Auto Chats allow you to generate leads based off of a keyword and trigger automations without any manual processing by you or your team. To see an example of how Auto Chats work with ActiveCampaign, text DEMO to (858) 800-4552. In order to create an Auto Chat, you will need to go to the Auto Chats page and click Add Chat.
You will then select the Keyword and phone number that leads will text to start the Auto Chat. When selecting a keyword, make sure that you select a word that a) will not be a common response to your out going messages and b) will not be auto corrected by smartphone keywords.
From this point, you will create your response to the keyword being texted in, and select what field you want the contact's answer to be saved to. You can personalize your message using contact information stored in ActiveCampaign by clicking the Merge Field button in top left. Additionally you can select a Trackable Link to insert into your message which will allow you to apply a tag to the contact record when that link is clicked by the contact. Using the Manage Media button, you will also be able to attach a media to your message which will automatically change that message from an SMS to an MMS which will allow you to send up to 1600 characters with the media attached. You will also have the ability to add a tag to the contact, which can be used to trigger an automation. to finish, simply click the Add Step button to finish. Repeat this process for each step of your Auto Chat in order to capture all of the desired lead information.
After clicking Add Step, you will see this page which will show you what the automated conversation would look like, and by pressing the plus button in top right of the phone image, you can add another step. As soon as you are finished, click Update Keyword Settings and your auto chat will be listed on the Auto Chat page with the keyword and associated phone number.
In addition to new contacts being able to initiate an Auto Chat by texting in the keyword, You can setup Auto Chats to be sent from ActiveCampaign in order for you to gather and save responses from your existing contacts. Learn how to setup Auto Chats using the webhook url here.