When a customer sends an email or chat message, you can set up an automated reply via email that:

• Acknowledges the receipt of the customer's message.
• Provides an estimated response time, such as "Our team will respond within 24 hours."
• Optionally includes helpful resources, such as links to FAQs, support documentation, or business hours.

This can be useful in various scenarios, including when no agent is available or when you want to provide an immediate acknowledgment. It also improves customer experience by setting clear expectations, reducing frustration, and proactively addressing common questions.

Before you start

Ensure you have set up Conversations on your website and connected your communication channels. To learn more, check our dedicated article With Conversations, change the way you communicate with your customers.

Create your automation

1. Go to Automations.
2. Click Create an automation.
3. Select the new editor.
4. Click the name of your automation in the top bar to update it.

Step 1/2: Define who will receive your automated replies

In this example, we’ll set up an automated reply for paid customers who send us an email when no agent is immediately available to respond. You can easily adapt this use case to suit your specific needs by using different triggers, filters, or actions in your automation.

1. From the Triggers tab, add the Conversations - Message received step to the canvas.
   
   💡 Good to know

   The Message received trigger lets contacts enter the automation every time they send a message. In contrast, the Conversations started trigger only allows contacts to enter when they send the first message in a new conversation.

2. (Optional) Refine the trigger by applying Event filters. This way, you can refine the trigger based on specific details about the message received, such as the agent's name or availability, sender's name or email address, or the message source.
   1. Under Conversations filters, click Add filter.
   2. In the Define event filters modal, click Add filters and choose the conditions you want to apply to refine the trigger. For this example, we'll select the following two conditions to ensure that the automation will only trigger for emails sent when no agent is available:
      
      • Source > is exactly > Email
      • AND No agent is online > True
   3. Click Add filters.
      
3. (Optional) Restrict your automation to contacts who meet specific criteria by applying Contact filters. This gives you more control over which contacts can enter the automation.
   1. Under Contact filters, click Add filter.
      
   2. In the Define contact filters modal, click Add filters and choose the conditions you want to apply to control which contacts can enter the automation. For this example, we selected Contact details > Subscription plan > Paid to ensure that paid customers receive a response even if no agent is available, while reassuring them that their inquiry is being prioritized.
   3. Click Add filters.
      
4. Click Apply to step.

Step 2/2: Send the automated reply via email

You'll now design and configure the automated reply that you'll send to contacts via email when no agent is available to respond. To learn more about sending emails from an automation, check our dedicated article Send an email from an automation.

1. From the Actions tab, add the Messaging - Send an email step to the canvas.
2. Select an email template. You can choose one of Brevo's pre-configured templates or your own template, or you can create your own design from scratch.
   
3. Design your email template by updating its content and adding any extra content or blocks as needed. To learn how to use the Drag & Drop editor, check our dedicated series of articles.
4. (Optional) Click Preview & test to verify personalized details, like the recipient's first name, and review the design and layout of your email template.
5. Once you're done, click Use this design in automation in the top bar of the email editor to save your email template and return to the automation editor.
6. Configure the settings of your email template:
   • Event data
   • Subject line and preview text
   • Sender email address and name
   • Additional settings, including email sending time, email copy, reply-to address, tags, attachment, profile update form, unsubscribe form, and more.
7. Click Save.

Activate the automation

Once everything is set up, you can activate the automation:

1. In the top bar of the automation editor, click Activate automation.

2. (Optional) Activate the Re-entry after exit option to allow contacts who have exited the automation and later send a message again to re-enter the automation.

3. Click Activate automation.
   

Your automation is now active. Contacts will enter it when they send a message and receive an automated reply. If the trigger includes the "No agent is online" filter, the reply will only be sent when no agent is available.

⏭️ What's next?

• Welcome Message - Send a series of welcome emails to new contacts
• Define and manage the audience entry and exit conditions for an automation

🤔 Have a question?

If you have a question, feel free to contact our support team by creating a ticket from your account. If you don't have an account yet, you can contact us here.

If you’re looking for help with a project using Brevo, we can match you with the right certified Brevo expert partner.