Contact Management

Contacts are the foundation of your WhatsApp campaigns. Waflow provides a comprehensive contact management system that helps you organize, segment, and communicate with your audience effectively. This guide covers the contact database structure and available management features.

Contact Database Overview#

Every contact in Waflow represents a person or entity you can message via WhatsApp. The contact database stores:

• Core contact information (phone, name, email)
• Custom fields (any additional data you define)
• Tags (labels for categorization)
• Segments (dynamic or static groupings)
• Message history (conversations with each contact)
• Engagement data (opens, clicks, replies)

Each workspace has its own independent contact database. Contacts don't transfer between workspaces automatically.

Contact Data Structure#

Required Fields#

Every contact must have:

The phone number is the unique identifier for each contact. Duplicate phone numbers are not allowed within a workspace.

Default Fields#

Waflow includes standard fields you can populate:

Custom Fields#

You can create additional fields to store any data:

• Text: Short text values
• Long Text: Multi-line text
• Number: Numeric values
• Date: Date values
• Dropdown: Select from predefined options
• Checkbox: Yes/no values
• URL: Web links

See Custom Fields for detailed setup instructions.

Adding Contacts#

Manual Entry#

Add individual contacts through the UI:

1. Go to Contacts
2. Click Add Contact
3. Fill in the contact details
4. Click Save

Best for adding a few contacts quickly or testing.

CSV Import#

Bulk import contacts from spreadsheets:

1. Go to Contacts > Import
2. Upload your CSV file
3. Map columns to Waflow fields
4. Review and confirm

See Import Contacts for the complete guide.

API Integration#

Add contacts programmatically:

curl -X POST https://api.waflow.com/v1/contacts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "phone": "+14155551234",
    "first_name": "John",
    "last_name": "Doe",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "tags": ["customer", "vip"]
  }'

Ideal for integrating with your CRM or other systems.

Webhook Integration#

Automatically add contacts when events occur:

• Form submissions
• E-commerce purchases
• CRM updates
• Custom triggers

Configure webhooks in Settings > Integrations.

Contact List View#

The main Contacts page shows all contacts in a table view:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Contacts                                      [+ Add] [Import]   │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Search: [________________] Tags: [All ▼] Segment: [All ▼]       │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ □ Phone          Name           Email           Tags   Last Msg  │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ □ +14155551234   John Doe       [email protected]     VIP    2h ago   │
│ □ +14155555678   Jane Smith     [email protected]     Lead   1d ago   │
│ □ +14155559012   Bob Wilson     [email protected]      New    3d ago   │
│ ...                                                              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Showing 1-50 of 12,345 contacts              [< Prev] [Next >]   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Filtering Contacts#

Filter your contact list by:

• Search: Phone, name, email (fuzzy search)
• Tags: Filter by one or more tags
• Segments: Show only segment members
• Custom fields: Filter by any custom field value
• Date ranges: Created date, last message date
• Engagement: Has replied, has opened, etc.

Sorting Contacts#

Sort by clicking column headers:

• Name (A-Z or Z-A)
• Created date (newest or oldest)
• Last message (recent or oldest)
• Last reply (recent or oldest)

Bulk Actions#

Select multiple contacts for batch operations:

• Add tags: Apply tags to selected contacts
• Remove tags: Remove tags from selected contacts
• Delete: Remove selected contacts
• Export: Download selected contacts as CSV
• Add to segment: Include in a static segment

Individual Contact View#

Click on a contact to see their profile:

Contact Profile#

• Full contact information
• All custom field values
• Assigned tags
• Segment memberships
• Internal notes

Conversation History#

View all messages exchanged:

• Outbound messages (from you)
• Inbound messages (from them)
• Message status (sent, delivered, read)
• Timestamps
• Template used

Engagement Timeline#

Track their interactions:

• Campaigns received
• Messages opened
• Links clicked
• Replies sent
• Opt-out events

Edit Contact#

Update any contact information:

1. Click Edit on the contact profile
2. Modify fields
3. Click Save

Changes are logged in the activity history.

Organizing Contacts#

Tags#

Labels for categorizing contacts:

• Quick to apply and remove
• Contacts can have multiple tags
• Use for filtering and campaign targeting

Examples: "VIP," "Lead," "Churned," "Newsletter," "Black Friday"

See Tags & Segments for details.

Segments#

Groups of contacts based on criteria:

Static Segments: Manually selected contacts

• Fixed membership
• Update by adding/removing manually

Dynamic Segments: Rule-based groups

• Automatic membership based on criteria
• Updates when contact data changes

Examples:

• "Customers who purchased in last 30 days"
• "Contacts who haven't replied in 90 days"
• "VIP customers with email addresses"

See Tags & Segments for details.

Contact Engagement#

Message History#

Waflow tracks all messaging activity:

Engagement Scoring#

Contacts can be scored based on engagement:

• Opens and reads
• Reply frequency
• Link clicks
• Recency of interaction

Use engagement data to identify:

• Highly engaged contacts (prioritize)
• Unengaged contacts (re-engage or clean up)
• At-risk contacts (win back)

Data Quality#

Duplicate Detection#

Waflow prevents duplicates by phone number. When importing:

• Existing contacts are updated (if configured)
• Or import is skipped for duplicates
• Duplicate report is generated

Invalid Numbers#

Waflow validates phone numbers:

• Format validation (E.164 format)
• Country code validation
• Checksum validation (where applicable)

Invalid numbers are flagged during import and can be reviewed.

Opt-Out Management#

Respecting opt-outs is critical:

• Contacts who reply "STOP" are automatically opted out
• Opted-out contacts cannot receive campaigns
• Opt-outs are logged with timestamp
• Contacts can opt back in by messaging you

Contact Limits#

Workspace contact limits vary by plan:

Approaching your limit? Upgrade your plan or clean up inactive contacts.

Data Privacy#

Consent Management#

Track consent status for each contact:

• Consent given date
• Consent source (form, import, etc.)
• Consent type (marketing, transactional)

Data Export#

Contacts have the right to their data:

1. Go to a contact's profile
2. Click Export Data
3. Download JSON file with all their information

Data Deletion#

To delete a contact's data:

1. Go to the contact's profile
2. Click Delete Contact
3. Choose to keep or delete conversation history
4. Confirm deletion

For GDPR right-to-be-forgotten requests, use full data deletion.

Best Practices#

Keep Data Clean#

• Regularly remove bounced/invalid numbers
• Clean up contacts who haven't engaged in 6+ months
• Merge duplicates when discovered
• Validate email addresses

Use Tags Effectively#

• Create a tagging system before you start
• Use consistent naming (lowercase, underscores)
• Don't over-tag (5-10 tags per contact max)
• Regularly audit and clean up unused tags

Segment Strategically#

• Start with broad segments, then refine
• Use dynamic segments for automatic updates
• Review segment criteria quarterly
• Test segments before large campaigns

Protect Contact Data#

• Limit team access to contact data
• Don't export to unsecured systems
• Audit contact access regularly
• Respond to data requests promptly

Next Steps#

Ready to build your contact database?

• Import Contacts - Bulk import from CSV
• Tags & Segments - Organize your audience
• Custom Fields - Store additional data