Incoming Messenger Messages
Incoming Messenger Messages runs every time a contact sends you a message on Facebook Messenger. It is the starting point for Facebook Messenger chatbots, keyword auto-replies, AI replies and bot-to-human handover.
Conditions
Conditions are optional. Click Add Condition, then pick a Field, an Operator and a value. Choose All (AND) or Any (OR) under Condition Type to decide whether every condition or just one must match.
| Condition | Operators | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming Message | includes any, does not include all, is a valid date, is not a valid date, matches regex pattern, does not match regex pattern, equals, not equals | Keywords, a regex pattern or exact text |
| Message Type | is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | Text, Template, Document, Image, Video, Audio, Order, Interactive, Sticker |
| Message received time | is between, is on, is before, is after, is less than X period ago (past), is more than X period ago (past) | A time of day, weekdays or a period |
| Last Contact activity time | is between, is on, is before, is after, is less than X period ago (past), is more than X period ago (past) | A time of day, weekdays or a period |
| Contact Group | is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | Your contact groups |
| Contact Tags | includes any, does not include all, is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | Your contact tags |
| Contact Stage | equals, not equals | Subscriber, Lead, Engaged, Marketing qualified lead (MQL), Sales qualified lead (SQL), Opportunity, Follow-up Required, Customer, Evangelist, Other, Lost, Inactive |
Incoming Message with includes any matches if the message contains any of your keywords anywhere, ignoring upper and lower case. Use equals for an exact reply or matches regex pattern for precise matching, for example /^stop$/i.
Message received time is checked in your location's time zone. is between takes a Time and an End Time and works across midnight (for example 19:00 to 09:00). is on takes one or more weekdays.
Actions
Click Add Action and choose from Select Action. Actions run in order; use the arrows to reorder them. To delay an action, click Add wait time (or Add wait & Schedule time on template and email actions). Wait times count from the trigger event, not from the previous action.
| Action | What it does | Wait time |
|---|---|---|
| Send Messenger Text Message | Sends a Messenger text reply while the messaging window is open. | Up to 1 day |
| send Messenger media | Sends an image, video or file on Messenger. | Up to 1 day |
| send Messenger audio | Sends an audio message on Messenger. | Up to 1 day |
| send Messenger Generic Template | Sends a Messenger card with buttons, or a carousel of cards. | Up to 1 day |
| Send Messenger Utility Template Message | Sends an approved Messenger utility template. Works outside the 24-hour window. | Minutes to months |
| send Messenger Quick Replies | Sends a Messenger message with up to 13 quick reply buttons. | Up to 1 day |
| send Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT) | Sends a customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey. | Up to 1 day |
| Webhooks by Whautomate | Sends the event data to your own URL (webhook). | Minutes to months |
| Add the Contact to Group | Adds the contact to a contact group, which you can check in later conditions. | Minutes to months |
| Remove the Contact from Group | Removes the contact from a contact group, for example so a rule does not run twice. | Minutes to months |
| Add Contact Tags | Adds tags to the contact. | Minutes to months |
| Remove Contact Tags | Removes tags from the contact. | Minutes to months |
| Update Contact Stage | Moves the contact to a stage, such as Lead or Customer. | Minutes to months |
| Send Email | Sends an email to the client, team members or a custom list. Marketing emails need CRM Suite; Transactional emails do not. | Minutes to months |
| Assign chat to unassigned queue | Moves the chat to the unassigned queue so a team member can pick it up (bot-to-human handover). | Up to 1 day |
| Assign chat to Staff | Assigns the chat to the team member you choose. | Up to 1 day |
| Auto-Assign Chat to Staff - Round Robin | Assigns the chat to team members in turn (round robin). | Up to 1 day |
| Auto Close Conversation | Closes the conversation, so automations answer again the next time the person writes. | Up to 1 day |
| Notify Staffs via WhatsApp | Sends a WhatsApp template message to the team members you choose. | Minutes to months |
| Smart Follow-up | Sends a follow-up if the contact has not replied within the wait time. Cancelled automatically when they reply. | Up to 1 day |
| AI Conversation | Replies with AI using your chosen provider, knowledge base and tools. See AI Conversation. | Up to 1 day |
| Smart AI Follow-up | Writes and sends a follow-up with AI, based on the conversation, if the contact has not replied within the wait time. Cancelled automatically when they reply. | Up to 1 day |
| Clear AI Conversation History | Clears the AI conversation history, so the next AI reply starts without earlier context. | Up to 1 day |
| Save the message response | Saves the contact's reply into their name, notes or a custom field (use variables.fieldname for a custom field). | Up to 1 day |
| Add Contact Notes | Adds a note to the contact. | Minutes to months |
Example
Greet new Messenger enquiries with quick replies
- Create a rule with the Incoming Messenger Messages trigger.
- Add the condition Incoming Message includes any
hi,hello,price. - Add the action send Messenger Quick Replies with a short greeting and buttons such as "Prices", "Opening hours" and "Talk to us".
Good to know
- While a team member has the conversation Open, message rules do not run, so the bot does not talk over a person. Turn on Override Human Agent in the trigger section to run this rule anyway (for example for an opt-out keyword).
- Text, media and interactive replies only reach the contact inside the messaging window (24 hours after their last message on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger), so their wait time is limited to 1 day. Use a template message for anything later.
- Send Messenger Utility Template Message can reach people after the 24-hour window closes.