Table of Contents

Triggers

Raquel Updated by Raquel

What is a trigger?

You can define your trigger rule directly on the canvas or skip it while you are testing. But don't forget to return to it later: without a trigger, people can't enter a specific chat journey!

How to set up a trigger?

The available trigger options are:

  • On the first visit
  • When a message is received
  • Before or after an event
  • Specific time
  • Catch all

Let's dive into what each one means and how to use it.

On the first visit

To ensure a smooth first experience use the new "On the first visit" trigger. This trigger makes sure new visitors are welcomed regardless of the message they are sending in. You can add additional rules, but we recommend to keep it simple.

This trigger makes it simple to distinguish the chat journey between onboarding new users, e.g. collecting basic information, whilst returning users can go straight to the main menu.

💡TIP: The "On the first vist.." trigger works for the VERY first message from the user. If you want different definitions of NEW you can use advanced expressions based on the "First message received at" contact field in combination with date filter options.

Message Received

This trigger type considers the user's message. If the message from the user matches the specific keyword, they will get the defined response.

Choosing a condition:
  • Is exactly (This is default condition)
  • Isn't exactly
  • Is any of
  • Starts with
  • Starts with any of
  • Ends with
  • Ends with any of
  • Contains
  • Contains any of
  • Doesn't contain
  • Is empty
  • Isn't empty
Boolean (true/false) and Date fields:
  • Is
  • Isn't
  • Is empty
  • Isn't empty
Advanced Filtering

You can also use the advanced filtering for complex conditions, for example: type of message sent by a user. Let's say you want to start a journey when a user sends a media file (video, audio, or image) instead of a text message. Here's how you can set it up in Turn:

  1. Create a New Trigger
    1. Choose "When a message is received".
    2. Then you select "The message is".
  2. Enable Advanced Filtering
    1. Toggle on the "Advanced Filtering" option to allow custom conditions.
  3. Define the Trigger Condition
    1. For example, if you want to trigger the journey when a user (who isn’t already in a journey) sends an image or a video, use the following code

    event.message.type == "image" or event.message.type == "video"
  4. Save Your Journey
    1. Once saved, this journey will trigger whenever a user sends in an image or a video.

Available Options for type in event.message.[type]

  • text
  • image
  • video
  • audio

Time-based triggers

You can choose between a relative or specific time trigger. Read more in the Article: How to set up time-based triggers?

  1. Before or after an event, e.g. 2 days before your appointment.
  1. At a specific time, e.g. every Monday at 8 am. You can set this to be a once-off or a recurring trigger.

  • Add another rule to refine your target audience. This is recommended to ensure personalised messaging.
  • View how many people matches the trigger definition at that point in time.
    Two important notes:
The audience matching a specific trigger is subject to time. It is important to remember that depending on when a trigger is evaluated, the audience will change. This is also the power of triggers. A simple example, if you set up birthday messaging then 30 people may match your criteria today, whilst 62 matches it tomorrow.
Time-based triggers require a template

WhatsApp requires you to use a message template when reaching out to people after 24 hours since the last interaction. Because time-based trigger makes it possible to reach out beyond 24 hours, all time-based triggers have to start with a template message to ensure successful messaging.

You can select an existing template, or it needed, create a new template to start the specific chat journey.

Catch all

You use a catchall trigger when you have a chatbot service and need to direct users back to your menu when they send messages your service is not explicitly set up to handle. Some people call it an error trigger because it will fire when a user wrongfully interacts with a bot.

You should know the following:

  1. Your catchall message should be informative to help users understand what the bot can assist them with and what not. Use it to direct them back to the available options/menu.
  2. Remember that users should always know where to find a human. WhatsApp calls it a clear human escalation path. It is advised to include details contact details etc. in this message.
  3. If you combine a contact profile field or custom field to the Catch All trigger you can have different catchall messages for different Audiences.

Trigger Priority Order

With multiple trigger types available, it’s essential to have a clear prioritization logic to ensure that the most relevant trigger is always activated first.

Triggers in Turn.io follow this priority order:

  1. Time-Based → Always executed, regardless of other journeys' interactions.
    Important: Even if the user is already in an active Journey, the time-based trigger will always be triggered. It does not compete with other trigger types—it simply happens at the scheduled time.
  2. First Visit → Triggered for new users.
  3. Message Received → Prioritizes messages with more specific conditions.
  4. Catch-All → Triggered when no specific message match is found.
  5. Tiebreaker: The newest trigger takes priority.

Now you are an expert in turn.io Triggers. Create and manage your entire chat service on the Journey page. Have fun!

Need help?

Human support within business hours: Available via WhatsApp (recommended channel) or email support@turn.io.

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