How do I start an automation when a new lead comes in?
Updated 23 October 2026
The Short Answer
In the automation's editor, set Who to New Leads, just below Everyone. Pick From, the places that count, and Send: Right Away, After a Wait or At a Set Time. Each new lead who comes in after you switch it on goes through it once. People you import or add yourself never count.
New Leads is not a list of people: nobody is in it until someone new reaches you by themselves.
How do I set it up?
- Open Extensions → Automations and press New Automation, or click an automation and press Edit.
- Click the top box. Under Who, pick New Leads, just below Everyone. The dot beside Who then reads Someone new who reaches you by themselves: your Meta lead ad form, a first message on your WhatsApp line, Facebook or Instagram, your chat link, or a first email. A first WhatsApp message from a number you've already saved — in your WhatsApp Business app's contacts on that line, or in your PropKaki contacts — doesn't count: they stay a contact.
- Click When It Starts. Trigger, Start and Repeat give way to From and Send.
- Set the steps as for any automation, and save with the button at the foot of the editor.
- Switch it on from its row.
It worked when the line under its name reads When They Come In · Right Away, or the Send choice you made.
Which new leads count?
From lists six places, all ticked to start: My WhatsApp Line, My Chat Link, My Lead Ads, My Facebook Page, My Instagram and My Mailbox. They are the same six as the New Lead alert's From. Untick the ones you do not want. With none ticked, saving stops with Pick where the new leads come from.
Campaigns appears only while My Lead Ads is ticked. Leave it on All Campaigns, or pick campaigns by their ID. The list holds the campaigns your lead ads have already brought a lead from; for one that has not, press + Add a Campaign ID and paste the ID Ads Manager shows.
People you import or add yourself never count.
When does the first message go?
Send has three choices, and the line under it says what yours means:
| Send | First message | Later messages |
|---|---|---|
| Right Away | within minutes of them coming in | 9:00am on their day |
| After a Wait, in hours (1–23) | that many hours after they come in | 9:00am on their day |
| After a Wait, in days (1–30) | that many days later, at your Time | at your Time |
| At a Set Time | the next time your Time comes round | at your Time |
Time shows only for At a Set Time or a wait counted in days. Whenever you pick a time, every message goes at it; otherwise later messages go at 9:00am. Each later step still waits its own Then Wait days.
Who goes through it, and how often?
Only leads who come in after you switch it on. Switching it on never reaches back for earlier leads, and turning it off and on again only takes leads from the new switch-on; anyone part-way through carries on.
Each lead goes through once. The last box in the editor reads Each new lead goes through once, so a second form from the same person does not start them again.
Because nobody is in it until they arrive, Who It Goes Through in the panel reads Nobody yet. That is normal. The turn-on check says Each new lead who comes in from now on goes through this once. and prices one lead: Each new lead uses credits when it’s written and sent. under 50 credits, or About … credits for each new lead above that.
Does it stop if they reply?
Yes, while Stop sending once reply received is on, on the editor's last box. PropKaki checks the exact time, so a lead who answers your first message the same day is not sent step 2. This applies to every automation, not only New Leads.
Your approval level works as on any automation. A new one starts on Confirm Before Drafting, so when a new lead's first message is due, PropKaki asks you on your Run On channel before writing anything. Only Send Automatically sends by itself.
Why does a WhatsApp first message need a template?
Someone who filled in your lead ad form has never written to you on WhatsApp, so WhatsApp only delivers a Meta-approved template to them.
- On the first step, choose Use Template.
- At the foot of the template list, press Write a New One. It writes the template and sends it to Meta from inside the step.
Until Meta approves it, the turn-on check says Step 1 (…) is waiting on Meta. A new lead who hasn’t messaged you in 24 hours gets it from your number as soon as it’s approved. Nothing waits for you to send it.