How automations work

Automations are team-level rules that help you handle specific situations consistently across all your social media pages. Think of them as smart instructions that kick in when certain conditions are met, ensuring your team always responds appropriately to common scenarios.

How automations enhance your agents

While your AI agents handle general comment responses, automations give you precise control over specific situations. When an automation's conditions are met, it completely overrides the agent's default behavior with your custom instructions.

For example:

• When someone complains about a damaged product → Automatically apologize and send a private message with return instructions
• When an influencer comments → Thank them publicly and send a DM about collaboration
• When someone asks about shipping → Reply with current shipping times and send tracking info privately

Understanding the "Smart Copywriter" model

Think of ReplyZen's automation system as briefing a smart junior copywriter for each comment:

When a comment arrives, your automations check if their conditions match. If they do, they give instructions to your AI copywriter, who then crafts a single, coherent response following all the guidance provided.

This means:

• Multiple automations can activate for the same comment
• Their instructions are combined into a unified brief
• The AI creates one thoughtful response incorporating everything

Getting started with automations

The fastest way to get started is with our pre-built templates:

1. Navigate to Automations in your team dashboard
2. Click "Create from template"
3. Choose a template that matches your needs (e.g., "Handle customer complaints")
4. Customize the message guidance to match your brand voice
5. Assign it to your agents

Your first automation can be live in under 2 minutes!

What makes automations powerful

🎯 Natural language triggers

You don't need to think about keywords or complex rules. Just describe the situation in plain English:

• ✅ "Customer is asking about return policy"
• ✅ "Someone is upset about shipping delays"
• ✅ "Influencer with over 10k followers commented"

🔄 Smart action combinations

Each automation can:

• Reply to the comment publicly (visible to everyone)
• Send a private message (DM on Instagram, Private Reply on Facebook)
• Do both for comprehensive handling

🏢 Team-wide consistency

Automations work across all agents assigned to them, ensuring your entire team handles situations the same way, regardless of which agent or page receives the comment.

Common questions about automations

"How are automations different from agent settings?"

Agent settings define the general behavior - how your agent responds to typical comments. Automations define specific behaviors for particular situations. When an automation triggers, it completely takes over from the agent's defaults.

"Can I use automations and agents together?"

Absolutely! In fact, that's the recommended approach:

• Let agents handle general comments with their personality and knowledge
• Use automations for situations requiring specific, consistent responses

"What happens if I don't set up any automations?"

Your agents will continue working normally using their configured settings. Automations are optional enhancements for teams wanting more control over specific scenarios.

Next steps

Ready to create your first automation? Learn how to configure triggers, actions, and all available settings.

→ Setting up an automation