A trigger is a key action that a user must perform to start an automation. Each automation must have its own, unique trigger. You cannot use the same word or phrase in two separate automations.
For Instagram, there are several options for initiating the automation launch:
Direct Message
Comment on a post
Live comment (Comment during the live stream)
Story Reaction
Story Reply
Story Mention
You can customize the sensitivity for each trigger:
Any message - with this option the bot will be triggered on any message or comment of the user.
Specific message - with this option the user's message or comment should consist only of the key trigger word or phrase.
Example: if the trigger "Bot" is used, in order for the automation to start - the user's message must be exactly "Bot", nothing else.
Message that contains - with this option, the automation will start if there is a trigger word or phrase in part of the user's word or sentence.
Example: if the trigger "Bot" is used, the automation will start, for example, if the user writes the message "Bottoms up".
The letter case of the trigger word or phrase is not important, the automation will start anyway. "BOT", "Bot" and "bot" are the same trigger.
The last but not the least important setting is to prohibit restart.
This setting means that after the first run of the automation, the user will not be able to rerun the script within the specified time. For the user, this timer is enabled immediately when the automation starts.
You can set the prohibition for any period of time, seconds, minutes, hours, days. If you want the user to run the automation only once, you can set the timer for 365 days or more: it is unlikely that the user will remember the trigger in a year and will have a desire to run the automation again.
You can select up to four start triggers for a single automation.
To set the maximum possible number, you need to choose one of the three options, it is a Story reaction, a Story reply or a Story Mention, then turn on the multiple triggers mode and select the necessary ones:
Be careful with this customization, choose only the options you want.
Let's break down each trigger option in more detail:
Direct Message - This is the most popular trigger for the automation launch. The user writes a code word to your Direct or in response to your Stories, the bot starts interacting with the user.
Comment on the Post/Publication - when this trigger is selected, the automation will start from comments left under any of your published posts, this can be a simple post, reels or a saved live stream.
This is the best option for attracting new customers. The user watches your reels, picks up a code word, writes it in the comments and the bot responds to him immediately in their Direct, starting the script.
You can assign the automation to track comments under specific posts. It can be all your publications, or only selected ones. Please make its own automation for each of the publications.
Important: the trigger for each publication must be unique. You can't use the same words or phrases for two separate publications.
But there is a little problem with this setting: a comment does not open a 24-hour dialog box.
Details
So, an automation with this trigger can only send 1 message (this is Instagram's limitation). In order for the bot to be able to send more than 1 message - you will need to make a button in the starting block of a bot.
Clicking on the button will activate a 24-hour dialog box and the bot will send out the full chain of messages.
Live comment (comment during live stream) - when you select such a trigger, automation will be initiated on any live comment during your live stream. If you are invited to the live broadcast - in this case automation will not be initiated.
As in the case with comments to publications, such automation can send only 1 message.
Story Reaction - if you choose this option, the automation will run if the user puts any quick reaction to your Stories. Clicking on a “like" button or a sticker will not work: such user actions are not a trigger for automation.
Important: quick reactions are not recorded in Direct if the account has more than 50,000 followers. Thus, Instagram helps to unload your Direct when there is a lot of subscriber activity, but automations with this trigger will not work.
If you have more than 50,000 subscribers, the following options will work for you better:
Story Reply - choosing this trigger means that any user reply to your Stories will trigger the automation.
With this option, you can't select keywords or phrases (there is a first option for this, "Direct Message"), the automation will start on any user response sent manually, not on a reaction, like or sticker.
Story Mention - if you select this trigger, automation will be triggered if a user mentions your account in their Stories.
Important: the user's account must be open at the time the story is published, as Instagram does not share information about Stories from Private accounts. Reposting your Story or publication does not count as mentioning your account.
Now you know everything about launch triggers, you can combine customization options for your automations!