💡 Reply groups are for predefined (stock) replies only. If you’re using an AI agent to generate dynamic responses, you don’t need a reply group. The agent handles it directly.
💡 Why use this?
If you want Exerta to reply to comments or send DMs using predefined text automatically, it needs something to say. Reply groups are where you write those messages once, and Exerta handles the sending 24/7. Without a reply group, any rule using a predefined reply has nothing to pull from and won’t fire correctly.💡 Predefined replies vs AI agent replies
Before writing your reply group, it’s worth knowing when predefined replies make sense and when they don’t. Predefined replies work well when:- You want a simple, consistent acknowledgment on every comment (e.g. “Thanks for your interest! Check your DMs.”)
- You need a brief comment reply that directs people to a DM where the real conversation happens
- You want full control over exactly what gets said
- They send the same set of fixed text options regardless of what the comment actually says
- They can’t answer questions or respond to specific context
- At scale, repeated replies can appear robotic and impersonal
- They won’t adapt tone or content the way a person from your brand would
✅ Before you start
An offer must be set up first. Your replies need a tracking link (${short-link}) to include in messages. See Setting Up Offers.
🛠️ How to create a reply group
- Click Engage in the left sidebar
- Click Reply groups
- Click + Add Group in the top right corner
- Fill in the group name and description
- Write your reply message - see the token reference below
- Click Submit
🔤 Token reference
Tokens are placeholders that get replaced automatically when a reply is sent.| Token | What it inserts | Platform support |
| ${short-link} | Your tracking link, generated from the Target URL in your offer | Facebook: comments and DMs. Instagram: DMs only. Do not use in Instagram comment replies because Instagram automatically filters them out. |
| {@author} | The commenter’s username | Facebook only - see note below |
⚠️ Don’t use {@author} on Instagram rules. On Instagram, this token pulls the commenter’s username and inserts it as plain text. It does not create a tag and the result reads unnaturally. Leave it out of Instagram replies entirely.Where does ${short-link} come from? It’s generated automatically from the Target URL in your offer. You don’t create the link manually. Exerta builds it when you save the offer. When a rule fires, it pulls the tracking link from whichever offer is attached to that rule and inserts it here. Make sure your offer is set up before writing replies that use this token. Example reply using tokens:
Hey {@author}, thanks for your interest! Check your DMs for something special: ${short-link} 👆
When sent on Facebook, this becomes:
Hey @sarah, thanks for your interest! Check your DMs for something special: promo.yourbrand.com/abc123 👆
✏️ Tips for writing effective replies
- Keep it short. 1-3 sentences is enough for a comment reply. Save longer messages for DMs.
- Always include ${short-link} if the goal is to drive traffic or conversions. A reply without a link is a missed opportunity.
- Never include {short-link} in DMs only for Instagram.
- Never include raw URLs. Always use ${short-link} so clicks are tracked.
- No em dashes. Never use em dashes on either Facebook or Instagram.
- Use exclamation marks sparingly. One per message at most on both platforms.
- Qualify savings claims. Any claim about savings or guarantees must be qualified on both platforms.
- Personalize replies. Use {@author} on Facebook to address the commenter by name. This makes automated replies feel more direct. Pair it with rotating messages that vary your phrasing so the same reply does not appear repeatedly on your posts.
💡 You can also control which page the reply appears to come from. Select a specific page if you want replies to come from a different connected page.
For example, a CEO with their own connected page may want their replies to appear on their brand’s posts. Selecting the CEO’s page as the sender identity makes the response appear to come from them personally rather than the brand page. See Reply sender identity below.
🔄 Rotating replies
You can add multiple messages to one group. Exerta rotates between them based on the priority you assign to each one. Over a large enough volume, each variant gets sent in roughly the proportion you set. This is useful for avoiding the exact same message appearing repeatedly on your posts. It does not provide performance data on which variant performs better.📋 Reply sender identity
When setting up a reply group, you can choose which page the reply appears to come from.- Leave it empty if you want replies to come from the same page being commented on. This is the default behavior and works for most setups.
- Select a specific page if you want replies to come from a different connected page. This is useful when a page owner wants to respond to comments on another page.
💡 Example: A CEO with their own connected page may want their replies to appear on their brand’s posts. Selecting the CEO’s page as the sender identity makes the response appear to come from them personally rather than the brand page.
❓ FAQs
📝 Q: Do I need a reply group if I’m using an AI agent? Reply groups are not needed when using an AI agent. If your rule uses Reply with AI agent or Reply via DM with AI agent, the agent generates the response directly and no reply group is required. Reply groups are only needed when you select Reply with a predefined comment as the rule action.🔢 Q: How many messages can I add to one group? You can add multiple messages to a single group and assign each one a priority. Exerta rotates between them based on those priorities. This does not produce performance results. It simply varies which message gets sent, so the same reply doesn’t appear repeatedly.
🔁 Q: Can I use the same reply group across multiple rules? One reply group can be attached to as many rules as you like.
⚠️ Q: The {@author} token isn’t working correctly on Instagram. What’s wrong? The {@author} token is not supported on Instagram. On Instagram, the token pulls the commenter’s username and inserts it as plain text. It does not create a tag, so the result reads unnaturally. Remove {@author} from any reply groups used on Instagram rules.
🔗 Q: Where does my tracking link come from? Your tracking link (${short-link}) is generated automatically from the Target URL in your offer. You don’t create it manually. Exerta builds it when you save the offer. When a rule fires, it pulls the tracking link from whichever offer is attached to that rule. Make sure your offer is set up before writing replies that use ${short-link}. See [Setting Up Offers].
Q: My predefined reply rule isn’t firing. What should I check? • Reply group is attached: open your rule and confirm a reply group is selected under the action • Action type is correct: confirm the rule action is set to Reply with a predefined comment, not Reply with AI agent • Processing Mode is set to Advanced: go to Settings > Config and verify • Reply group was saved correctly: check it appears in Engage > Reply groups See Auto-replying to Comments for full rule-level troubleshooting.