Automated Keyword-Based Replies
Configure intelligent auto-reply systems that respond to customer messages containing specific keywords or phrases. Provide instant answers to common questions and reduce response times for frequently asked inquiries.
What You'll Learn
By the end of this guide, you'll have a keyword-triggered auto-reply system that instantly responds to customer messages containing specific words or phrases. This automation can handle FAQs, provide information about business hours, pricing, and more — all without agent intervention.
- Create canned responses for common questions
- Set up triggers for message received events
- Configure keyword and phrase matching conditions
- Test auto-reply automation in live conversations
- Use advanced operators (contains, starts with, regex)
- Combine multiple keyword conditions with AND/OR logic
- Set trigger priorities for overlapping keywords
- Monitor and optimize auto-reply performance
Prerequisites
Before You Begin: Ensure you have the necessary permissions and resources to complete this automation setup.
Admin access to Fiko platform
Required to create automation triggers
Canned responses prepared
Create responses for FAQs you want to automate. See the Getting Started guide.
Active communication channel
WhatsApp, LINE, or Live Chat Widget for testing
List of common customer questions
Identify keywords customers use when asking common questions
How Auto-Reply Automation Works
Understanding the message matching flow helps you configure effective keyword triggers.
Step 1
Customer Sends Message
A customer sends a message in an existing or new conversation on any channel.
Step 2
Keyword Detection
Fiko analyzes the message content against all configured keyword triggers.
Step 3
Condition Evaluation
If keywords match the configured conditions, the trigger activates.
Step 4
Auto-Reply Sent
The associated canned response is automatically sent to the customer.
Step 1: Create Your Auto-Reply Response
First, create canned responses for the questions you want to automate.
Identify Common Questions
Review your chat history to identify the most frequently asked questions. Common examples include:
- "What are your business hours?" — Keywords: hours, open, close, time, schedule
- "How much does it cost?" — Keywords: price, pricing, cost, fee, how much
- "How do I track my order?" — Keywords: track, tracking, order status, where is
- "Do you ship internationally?" — Keywords: international, shipping, deliver
Create the Canned Response
Go to Automations → Canned Responses and create a new response. Let's use business hours as an example:
Pro Tip: Make your auto-reply responses comprehensive but conversational. Include all relevant information so customers don't need to ask follow-up questions.
Step 2: Create the Keyword Trigger
Configure the automation trigger that detects keywords and sends the appropriate response.
Navigate to Triggers
Go to Automations → Triggers and click "Create Trigger".
Select Event Type
In the trigger creation modal, configure the basic settings:
Event Type (Required)
Inbound Message Created (inbound-message.created)
Trigger Type (Required)
Canned Response
Target (Required)
Business Hours Information
Priority (Optional)
0 — Higher priority triggers execute first if multiple keywords match
Add Keyword Conditions
Click "Add Conditions" to define what keywords will trigger the response. Add these rules for business hours with OR logic (match any):
How This Works: With OR logic, if the customer's message contains "hours", "open", OR "schedule", the trigger will fire and send your business hours response.
Understanding Operators
Contains
Matches if keyword appears anywhere in message
"What are your hours?" → Matches "hours"
Starts With
Matches if message begins with keyword
"Hours of operation?" → Matches "hours"
Equals
Matches if message exactly equals keyword
"hours" → Matches, but "hours?" does not
Regex Match
Advanced pattern matching (for experts)
/\b(hours?|open|schedule)\b/i
Recommendation: For most use cases, "Contains" with case insensitive enabled provides the best balance of accuracy and coverage.
Step 3: Test Your Auto-Reply
Verify that your keyword detection and auto-reply work correctly.
Send Test Messages
Open a chat conversation and send messages containing your trigger keywords:
Should trigger
"What are your hours?"
"When do you open?"
"Tell me your schedule"
Should NOT trigger
"Hello, I have a question"
"What is your return policy?"
Verify Auto-Reply Behavior
- Correct response: The right canned response is sent
- Quick delivery: Response arrives within a few seconds
- No duplicates: Only one auto-reply is sent per trigger
- Case insensitivity: "HOURS", "hours", and "Hours" all work
Managing Multiple Auto-Reply Triggers
Best practices when running multiple keyword-based auto-replies simultaneously.
Use Priority to Control Order
Assign higher priority values to more specific triggers. For example: Priority 10 for "refund policy" (specific) vs Priority 0 for "policy" (general).
Avoid Overlapping Keywords
Be careful with broad keywords that might match unintended messages. Use more specific phrases or combine keywords with AND logic to reduce false positives.
Test Trigger Interactions
When adding new triggers, test messages that might match multiple triggers to ensure the right response is sent.
Monitor and Refine
Regularly review auto-reply performance. Add new keywords when customers use phrases you didn't anticipate, and remove keywords that cause false triggers.
Troubleshooting
Auto-reply not triggering for expected keywords
- Case sensitivity: Ensure "case sensitive" is OFF unless you specifically need it
- Operator mismatch: "Equals" requires exact match; use "Contains" for partial matches
- AND logic too strict: Switch to OR if only one keyword needs to match
- Typos in keywords: Double-check spelling in your condition rules
- Message direction: Ensure trigger is for "inbound-message.created", not sent messages
Triggering for wrong messages (false positives)
- Use more specific keywords: Instead of "open", use "when do you open"
- Combine with AND logic: Require multiple keywords to match
- Use "Starts With": If questions always begin a certain way
- Leverage regex: Use word boundaries (\b) to match whole words only
Best Practices
Start Simple, Iterate
Begin with a few high-value FAQs. Monitor performance, gather feedback, then gradually add more auto-replies based on actual customer questions.
Use Natural Language Keywords
Think about how customers actually phrase questions, not technical terms. Test with real customer messages from your chat history.
Keep Responses Conversational
Even though automated, responses should feel helpful and friendly. End with an invitation for further questions to keep the conversation open.
Don't Over-Automate
Not every question should have an auto-reply. Complex or sensitive inquiries are better handled by human agents. Use automation for factual, straightforward FAQs.