How to Manage Chatbot Flow Triggers

SendPulse allows you to create automated chatbot flows when a bot answers customer's questions according to an in advance specified scenario that launches on trigger words.

Trigger Types

Triggers are subscribers' actions or keywords sent in their messages. They can be of three types:

After subscription — such a trigger launches a flow in a set period after a customer subscribes to the chatbot.

Keywords — such a trigger launches a flow after receiving a message with a keyword from a subscriber.

А360 Event — this trigger launches a flow of messages after receiving an event for the specified contact.

Comment on your post — this trigger starts a chatbot flow after you receive a comment on any or specific Instagram post.

Comment on your live video — this trigger starts a chatbot flow after you receive a comment from a viewer during your Instagram live video stream.

There are three default triggers in SendPulse service:

Welcome message sends a message immediately after a customer subscribes to a chatbot.

Standard reply sends a message when no keywords are recognized in a subscriber's message.

Unsubscription from the bot sends a message to subscribers after they submit the /unsubscribe or /stop command.

The service recognizes separate words and word combinations as keywords, for example, "hi," "hello," "what is the cost." One keyword is limited to 32 symbols. If a subscriber sends a keyword in a sentence or the sentence contains several keywords, the chatbot replies with an automatic clarification request.

For example, a user has two triggers: one with the keyword "hi" and the second with the keyword "price." A subscriber sends a message, "Hi, what are the prices for your services?" to the user’s chatbot. The chatbot replies with the request for clarification where keywords "hi" and "price" are in the form of quick replies. Subscribers click the keyword, they are interested in, and the corresponding flow starts.

Keywords don't depend on the case; the service recognizes "hi," "Hi," and "HI" in the same way.

Users can create new triggers, edit, bind to flows and unbind from them, and delete existing triggers.

How to Create a New Trigger

Click Create a new trigger.

Select a trigger type.

To set up the "After subscription" trigger, specify in what time after a subscription a flow bound to this trigger will launch.

To set up the "A360 Event" trigger, specify the event you want to track. When SendPulse receives an event for the specified contact, the chatbot will launch the flow.

To set up the "Keyword" trigger, specify keywords on receiving which a message flow will start and a callback period. Press "Enter" after each keyword.

To set up the "Comment on your post" trigger, specify the post after commenting on which the user will receive a message from your chatbot, enter the keyword, and set the callback interval.

To set up the "Comment on your live video" trigger, enter the keyword, and set the callback interval.

The "Comment on your post" and "Comment on your live video" triggers are only available for Instagram chatbots.

Callback determines how often a flow bound to the trigger is called. For example, a user creates a trigger with the keyword "hi" and the "5 minutes" callback. If a subscriber sends a message containing "hi" to the user's chatbot and then sends another one with the same keyword in two minutes, the flow bound to this trigger will launch once.

A callback can be set in minutes, hours, or days.

Click "Add" to save the trigger.

When a new trigger is ready, you can start creating an automated chatbot flow.

Note: the service doesn't allow creating several triggers with the same keywords.

How to Edit an Existing Trigger

Select the necessary trigger from the panel and click Edit the trigger.

Make the necessary changes, and click Save.

How to Delete a Trigger

Select the necessary trigger from the panel. Open the "More" menu for a trigger and click Delete the trigger.

After deleting a trigger, you can find the flow that was bound to it in "Saved flows."

How to Set Up Bot Suggestions

If the user enters a part of a keyword linked to your command, your bot will suggest prompts such as a button with the name of your trigger. When the user clicks the button, the flow will launch.

Users can receive a message with a bot suggestions indicator that appears right after quick reply buttons, meaning that the bot is waiting for a user’s message. To change this indicator, go to the bot settings in the “General” tab, and enter your value in the “Bot suggestions indicator” field.

To disable hint suggestions, uncheck the “Show bot suggestions when entered messages do not match a keyword” checkbox.

Last Updated: 21.02.2023