes | No |
| Connect first channel | Yes (for messaging) | Temporarily |
| Import contacts | Recommended | Yes |
| Create first chatbot | Recommended | Yes |
| Send test campaign | Recommended | Yes |
- Onboarding Overview
- Use Case Selection
- Organization Setup
- Channel Connection
- Contact Import
- Chatbot Builder
- Test Campaign
- Progress Checklist