Comment replies

What comment replies do

Comment replies answer new comments on a connected Instagram or Facebook account using rules you write. A rule can reply publicly under the comment, send the person a direct message, or both. For example, answer anyone who asks about price with your rates, or DM a link to everyone who comments a keyword.

Open Social → Comment replies. Managing rules needs the permission to manage social accounts, which Managers and above have by default.

Create a rule

1. Select New rule and give it a name, such as Price enquiries.
2. Choose one connected account, or Every connected account.
3. Under When a comment, choose contains any of these words, contains all of these words, or is anything at all.
4. For the first two, add keywords such as price, cost, how much.
5. Write a Public reply, a Private message, or both, then select Create rule.

In either message, {{ name }} becomes the commenter's name and {{ comment }} becomes what they wrote. A rule must send something, so it cannot be saved with both messages empty.

How comments are matched

• Keywords match whole words, in upper or lower case. “price” matches “Price?” and “price 😊” but not “surprise”.
• Rules are checked in the numbered order shown, and the first rule that matches wins. One comment never gets two replies.
• Use the up and down arrows beside a rule to change its place in the order. A new rule is added at the bottom. To use a catch-all as a fallback, move it below your keyword rules so it only answers what nothing else matched.
• With Answer each person once per post on, someone who comments five times on a post gets one reply, not five.
• Replies Systemly posts are recognised and never answered, so a catch-all rule cannot reply to itself. A comment is also never answered twice if Meta delivers it again.

Private messages have a seven-day limit

Meta allows a private reply only within seven days of the comment. Past that, the private message is not sent and the log says the comment is too old. A public reply in the same rule is still posted.

Check what happened

The page lists recent comments and what happened to each one.

If a rule sent one message but not the other, it shows Replied along with the reason the other part failed. Use the switch beside a rule to turn it off without deleting it. Deleting a rule does not remove replies already posted.

If an account needs reconnecting

Replying needs Meta permissions beyond the ones publishing uses: managing Page engagement or Instagram comments, and Page messaging. Meta lets you decline individual permissions, and accounts connected before comment replies existed were never asked for them. The page names any account missing them; its rules do not fire until you reconnect it under Social → Accounts and approve every requested permission.

These permissions also go through Meta's App Review, so until Meta has approved them for the app, reconnecting may not grant them. See Instagram & Facebook for the connection requirements.