What is a keyword trigger?
A keyword trigger is a word or short phrase that starts an automation when it shows up in a message or comment. On Instagram, a comment like "PRICE" can trigger a DM with your price list.
Also called: trigger word, keyword automation, keyword reply.
By Santhul Joseph, AI EngineerUpdated
How keyword matching works
Tools match keywords in different ways. Some look for the exact text and nothing else. Some fire when the keyword appears anywhere, even inside a longer word. Others match whole words only.
The difference matters. With "contains" matching, the keyword "info" also fires on "infographic", and "sale" fires on "wholesale". Whole-word matching avoids that.
Picking good keywords
- Use one short, distinct word people can type quickly, like "LINK", "MENU" or "BOOK".
- Say the word in the post or reel itself, so people know what to comment.
- Avoid words people use anyway, like "yes" or "nice", unless you want every one of those comments to get a DM.
- Add a few variants if people will spell it differently, for example "price" and "prices".
Keyword triggers in SimplyBoost
Instagram comment rules fire on every comment or only on your keywords. Keywords match whole words and ignore capital letters, so "Link", "LINK" and "link" all match and "linked" does not.
In DMs, on WhatsApp and in the website chat you don't need keywords at all: the AI agent reads the question in the customer's own words. Keywords do come back for handover, where you can add your own triggers, such as "invoice" or "wholesale", that send a conversation to your team.
Questions people ask
Are keyword triggers case sensitive?
It depends on the tool. In SimplyBoost they are not: keywords ignore capital letters, so "INFO" and "info" behave the same.
Can one rule have more than one keyword?
Yes, most tools let a rule listen for several words. A comment that contains any of them fires the rule.
Do I need keywords if I use an AI agent?
Not for answering questions, because the agent understands free text. Keywords are still handy on Instagram comments, where you want a specific reply, like a link, for one specific word.