Automating Lead Follow Up with Salesforce and WhatsApp: A Marketing Success Story
At Coacto, we pride ourselves on designing solutions that make a real-world impact. One of our recent projects with Edco Latam Consulting exemplifies how tailored automation and smart integrations can streamline processes and transform engagement.
Who is Edco Latam?
Edco Latam operates in the education sector, acting as a bridge between students and universities across Latin America. Their mission is to support universities, colleges, and polytechnics from around the globe to increase student enrolment numbers from Latin America. Their representatives also guide prospective students through the complex process of university enrollment.
To scale this mission, Edco Latam needed a powerful marketing automation system — one that could deliver timely, personalized communication at scale and help nurture student leads from initial contact through to enrollment.
The Challenge
Edco Latam’s team often meets prospective students at live events, where representatives gather sign-ups. The challenge was twofold:
- Capture lead data quickly and accurately at the point of contact.
- Automate follow-up in a way that felt personal, timely, and effective — without overwhelming their small team
The Solution: Seamless Integration Across Tools
We implemented a fully custom marketing automation solution leveraging Salesforce, Jotform, WhatsApp (via Messente), and Calendly — bringing together four powerful tools to create one seamless experience.
Step 1: Lead Capture with Jotform + Salesforce
At live events, students fill out a digital form using Jotform on a tablet or laptop. Thanks to the Jotform–Salesforce integration, each form submission automatically creates a Lead record in Salesforce — no manual entry required.
Step 2: Immediate Engagement via WhatsApp
Once the Lead is created, the journey begins. Using Messente’s WhatsApp Business integration, Salesforce triggers an automated welcome message to the student. Messente’s support team was instrumental in ensuring reliable message delivery and API connectivity.
Step 3: A Personalized, Long-Term Nurture Journey
Each message offers multiple interaction options:
- “See more details”
- “Speak to a representative” (via WhatsApp or email)
- “Book a meeting”
- “Unsubscribe”
Over the following six months, students receive a tailored mix of email and WhatsApp messages based on their interactions. For example:
- If a student engages with a message, they’re moved into a more active follow-up stream.
- If there’s no response after 7 days, they’re classified as a “cold lead,” triggering follow-ups after 3 and 6 months instead.
This multichannel approach ensures that students can engage in whatever way feels most comfortable to them. See the below Image for the complexity of the automation journey:
Step 4: Calendly Integration for Seamless Scheduling
If a student chooses to book a meeting, they’re taken to a Calendly link tied to their local representative. When the booking is made:
- A Salesforce Event is created.
- The Lead status is updated.
- The Marketing Journey adapts — pausing or adjusting communications accordingly.
The Impact
This integrated solution has transformed how EdcoLatam engages with prospective students:
- Real-time responsiveness at the point of sign-up
- Consistent, personalized communication over time
- Clear tracking and visibility into student status and interest level
- Efficient workflows for the Edco Latam team, freeing up time to focus on high-value conversations
Final Thoughts
This project is a perfect example of how technology can enhance human connection. By automating the heavy lifting behind the scenes, Edco Latam can focus on what matters most: supporting students on their educational journey.
Whether you’re a small team looking to scale outreach or a growing organization in need of custom CRM solutions, we’d love to help you build something that works as hard as you do.
Written by Danny Bragg, Salesforce Consultant at Coacto.
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