The Default reply is a powerful feature designed to keep your audience engaged, even when you don’t have a predefined response for their request. It acts as a safety net, ensuring users always receive a reply, creating a seamless and professional conversational experience.
This feature is available across multiple channels, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram, making it a versatile tool for managing communications on all major platforms. Whether you’re handling customer inquiries, generating leads, or building brand loyalty, the Default reply ensures that no message goes unanswered.
In this article, we’ll explore what the Default reply is, why it’s important, and how you can set it up in Manychat to provide consistent and reliable responses, no matter the channel.
- How to set up the Default reply
- How to replace the Default reply
- Limitations and troubleshooting
- Tips and tricks
How to set up the Default reply
The Default reply setup process is consistent across all applicable channels. For demonstration purposes, we’ll use Messenger as the example channel.
To set up the Default reply, navigate to Settings > select the channel where you want to configure the Default reply (in this case, Messenger).
From there, you can either create a new automation for your Default reply or choose an existing one.
If you choose to create a new automation, you’ll be redirected to the Flow builder, where you can build custom automation specifically for the Default reply.
If you choose to use an existing automation, a pop-up window will appear where you can select the desired automation. You’ll also have the option to preview the automation in the same window before making your selection.
Alternatively, you can configure the Default reply by navigating to Automations > Basic. This method is available for all channels that support this feature.
When you click on the added trigger, a panel will open on the left where you can configure everything.
Here, you can choose to have the trigger activate every time a user sends a message or limit it to once every 24 hours for the same user.
⚠️ Note: Only for Instagram, you can also choose to configure the Default reply to trigger exclusively for Instagram direct messages, while excluding story reples.
Once you have successfully set up everything, toggle the switch in the bottom left corner to activate the Default reply and click the Set Live button to publish the automation.
How to replace the Default reply
To replace the current Default reply with a new one, click the x icon next to it in the Settings section.
Then, follow the previously outlined setup steps to create or select a new automation.
Limitations and troubleshooting
While the Default reply feature ensures seamless communication, there are some limitations and potential issues to be aware of. This section highlights key restrictions and provides troubleshooting tips to help you resolve common problems efficiently.
Limitations
Facebook Messenger includes a built-in emoji picker that allows users to select emojis directly within the app. However, due to limitations in Facebook’s API, emojis selected from this picker will not trigger the Default reply. Only emojis manually typed by the user will activate the Default reply automation.
Troubleshooting
- If the Default reply is not triggered
First, Refresh permissions of your Manychat account through the Help button as outlined in this article. Next, navigate to the automation connected to the Default reply, deactivate, and then reactivate it by toggling the Default Reply off and on in the settings bar.
⚠️ Note: Ensure these actions are performed by a team member who is either the owner or an admin with full control over the Facebook business page connected to the Manychat account.
Next, review the firing settings to determine whether the Default Reply is configured to trigger once in 24 hours or every time. If it is set to activate once in 24 hours, the Default Reply will not be triggered for every message from the user but only once within a 24-hour period.
Lastly, confirm that the automation linked to the Default Reply is published. Look for a small yellow dot next to the automation title, which indicates there are unpublished changes that need to be addressed.
If everything is correctly configured, check the Handover Protocol setup. The most common reason Messenger automation isn’t sent is that Manychat does not have ownership of the conversation on Facebook.
To ensure Manychat can deliver messages accurately, the Handover Protocol must be set up as detailed in this article. Make sure to Refresh permissions once again after setting it up.
Tips and tricks
- It’s a great idea to include contact information in your Default reply, allowing users to reach out to your business directly for questions the system cannot answer.
You can also incorporate Buttons or Quick replies to guide users in the right direction if they get stuck or need additional help. For more complex scenarios, consider starting a longer automation using the Start automation step to keep the conversation seamless.
- You can capture user inputs even before the Default reply is triggered by using the Last Text Input Custom User Field.
This feature allows you to store the user’s most recent message, which can then be sent to admins as a notification or forwarded to external servers to generate dynamic content based on the input.
It’s a great way to add personalization and responsiveness to your business’s interactions.
- Add an Action block with the Notify assignees action to immediately inform your team about user questions or specific inputs during a conversation. This ensures quick follow-ups and helps you address user queries efficiently, providing a better overall experience.
By applying these tips and tricks, you can optimize the Default reply feature to enhance user engagement, ensure seamless communication, and provide a more personalized experience across all supported channels.
If you are encountering any issues with the Default reply please contact our Support Team.