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Automation Rules

Automation rules allow GroupHunter to automatically approve or decline members based on criteria you define. Save hours of manual work by letting the system handle routine decisions.

Overview

Automation rules evaluate each member request and can:

  • Auto-Approve — Instantly approve and send welcome message
  • Auto-Decline — Decline with optional decline message
  • Flag for Review — Mark for your manual attention

Rules run automatically when members are synced to the dashboard.

Creating Your First Rule

<StepGuide steps={[ { title: "Go to Automation → Rules", content: "Click 'Create Rule' button in the top-right corner." }, { title: "Name Your Rule", content: "Give it a descriptive name like 'Auto-approve with email'." }, { title: "Choose Action", content: "Select Auto-approve, Auto-decline, or Flag for review." }, { title: "Add Conditions", content: "Define criteria: require email, keywords, answer length, etc." }, { title: "Select Groups", content: "Apply to all Groups or choose specific ones." }, { title: "Save and Enable", content: "Rule activates immediately and processes new members." } ]} />

Available Conditions

Data Requirements

Require Email in Answers

  • Member must provide a valid email address
  • Most common approval condition

Require Phone in Answers

  • Member must provide a phone number
  • Optional but valuable

All Questions Answered

  • No blank answers allowed
  • Ensures complete information

Agree to Group Rules

  • Member checked "I agree to group rules" on Facebook
  • Good spam filter

Keyword Matching

Include Keywords

  • Approve if answers contain specific words
  • Example: "business owner", "entrepreneur", "marketing"
  • Case-insensitive matching
  • OR logic (any keyword matches)

Exclude Keywords

  • Decline if answers contain spam keywords
  • Example: "buy followers", "check my page", "DM me"
  • Catches common spam patterns

Keyword Examples:

Include for approval:

email, genuine, interested, learn, grow, network

Exclude for decline:

spam, bot, scam, buy followers, check my profile, 
click here, link in bio, DM for, promote

Answer Quality

Minimum Answer Length

  • Require answers of at least N characters
  • Filters out lazy "yes" responses
  • Good for "Why do you want to join?" questions

Example: Minimum 50 characters ensures thoughtful answers

Match Expected Answers

  • Check if answer matches pre-defined options
  • Example: Gender = "Female" for women-only Groups
  • Exact or partial matching

Facebook Profile Criteria

Minimum Facebook Age

  • Require account older than N days
  • Filters new/fake accounts
  • Common threshold: 180 days (6 months)

Minimum Mutual Friends

  • Require at least N mutual friends with you
  • Trust signal
  • Common threshold: 3-5 mutual friends

Minimum Friends in Group

  • Member must know N people already in Group
  • Strong trust signal

Minimum Groups in Common

  • Member is in N other Groups you admin
  • Indicates genuine community member

Lead Score

Minimum Lead Score

  • Auto-approve members scoring N or above
  • Example: Score ≥ 80 for high-quality leads
  • Combine with other conditions

Rule Logic

Condition Matching

By default, ALL conditions must match (AND logic):

Rule: "Quality Members"
Conditions:
  ✓ Has email
  ✓ All questions answered
  ✓ No spam keywords
  → Member needs email AND complete answers AND no spam

Rule Priority

When multiple rules apply:

  1. Rules run in priority order (1 = highest)
  2. First matching rule wins
  3. Subsequent rules are skipped

Example priority setup:

Priority 1: Auto-decline (spam keywords)
Priority 2: Auto-approve (email + score 80+)
Priority 3: Flag for review (email but score 50-79)

This ensures spam is caught first, then quality leads approved, then borderline cases flagged.

Rule Actions

Auto-Approve

What happens:

  1. Member approved on Facebook (2-3 second delay)
  2. Welcome message sent (if configured)
  3. Synced to Google Sheets (if connected)
  4. Webhooks triggered (if configured)
  5. Added to email list (if integration enabled)

Best for:

  • Members with email + complete answers
  • High lead scores (80+)
  • Mutual friends or Groups in common
  • Pre-qualified members

Auto-Decline

What happens:

  1. Member declined on Facebook
  2. Decline message sent (if configured)
  3. Logged in activity
  4. Removed from pending queue

Best for:

  • Spam keywords detected
  • Incomplete answers
  • New Facebook accounts (< 30 days)
  • No email/phone provided
  • Very low lead scores (< 20)

Flag for Review

What happens:

  1. Member stays in pending status
  2. 🚩 Flag icon added to card
  3. Notification sent to you (optional)
  4. You manually approve/decline later

Best for:

  • Borderline cases (score 40-60)
  • Unusual answers needing verification
  • New Groups (manual review until you understand patterns)
  • High-value Groups requiring extra scrutiny

Example Rules

Rule 1: Auto-Approve Quality Leads

Name: Auto-Approve Quality Leads
Action: Auto-Approve
Conditions:

  • Has email ✓
  • All questions answered ✓
  • Lead score ≥ 70 ✓
  • No spam keywords ✓

Apply to: All Groups

Rule 2: Auto-Decline Spam

Name: Auto-Decline Spam
Action: Auto-Decline
Conditions:

  • Contains spam keywords: "buy followers", "DM me", "check my page"

Apply to: All Groups
Priority: 1 (run first)

Rule 3: Flag Incomplete Profiles

Name: Flag Incomplete
Action: Flag for Review
Conditions:

  • No email provided ✓
  • Facebook account < 90 days ✓

Apply to: High-value Groups only

Per-Group Rules

You can create rules that apply to specific Groups only.

Use cases:

  • Stricter rules for paid communities
  • Lenient rules for casual Groups
  • Different keyword lists per niche

Example:

  • Marketing Group: Require "business owner" or "entrepreneur" in answers
  • Fitness Group: No requirement for specific keywords

Monitoring Rule Performance

Rule Stats

Each rule shows:

  • Times Triggered — How many members matched
  • Success Rate — % that were truly qualified
  • Last Triggered — Most recent activation

Activity Log

View detailed history:

  • Which rule processed which member
  • Why the rule matched
  • Action taken
  • Timestamp

Optimization

Review rules monthly:

  • Are spam keywords catching actual spam?
  • Are quality leads being auto-approved correctly?
  • Adjust thresholds based on results

Start conservative (manual review) and gradually add automation as you understand your member patterns.

Best Practices

Start Simple

Begin with basic rules:

  1. Auto-decline obvious spam (keywords)
  2. Auto-approve members with email + complete answers
  3. Flag everything else for manual review

Gradually Expand

As you get comfortable:

  • Add lead score thresholds
  • Include Facebook profile criteria
  • Differentiate rules per Group

Safety First

  • Always include spam keyword filters
  • Set minimum Facebook age (30-90 days)
  • Review auto-approved members weekly (spot check)
  • Keep decline messages polite

Don't Over-Automate

Keep manual review for:

  • High-value Groups (paid, exclusive)
  • First 100 members of new Groups
  • Members with unusual but legitimate profiles
  • Borderline cases (use flag action)

Troubleshooting

Rule not triggering

Check:

  • Rule is enabled (toggle on)
  • Conditions are possible to meet
  • Rule priority (not overridden by higher priority rule)
  • Members are actually being synced

Wrong members approved

Fix:

  • Add more restrictive conditions
  • Include spam keyword filters
  • Require minimum lead score
  • Test rule with "Flag" action first

Too many flags, not enough auto-approvals

Solution:

  • Loosen conditions slightly
  • Lower lead score threshold
  • Make fewer conditions required

Related Features

Next Steps

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