ThruText Automations


Automations let you automatically send a reply when a contact responds with a specific word, helping you handle common, predictable responses without manual follow-up. This makes it easier to respond quickly, maintain consistent messaging, and reduce repetitive work for admins and texters, especially in campaigns where the next step is clear.


This guide explains how Automations work, how to set them up, and how to manage them in active campaigns.


COMING SOON! Before we release it widely in February, we’re looking for a few additional testers to try it out. If you’d like early access to Automations and can share feedback, sign up to be part of our testing group! Please reach out to product@getthru.io for early access to the new Automation feature.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


How Does it Work?

As an admin, you create an automation using two elements: a keyword and a recommended reply. When a contact responds with the exact keyword, ThruText will automatically send the associated recommended reply. 


Automations will only execute if

  • The keyword is sent on the first response from the contact. Keywords sent in following responses will not trigger the automation.
  • The keyword is an exact match.


Here's how it looks to a contact.


How To Set Up an Automation

Automations are created during campaign creation. If you are new to creating campaigns, we recommend reading this guide first: Launching a ThruText Campaign.


To begin creating a campaign, go to the left sidebar navigation menu and expand ThruText, then expand Campaigns, and click + Create New Campaign. Move through the campaign creation steps until you get to Initial Message.

Initial Message

There are no automation‑specific settings on the Initial Message page. However, your initial message should clearly explain how contacts can trigger automated replies.

Include instructions that tell contacts which keywords to reply with and what will happen when they do. For example, you might add language such as:

  • “Reply YES to confirm attendance.”
  • “Reply INFO to receive more information.”

This guidance helps ensure contacts know how to receive an automated response.


Replies

On the Replies page, you create the recommended replies that may be sent automatically. There are no new settings here for automations. However, when creating replies for use with automations, write message text that makes sense when sent automatically and without staff review.

  1. Title: A descriptive label used to organize replies and make them easier to find later.
  2. Message Text: This is the text that will be sent to a contact when the automation runs.


Not all recommended replies are automated. You can continue to use recommended replies manually unless you explicitly connect them to an automation. For more information, read our guide here: Recommended Replies.


Automations

The final step in setting up an automation takes place on the Automations page. Click + Add Automation to create a new automation.

When creating an automation, complete the following fields:

  1. Name your automation: Enter a clear label to identify the automation.
  2. Conditions: Add a comma‑separated list of keywords that trigger the automation. Keywords are not case sensitive.
  3. Actions: Open the dropdown menu and select the recommended reply that will be sent when the automation runs.


Managing your Automations in Active Campaigns

You can view or manage the automations in your active campaign by scrolling to the bottom of the Campaign Summary page, or by going to the Automations tab.

From this page, you can do several things:

  1. Pause All: Pause every automation in the campaign at once. When paused, automations do not run.
  2. Edit: Update the automation’s name, keywords, or associated reply.
  3. Delete: Permanently remove an automation from the campaign. This action cannot be undone. 
  4. Status: Enable or pause an individual automation.
  5. Total Invocations: See how many times ThruText has executed the automation.
  6. Add Automation: Create additional automations for the campaign.


Additional Information and Tips

  • Recommended replies connected to automations are marked with a lightning icon. You can see this on:
    • The Messenger
    • The admin dashboard on the recommended replies page for active campaigns
  • Recommended replies cannot be deleted while they are associated with an automation. Once the automation is deleted or updated to use a different reply, the recommended reply can be removed.
  • Keywords are not case sensitive. For example, an automation triggered by “YES” will also run if a contact replies with “yes.”
  • Multiple automations cannot share the same keyword, but they can use the same recommended reply.