Keyword auto-responses

Keyword auto-responses automatically reply when customers text specific words—handling opt-outs, opt-ins, and information requests without manual intervention.

Why use keyword auto-responses

• Manage consent: Let customers opt in or out instantly via text—a requirement in many jurisdictions, including the US under the TCPA.
• Provide instant support: Reply to HELP requests immediately with useful information or contact details.
• Grow your subscriber list: Let new customers join by texting a keyword like JOIN.
• Track interactions: The system records incoming messages and auto-responses for customers who have given consent.

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Note

Enable two-way messaging before using keyword auto-responses.

Supported channels

• SMS, MMS, RCS: Keywords are configured together and apply to all senders within these channels.
• WhatsApp: Requires separate keyword configuration.

Keyword auto-response actions

There are 3 action types. Choose the one that matches your goal.

The examples are a starting point, not a complete list. Real customers often use natural language like "please stop sending me texts" or "take me off your list"—phrases that keyword matching alone won't catch. Work with your Legal and Compliance team to define the full set of words and phrases your business needs to treat as opt-outs.

For guidance on handling messages that don't match your keywords, see Keyword auto-response best practices.

Revoke consent (opt-out/unsubscribe)

Suggested keywords (examples only): STOP, QUIT, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, ARRET, BASTA, STOP ALL, REPLY STOP, PLEASE STOP, REMOVE, OPT OUT, NOT INTERESTED

What it does:

• Blocks the phone number from future messages immediately.
• Tracks consent rejection for selected consent categories to matching customer profiles.
• Sends your auto-response confirming the unsubscribe.

How it finds customer profiles: The system checks every few minutes to find all customer profiles matching the phone number. It tracks consent rejection to up to 10 customer profiles. If more than 10 profiles share the same phone number, message blocking still works, but consent events won't be recorded on profiles beyond the first 10. Review your data to determine whether any phone numbers are associated with more than 10 profiles, and implement a manual process to address any gaps.

Unknown numbers: If no existing customer profiles match the phone number, the system discards the opt-out request, which isn't stored in a customer profile. If your compliance program requires retaining a record of all opt-out requests regardless of profile status, implement a separate logging process.

Grant consent (opt-in/subscribe)

Suggested keywords (examples only): JOIN, START, SUBSCRIBE, YES, OUI, SI

What it does:

• Tracks consent acceptance for selected consent categories to matching customer profiles.
• Creates new customer profiles for unknown phone numbers (if configured).
• Sends your welcome auto-response.

How it finds customers: For existing customers, the system finds all matching profiles (up to 10) and tracks consent acceptance. If the phone number belongs to an existing profile that has received at least 1 mobile message from that channel, the system tracks consent events in real time.

New customer profiles: When you enable Map new subscribers ID, the system automatically creates new profiles for unknown phone numbers. The phone number in international format becomes both the customer ID and the phone attribute value.

No action (give information only)

Suggested keywords (examples only): HELP, INFO, SUPPORT, HOURS, LOCATION

Sends an auto-responsewithout changing subscription status. Use this to provide support information, store hours, or contact details.

Configure keyword auto-responses

1. Go to Project settings > Channels > SMS / MMS / RCS (or Mobile messaging for WhatsApp).
2. Under Two-way mobile messaging, find Keyword auto-responses.
3. Click Add keyword configuration.
4. Enter your keywords (up to 100 per configuration).
5. Choose a consent action: revoke, grant, or no action.
6. Select relevant consent categories (up to 5 per configuration).
7. For Grant consent, select the new subscriber ID (commonly a phone soft ID).
8. Write your auto-response message.
9. Click Save.

Set up consent categories

Create consent categories for each channel you plan to use. You can select up to 5 categories per keyword configuration and define which ones apply to SMS, MMS, RCS, and WhatsApp.

You can use the SMS consent category for granting WhatsApp consent, but separate categories give customers more control—they can unsubscribe from each channel individually.

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Important

Use consents, not legitimate interest, as the consent category for SMS campaigns. When you use legitimate interest, phone number blocking also applies to new customers.

Set up keyword matching

Keyword auto-responses only trigger when the keyword appears at the start of the message.

Where the keyword appears matters

• "STOP now"—matches
• "STOP" (with spaces before or after)—matches
• "Please STOP"—doesn't match
• "Unsubscribe me"—doesn't match unless you add UNSUBSCRIBE as a keyword

If you only configure STOP as a keyword, common real-world opt-out phrases won't be caught. See Keyword auto-response best practices for guidance on handling these cases.

Other rules:

• Keywords must form a complete word—followed by a space, comma, or end of message.
• Matching is case-insensitive: "STOP," "Stop," and "stop" all match.
• Accents are ignored: "stop" matches "stôp" or "štop."
• Extra spaces are ignored: " STOP " still matches.

Test your keywords

Test keyword matching

The following examples use STOP (English) and ARRET (French) as opt-out keywords.

Test auto-response configuration

1. Send a keyword (like "STOP") to your dedicated number.
2. Check that you receive the auto-response immediately.
3. Go to Data & Assets > Customers and verify:
   1. Consent event: Action = reject (for STOP) or accept (for JOIN).
   2. Campaign event: Status = incoming_message.
   3. Auto-response event: Status = enqueued or enqueue_failed.

What to check:

• Auto-responses arrive within seconds. If they don't, check your provider settings.
• Auto-response text is correct and isn't cut off.
• Customer subscription status updated correctly in their profile.
• All expected events appear on customer profiles within a few minutes.

Compliance

Bloomreach provides tools to capture and process opt-out requests. It's your responsibility to configure those tools so all opt-out requests you determine are reasonable under applicable law are detected and honored. Nothing in this documentation is legal advice.

US compliance (TCPA/CTIA)

• Include opt-out instructions: In many US jurisdictions, brands are expected to tell customers how to stop messages — for example, "Reply STOP to opt out." The exact wording and frequency should be defined by your Legal and Compliance team. Your Bloomreach setup must match whatever policy they approve, including supporting "STOP" and any other opt-out phrases they require.
• Process opt-outs quickly: Process opt-out requests within seconds. Delays can lead to violations.
• Confirm unsubscribes: Always send a confirmation when someone unsubscribes. This shows you received and processed their request.
• Document consent: Keep records of when and how customers opted in. This protects you if complaints arise.

International considerations

• Research local keywords: Different countries use different opt-out terms. In Germany, "STOPP" is more common than "STOP."
• Handle language variants: Customers may type keywords with or without accents — for example, French customers might send “arrêt” or “arret.” Accents are ignored, so a single keyword like ARRET covers both.
• Check carrier requirements: Some mobile carriers have specific keyword requirements.

Auto-responses and scenarios

Keyword auto-responses work best alongside scenarios. See Keyword auto-response best practices for guidance on combining both for fuller opt-out coverage.

Handle blocked phone numbers

Sending an opt-out keyword adds the customer's phone number to a blocklist immediately.

• Override options: You can still send messages under "General consent" for critical updates. Use this override only for genuinely transactional or legally required communications—not marketing. Sending marketing messages to a customer who has opted out, even under General Consent, may violate the TCPA and applicable state laws. Consult your Legal team before using this override.
• Permanent blocking: Numbers stay blocked until the customer opts back in. This applies to all profiles—including profiles created in the future—that share that phone number.
• Multiple profiles: All profiles sharing the same phone number get blocked (up to 10 profiles receive consent events).

Timing considerations

There's a small delay between when a number is blocked and when consent events are tracked. If you send a campaign during this window to a blocked number, it fails with status enqueue_failed.

Event tracking

Consent events

Campaign events

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Note

For MMS messages, the system builds the received message from all MMS parts and attaches media as a URL.

Auto-response events

Limits and requirements

System limits

• 20 keyword configurations maximum per account.
• 100 keywords per configuration (each up to 20 characters).
• 5 consent categories maximum per configuration.
• 10 customer profiles maximum processed per phone number for consent actions.

Requirements

• Incoming messages require a dedicated phone number (short or long code).
• Customers can't reply to alphanumeric senders.
• Customer phone attributes must use international format (starting with "00" or "+").

Consent behavior

• Blocklist override: Opt-out actions block all message sending except under "General consent."
• Category scope: Keyword consent actions apply to the categories you select in auto-response settings, not the consent category used in your original campaign.
• Cross-channel impact: SMS consent actions can affect other channels if you use the same consent categories.
• Event tracking dependency: If SMS campaign events are disabled, incoming messages aren't tracked.

Profile handling

• New customers: For grant consent actions, new profiles are only created if you configure Map new subscribers ID.
• Unknown numbers: Revoke consent from unknown numbers is processed, but no profile is created.
• Multiple profiles: Up to 10 profiles with the same phone number can receive consent events.