SMS & Phone
How to Build an Automatic SMS Welcome Reply in GoHighLevel
By Marnix Geerkens. Published 2021-01-15. Updated 2026-06-02.
GoHighLevel can send an automatic text reply the first time someone texts a Twilio number, without any manual effort on your part. You create a short campaign with the message you want to send, build a trigger that fires when a new customer replies via SMS to a specific number, and link the two together. Set the campaign to disallow multiple sends so it fires only once per contact.
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Summary. An SMS auto-reply in GoHighLevel responds automatically the first time a new contact texts one of your Twilio phone numbers. The setup requires a campaign that holds the welcome message and a trigger that listens for first-time SMS replies on a specific number. Turning off the Allow Multiple setting on the campaign is critical so the message sends once rather than repeating on every future text from that contact.
What you will learn
- Create a campaign with a welcome SMS message
- Build a trigger that listens for customer SMS replies on a specific phone number
- Filter the trigger to a single phone number so the reply is targeted
- Turn off Allow Multiple to prevent the message from repeating on every reply
- Test the flow end-to-end from a real phone
Steps
Create the SMS campaign
Go to the Campaigns section of your GoHighLevel sub-account and create a new campaign. Give it a name like SMS Auto Reply. Add a text message action with the welcome message you want to send. Keep the message short and conversational, ending with a question to start the conversation.
Add a small delay to the send action
Add a short delay before the message action, such as 0.2 minutes, so the reply does not fire the instant the contact sends their first text. This avoids any appearance of an instant bot response, though for testing you can set it to zero.
Turn off Allow Multiple
Inside the campaign settings, find the Allow Multiple option and set it to No. This is the most important step. Without it, the welcome message fires every time the contact texts in, not just the first time.
Take the campaign out of draft
Publish the campaign so it is active and ready to receive contacts.
Create the trigger
Go to the Triggers section and create a new trigger. Set the type to SMS and name it to match the campaign. For the event, choose Customer Replied.
Add filters for SMS channel and phone number
Add a filter for Reply Channel set to SMS. Add a second filter for In Phone Number and select the specific Twilio number you want to monitor. This scopes the trigger so it only fires when someone texts that number.
Link the trigger to the campaign and activate
In the trigger's action step, choose Add to Campaign and select the SMS Auto Reply campaign you created. Save and take the trigger out of draft. Test by texting the number from a real phone and confirming the auto-reply arrives.
Tips
- Ask a question in the welcome message so the contact replies with something useful, like their name or what they are looking for.
- If a contact has already been through this flow and you reset their status, they may receive the welcome message again. Use the Allow Multiple setting carefully.
- This same pattern works for any specific phone number you use in a marketing campaign, such as a number printed on a flyer or ad.
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Frequently asked questions
Why must Allow Multiple be turned off?
Without it, the welcome message fires on every SMS reply, not just the first one.
Can I use this with any phone number in the account?
Yes. Set the In Phone Number filter to whichever number you want to monitor.
What happens when the contact replies to the welcome message?
Their reply appears in the Conversations tab. You can respond manually or add more automation steps to the campaign.
Does this work if the contact has texted the number before?
Since Allow Multiple is off, the campaign only adds a contact once. Existing contacts who text again will not receive the welcome message a second time.