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Event invites with one-tap RSVPs

Upload your guest list, send a WhatsApp invite with two buttons, and watch the answers land on one list. Follow-ups only go to people who haven't answered.

About 15 minutes to set up the first time. After that, a new event takes a few minutes. Want the overview first? See WhatsApp RSVPs with Sonar.

What your guests see

One tap records their answer, and they get a reply with their own link: their ticket if they're going, or a "changed your mind?" link if not. If they change their mind later, the latest answer is the one that counts.

Before you start

  • Your plan. The free trial covers 50 contacts and 250 messages, with replies you type free, enough for a first test with your own team. For real events, the Starter plan (R349 a month, up to 10,000 messages) covers most organisers; see pricing.
  • Is your business verified with Meta? If your WhatsApp number can start chats with only 250 people a day (shown under WhatsApp numbers), it isn't yet. Until it is, new message templates can take up to 24 hours to approve, so do step 1 a day before you want to send. The Verify your business notice on your dashboard has the steps.
  • The name people see. Check under WhatsApp numbers that your number shows your business name, not a person's. If it doesn't, press Change name. Some names are accepted straight away; others take Meta a day or two to review.

Step by step

1. Create your invite template (once)

Go to Templates, and under Start from an example pick Event invite. It comes with two quick-reply buttons, "I'm in" and "Can't make it". Change the wording if you like, for example "No, refund my points" (up to 25 characters). Press Send to WhatsApp for approval. You can reuse this template for every event.

2. Create the event

Go to Events, fill in New event (name, date and time, place, and optionally a capacity and an RSVP deadline) and press Create event. Each event keeps its own guest list, so you can run several at once.

3. Add your guest list

Open the event. Under Invite list, choose your CSV file or paste the list. Each row needs a name and a WhatsApp number; an email is optional but helps match people. Columns can be in any order and a header row is fine:

First name,Last name,Email,Phone
Thandi,Mokoena,thandi@example.com,082 123 4567
Sipho,Dlamini,sipho@example.com,+27 82 765 4321

Exported from Excel? Numbers that lost their leading 0 are fixed automatically, and semicolon-separated files work too. If a number shows up like 2.78E+10, Excel has shortened it: format the phone column as Text and export again. Rows Sonar can't read are listed with the reason, so nothing is skipped silently.

Tick These people have agreed to get WhatsApp messages from us if they have (you'll need it to follow up), then press Add to invite list. Everyone appears as No answer. Anyone already on the list, matched by number or email, keeps their answer, so uploading an updated list is safe.

Invite only switches on when you upload your first guest list. Only people on the list can then RSVP: the event page takes no sign-ups and has no share button, and if an invite is forwarded, the new person's tap isn't counted. They're told the invite was for someone else, and they show on your list as Not invited (tried to join) so you can let them in if you like. Turn it off under Edit for an open event.

4. Send the invite

On the event, press Send to the … who haven't answered. Pick your invite template, choose which button means they're going, fill in the event details and press Send broadcast. Any other button counts as not going. To follow up without thinking about it, pick a time under Follow up automatically before you send (see step 6).

Tip: type {{rsvp_link}} in a template value to give each person their own RSVP link in the message.

5. Watch the answers

The event's list updates as people tap: Going, Not going, No answer, and Waitlist if you set a capacity and it fills up. When someone who was going says no, their place goes to the first person on the waitlist.

6. Follow up

Choose Follow up automatically when you send the invite: 1, 2 or 3 days later, a day before RSVPs close, or a day before the event. At that time Sonar sends the invite again, only to people who still haven't answered. It shows under Your broadcasts, where you can cancel it. You can also press Send to the … who haven't answered again yourself any time.

7. Download the list

Press Download CSV on the event any time. It shows each person's answer (going, not going, no answer or cancelled) and when it last changed, so you can see who to expect, or whose points to refund.

8. Send answers to your own system (optional)

Under Settings → Connected apps → Send RSVP updates to your own system, add a web address and Sonar sends every answer and change there as it happens, signed so your system can check it came from Sonar. Use it to refund points automatically when someone can't make it. Press Send a test to check your end, and open What Sonar sends for the details your developer needs.

Test it in five minutes

  1. Create a test event and put yourself and one or two colleagues on its invite list.
  2. Send the invite. One person taps I'm in, one taps Can't make it, and one doesn't answer.
  3. Each person who tapped gets a reply with their link. Open it and change your answer to check that the list updates.
  4. Send the follow-up: only the person who didn't answer should get it.
  5. Download the CSV and check everyone's answer.

What it costs

Each invite is a marketing message: no Sonar fee within your plan's messages, plus WhatsApp's own rate, about R0.62 in South Africa, which Meta bills to your WhatsApp account. Your guests' answers cost nothing, and the replies Sonar sends back with each person's link fall within WhatsApp's 1,000 free replies a month per number. See WhatsApp pricing in South Africa for the full breakdown.

Need a hand?

Email support@whats-hub.co.za and we'll help you set up your first event.

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