Before you start
An automation answers on a channel you've connected, so connect one first:
- Facebook Pages and Instagram connect like any social account and work as Messenger and Instagram channels too. For Instagram, choose Instagram (with Facebook), so the account is linked to a Facebook Page. Connect your accounts.
- WhatsApp connects your business number through Meta, and Meta bills WhatsApp messages to your WhatsApp Business account. Connect WhatsApp.
- Telegram, SMS and live chat need your own bot token, your own Twilio, Plivo or SMS gateway account, or a snippet on your website. Connect Telegram, SMS and live chat.
Automations come with messaging, which is included on Premium and higher plans. Your plan sets how many can be switched on at the same time on one channel: 25 on Premium, 50 on Agency and 50 on Unlimited.
Template, quick automation or flow?
| Start with | Best for | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| A template | Common jobs, such as welcoming new chats, answering FAQs or collecting an email address | A ready-made automation from a library you can filter by goal and industry. Some need an AI key, a store or a calendar connected first. |
| Quick automation | One-step rules: a keyword comes in, an answer goes out | A simple form with a trigger, optional conditions, actions, rotating reply versions and a live phone preview |
| Flow builder | Conversations with questions, choices and several steps | A visual canvas with branches, conditions, A/B splits, delays, questions that save answers to the contact, and stats for every step |
Build a quick automation step by step
- Pick the channel. Automations are set up per channel. At the top of most pages under Salesbot, use WORKSPACE CHANNEL to pick the Facebook Page, Instagram account, WhatsApp number or other channel this automation should answer on.
- Start a new automation. Open Salesbot > Automations and choose NEW AUTOMATION. Pick a ready-made template, or start from scratch and choose Quick automation: one trigger and one reply, set up in a simple form.
- Set the trigger and keywords. Name the automation and choose what starts it, such as a Messenger message or a comment on your posts. Add trigger keywords separated by commas, for example PRICE, HOURS, or leave them empty to answer every message.
- Choose the actions. Add what happens next: send a message, reply to the comment, add a tag, wait or hand the conversation to a person. Add up to 5 versions of the reply. They rotate, so regular customers don't get the same words every time.
- Set timing and limits. Under Timing & limits, choose a reply delay, the hours the automation is active (around the clock or business hours) and whether it answers each contact only once.
- Create it. Check the live preview, then choose CREATE AUTOMATION. Your list of automations shows its status, and only an active automation answers customers.
- Test it. Use Test bot to start a real conversation with your bot, or message your Page from a personal account, and check the answer you get.
Keywords can match anywhere in a message, at its start or exactly. Add the spellings people really type, such as PRICE, PRICES and COST.
An example: answer price questions
A bakery gets the same Messenger question every day: "How much is a custom cake?" A quick automation with the keywords PRICE, PRICES and COST answers with the price list and a link to the order form, then tags the contact as a cake lead so the team can follow up.
Move to the flow builder for longer conversations
A quick automation answers once. When the conversation needs a question, a choice or a follow-up, choose EDIT IN FLOW BUILDER. Your automation opens on a visual canvas, saved as a draft.
- Drag from one step to the next to connect them, and branch on buttons, quick replies or conditions such as a tag or a pipeline stage.
- Ask a question with a User Input step and save the answer, such as an email address, to the contact.
- Wait with a smart delay, split contacts for an A/B test or start another flow.
- The builder saves as you go and points out steps that aren't connected yet.
Drafts never answer customers. When the flow is ready, choose Publish.
Set up the bot basics
With the channel selected in WORKSPACE CHANNEL, open Salesbot > Settings > Bot setup. For a Facebook Page or an Instagram account it has four tabs:
- Welcome: the message people get when they tap Get Started.
- Default reply: the answer when no keyword or flow matches, sent every time or at most once a day per contact.
- Ice breakers: up to four suggested questions for first-time visitors, each with an answer or a flow. Instagram shows them in its mobile app only.
- Persistent menu: a menu in the conversation, with links, submenus or flows.
Choose SAVE CHANGES. On a Facebook Page, saving also syncs the menu to Messenger. A Telegram bot gets a welcome on /start and a command menu instead, and a WhatsApp number gets a business profile, ice breakers and commands. What a Messenger chatbot can do.
Decide what happens when your team replies
Open Salesbot > Settings > Conversation rules. These rules apply to every channel in your workspace:
| Situation | Your options |
|---|---|
| An agent replies | Pause the automation so the person takes over, or let it continue alongside them |
| Who owns the conversation after a reply | Whoever replied last, the person who replied only if nobody owns it yet, or never change the owner |
| A brand-new conversation | Leave it unassigned, or round-robin it to the least busy teammate |
| A message on a closed conversation | Always reopen it, reopen it only within a set time after closing, or never reopen it |
| A paused automation | Resume it when someone hands it back, when the conversation is closed, after a quiet period, or never |
In the Unified Inbox, a teammate can also pause the bot on a single conversation and resume it later.
Test it and read the results
- Test bot starts a real conversation with your bot, so you see exactly what a customer sees.
- Each automation shows its runs, how many are active now, its completion rate, the messages sent and recent failed runs with the reason.
- Its status tells you where it stands: Draft, Active, Paused or Failed.
Read the first real conversations in the inbox too. If people keep asking something your automation doesn't cover, add a keyword, an ice breaker or a step for it.
Automate within the rules
- Answer people who wrote to you or commented. Never message people who haven't contacted your Page or account.
- On Messenger and Instagram, an automation can message someone only within 24 hours of their last message. The 24-hour rule, explained.
- On WhatsApp, a closed window needs an approved template. Templates and the WhatsApp window.
- Offer a way out and a way to a person: add an unsubscribe keyword flow with the Unsubscribe step, and a hand-over to your team.
- Rotating reply versions keep your wording natural. They aren't a way around spam filters.