Group Filtering: Restricting Triggering to Specific Group Members

Group inclusion and exclusion rules let you control which contacts a trigger applies to, so you can limit a trigger to a target audience using included groups or prevent repeat entry by blocking contacts in excluded groups, making it easier to manage eligibility for promos, surveys, and other flows.
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6–7 min read
Category
Triggers
Updated on
Updated on: 23/12/2025

Filter a trigger by groups in a few steps

If you just need the essentials, follow this:

  1. Create (or edit) a trigger and scroll to Include Groups / Exclude Groups
  2. Use Include to limit the trigger to a target audience
  3. Use Exclude to block contacts who shouldn’t enter the flow again
  4. Test with one contact inside the excluded group and one outside it
  5. If needed, update your flow to add completers to an excluded group

You’re done. Your trigger will now fire only for contacts who match your include/exclude rules.

Step-by-Step Process

1
Find Include / Exclude Groups in trigger settings

  1. Go to the Triggers tab.
  2. Click + New Trigger.
  3. Choose a trigger type (for example, Create message keyword that launches a Flow).
  4. In the trigger settings, scroll to the bottom to find Include Groups and Exclude Groups.

[CAPTURE: Triggers page showing “+ New Trigger”.]
[CAPTURE: Trigger type list with “Create message keyword that launches a Flow” highlighted.]
[CAPTURE: Trigger settings showing Include Groups / Exclude Groups fields.]

2
Use Include Groups to target a specific audience

If you select Include Groups, the trigger will only fire for contacts who are in at least one of the included groups.

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Note: Include is restrictive. New contacts may not qualify unless something adds them to the included group first.

3
Use Exclude Groups to block contacts

If you select Exclude Groups, the trigger will not fire for contacts who are in any excluded group.

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Tip: Exclude is safer for most use cases. It lets everyone through except the groups you want to block.

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Tip: Excluding “already completed” groups is an easy way to stop people from re-entering the same promo/survey flow.

4
Example: Promo coupon keyword with excluded groups

Goal: The keyword PROMO starts the “Satisfaction Survey” flow to receive a coupon, but contacts in
Completed Registration or Segment A should not participate.

Configuration: Trigger type = Keyword, keyword = promo, flow = Satisfaction Survey, exclude groups =
Completed Registration and Segment A.

Result: Only contacts in the excluded groups are blocked. Everyone else who sends promo can start the flow.

[CAPTURE: Completed trigger config showing keyword “promo”, flow selected, and excluded groups.]

5
Test and refine eligibility

  1. Test with one contact inside an excluded group and one contact outside it.
  2. If some users can still trigger it twice, add a completion step in your flow that places them into an excluded group (for example, Completed Registration).
  3. If it blocks everyone, double-check you didn’t exclude a very broad group by accident.
  4. If the trigger doesn’t fire as expected, check logs to see why it was blocked.

Common Issues & Quick Fixes

Problem: My trigger doesn’t work for new users.

Fix: You likely used Include Groups. New contacts usually aren’t in that group yet—either remove the include rule or add contacts to the included group before expecting the trigger to apply.

Problem: Some users can still trigger it twice.

Fix: Add a completion step in your flow that places contacts into an excluded group (for example, “Completed Registration”) so they are blocked from re-entering.

Problem: It blocks everyone.

Fix: Double-check you didn’t accidentally exclude a very broad group, and confirm the correct group names are selected in the trigger settings.

Related Resources
Understanding Triggers: Roles and Types of Flow Initiation
Keyword Trigger: Using the First Word of a Message to Launch a Flow
“Catch-All” Trigger: Handling Messages That Don’t Match Any Keywords