First message to a new lead via WhatsApp API

The scenario sends a new lead a personalised WhatsApp template as the first sales touch.

Use case overview

The scenario sends a new lead a personalised WhatsApp template as the first sales touch. The message includes the lead name, the specialist's name, and where the request came from. Quick-reply buttons let the lead tap «Yes, interested» or «Call me later»; taps arrive via webhook for routing to sales or scheduling.

Template example

Hello, {{1}}! My name is {{2}}, and I am following up on your inquiry from {{3}}. I am ready to tell you more and answer all your questions — choose a convenient option below.

Yes, interested

{{1}}
lead or customer name
{{2}}
specialist or manager name introducing themselves
{{3}}
lead source or request context (e.g. website form, Instagram ad, partner referral)
“Yes, interested”
button — fixed in the Meta template

WhatsApp Business API for first contact with a new lead

When to use it

Reach for this scenario when a new lead lands from a website form, ad, or CRM and you need a fast first touch on WhatsApp while interest is still high — but they have no open chat, so only an approved template can go out first. It fits lead-generation funnels, B2B and services teams where a named manager should introduce themselves, and agencies wiring form webhooks or ad platforms into 1MSG outbound first contact.

Faster first touch while interest is high

A form, ad, or CRM lead event resolves the phone, specialist name, and source label from the payload and fires the approved template immediately, so outreach happens in WhatsApp instead of waiting for a cold call or an email that sits unread.

A human-style greeting, not a generic autoresponder

Three body variables carry the lead's name, the specialist introducing themselves, and where the inquiry came from, so the first message reads like a named follow-up rather than a mass blast.

Instant interest signal for sales

Two quick-reply buttons — «Yes, interested» and «Call me later» — are fixed in the Meta template; each tap arrives via webhook so sales can route hot leads or schedule callbacks within the session window.

No manual outreach copy-paste

The integration captures the new-lead event and sends the personalised template with all three body variables on that trigger, so reps do not retype names, sources, or introductions for each inbound lead.

Follow-up logged where the lead started

Delivery status and button engagement return by webhook and are written back to the CRM, so the same record that captured the lead shows whether they tapped interest or asked to be called later.

Workflow

Capture event
A new lead event is captured from a form, ad, or CRM.
phone: "+…"
Phone
Lead phone, specialist name, and source label are resolved from the payload.
phone: "+…"
Build & send
A personalised first-contact template is sent with three body variables and two quick-reply buttons.
POST /sendTemplate
Status tracked
The lead taps «Yes, interested» or «Call me later» — the event arrives via webhook for sales routing.
status: "read"
Delivered
Delivery and engagement are logged in CRM for follow-up.
delivered

Technical implementation

Prerequisites

1MSG API Key · How to get API Key
WhatsApp Business account · How to Connect WABA
WhatsApp Template · How to Approve WABA Template
Customer opt-in · How to Manage Customers Consent
Webhook endpoint · How to Set Up Webhooks

Code examples

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# === Configuration (replace "___" placeholders) ===

API_BASE_URL="https://api.1msg.io"        # production 1MSG API base URL
CHANNEL_ID="___"                           # channel ID from 1MSG dashboard
API_TOKEN="___"                            # channel JWT token (Bearer)

TEMPLATE_NAME="___"                        # approved template name
TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE="___"                   # template namespace (required — send fails without it)
TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE="___"                    # template language code, e.g. "en"



# === Test data ===
TEST_PHONE="___"                 # client phone in international format
TEST_LEADNAME="___"         # {{1}} lead name
TEST_SPECIALIST="___"         # {{2}} specialist name
TEST_LEADSOURCE="___"         # {{3}} lead source

PHONE_NORM="$(printf '%s' "$TEST_PHONE" | tr -cd '0-9')"

for pair in "CHANNEL_ID=$CHANNEL_ID" "API_TOKEN=$API_TOKEN" \
            "TEMPLATE_NAME=$TEMPLATE_NAME" "TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE=$TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE" \
            "TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE=$TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE" "TEST_PHONE=$TEST_PHONE" \
            "TEST_LEADNAME=$TEST_LEADNAME" \
            "TEST_SPECIALIST=$TEST_SPECIALIST" \
            "TEST_LEADSOURCE=$TEST_LEADSOURCE"; do
    val="${pair#*=}"
    if [ -z "$val" ] || [ "$val" = "___" ]; then
        echo "Missing configuration value: ${pair%%=*}" >&2
        exit 1
    fi
done

if [ -z "$PHONE_NORM" ]; then
    echo "Error: phone number has no digits after normalization" >&2
    exit 1
fi

URL="${API_BASE_URL%/}/${CHANNEL_ID}/sendTemplate"

# params carries body ONLY. Button text is fixed in the Meta template — no button param.

# {{1}} lead name → ${TEST_LEADNAME}
# {{2}} specialist name → ${TEST_SPECIALIST}
# {{3}} lead source → ${TEST_LEADSOURCE}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
  "phone": "${PHONE_NORM}",
  "template": "${TEMPLATE_NAME}",
  "namespace": "${TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE}",
  "language": { "policy": "deterministic", "code": "${TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE}" },
  "params": [
    {
      "type": "body",
      "parameters": [
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_LEADNAME}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_SPECIALIST}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_LEADSOURCE}" }
      ]
    }

  ]
}
JSON

RESPONSE="$(curl -s -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST "$URL" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$PAYLOAD")"

HTTP_CODE="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | tail -n1)"
BODY="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | sed '$d')"

case "$BODY" in
    *'"sent":true'*) ok=1 ;;
    *) ok=0 ;;
esac

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 200 ] && [ "$HTTP_CODE" -lt 300 ] && [ "$ok" -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "Message sent to client."
    echo "API response: $BODY"
else
    echo "Send failed. HTTP status: $HTTP_CODE" >&2
    echo "$BODY" >&2
    exit 1
fi

Response and delivery status

HTTP 2xx and JSON "sent": true mean 1MSG accepted the message for sending — not that it already reached the customer's phone. Save the id field (looks like wamid.…) to correlate delivery callbacks.

200 OKResponse

{
  "sent": true,
  "message": "Sent to [email protected]",
  "description": "Message has been sent to the provider",
  "id": "wamid.HBgLMzgwNjM5..."
}

sent
Accepted for sending — not yet on the customer's phone
id
Store it; delivery callbacks and hookInfo are keyed on this

Delivery statuses and webhooks →

Common errors

Status	API response	Cause	Fix
200	Message was not sent: template is not defined	namespace, template or language is missing from the request body.	Send all three. Take namespace and the exact template name from GET /templates; language is an object: {"policy": "deterministic", "code": "en"}.
200	template name (…) does not exist in <language>	The template is approved in a different language than the one requested.	Use the exact language code the template was approved in (for example es_MX is not the same as es). Check it in GET /templates.
200	Message was not sent: provide chatId, phone, bsuid, or username	No recipient the channel could resolve.	Pass exactly one recipient: phone (country code plus number, digits only), chatId (for example [email protected]) or bsuid.