In this article, you’ll learn how to set up Contact Replies in SMS messages, handle unexpected responses using the Fallback option, and understand how opt-in and opt-out keywords are processed to ensure smooth communication with your audience.
What is an SMS Contact Reply
The Contact Reply feature enables you to create personalized interactions by defining specific actions based on a contact's response.
For example, you can ask customers to rate your service on a scale of 1 to 5, rewarding satisfied customers with a discount and directing dissatisfied ones to a feedback survey. The Contact Reply feature allows you to define specific actions based on their responses.
⚠️ Important note:
Certain keywords in SMS responses, such as "YES," "START," or "UNSTOP," are processed by Twilio automation rather than Manychat automation. These keywords are recognized as opt-in signals, enabling the contact to receive your SMS messages if they aren’t already eligible.
Similarly, opt-out keywords like "STOP," "STOPALL," "UNSUBSCRIBE," "CANCEL," "END," and "QUIT" will unsubscribe the contact from receiving SMS messages. Even if SMS keywords are set up in Manychat, these Twilio-processed opt-out keywords will override your settings, and you won’t be able to send automated SMS to those contacts.
How to create an SMS Contact Reply
Add an SMS Message block and click Add Contact Reply:
Type a word, number, or a variable that will act as the expected reply and select the next step to determine what happens when a contact provides this response:
💡 You can set up to 10 Contact Replies.
⚠️ Please note that your contacts won’t see any visible options to choose from, so it’s essential to ensure the message clearly instructs them on what to type in response.
Here’s a comparison of how your message with Contact Replies appears in Manychat and how it will look to the user on their end:
If a contact responds with the exact text predefined in your Contact Replies, the automation will continue along the defined path.
If the contact replies with something else, no further action will be triggered, but their response will still appear in Live Chat for your review. To handle such cases, you can set up a Fallback option by clicking Fallback. This ensures that if a contact responds incorrectly, the action tied to the Fallback option will trigger instead: