Four ready-made recipes, and when to use each

A recipe answers comments on Instagram and Facebook for you. When you make a new one, Exoconnect offers four ready-made recipes under Start from. Each shows one thing a recipe can do. This guide explains what each one does, when to use it, and what to change before you turn it on.

To find them, open Recipes (from Today) and choose Make your first recipe, or New recipe. A ready-made recipe is an ordinary recipe: pick one, then edit anything. The four choices disappear once you start editing.

What every recipe holds

Every recipe has the same parts, so the four differ only in how they fill them in:

• When someone comments: comments with any of your Words, or comments that match a Meaning. No words means every comment.
• On: Every post, Some videos, Tagged videos, or A hashtag.
• In: the Instagram and Facebook accounts it watches.
• Then reply: a public reply In the comments, a private message By message, or both. You can also Give your team time first.

1. Send a link

Someone comments “link”, they get it in their messages.

This is the classic comment to DM. It looks for the word “link” on every post, replies “Sent! Check your messages 📩” under the comment, and sends a message with an Open button.

Use it when a post promises something: a product page, a free guide, a booking link, a discount code.

Before you turn it on:

1. Paste your link into the button. It must start with https://.
2. Change the word if your caption asks for a different one, like “guide”.
3. If only one post has the offer, choose Some videos and pick it.

On Instagram, the button arrives as a line of text with the link, because Instagram takes text only in a private reply to a comment. On Facebook it’s a real button. Turn Instagram comments into DMs covers this recipe step by step.

2. Answer price questions

However they ask, people asking the price get your prices.

This one matches by Meaning, not words. It answers “People who ask about the price or cost”, so it catches “How much is this?”, “price?” and “what does it cost to ship”. It leaves comments like “Love this!” alone. It replies “Great question! We’ve sent you the details 📩” and sends a message that starts “Thanks for asking! Here are our prices:“.

Use it when people ask the same question in many different ways, and a list of words would miss some of them.

Before you turn it on:

1. Finish the message with your real prices, or add a Link button to your price list.
2. Add a few comments your own followers write, under For example, it answers and But not.

An AI reads each comment, so this recipe is on the paid plans, from Starter. Answer comments by meaning explains how it decides and what it costs.

3. Giveaway entries

Everyone who comments on a #giveaway post hears they’re in.

This one answers every comment, but only on posts whose caption has #giveaway. It replies “You’re in! Good luck 🍀” under each comment and sends no message.

Use it when you run a giveaway or contest and want each person to know their entry counted.

Before you turn it on:

1. Change the hashtag if you use your own, like #summerdrop. Write it without spaces; letters, numbers and _ only.
2. Put that hashtag in the caption of the giveaway post. It works on posts made in Exoconnect and on posts made straight in Instagram or Facebook.
3. If entrants need instructions or a form, turn on By message and add them.

To limit entries to comments with a word, like “in”, add it under Words.

4. Catch missed comments

If nobody on your team replies within 2 hours, send a friendly reply.

This one answers every comment on every post, but it waits first. Give your team time first is on, set to 2 hours. When the time is up, it checks whether your account already replied under the comment. If someone did, it stays quiet. If not, it replies “Thanks for your comment! We’ll get back to you soon 🙌“.

Use it when your team answers comments by hand and you want nobody to feel ignored on a busy day or overnight.

Before you turn it on:

1. Pick the wait that fits you: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2, 6 or 12 hours.
2. Write a reply in your own voice.

A reply your team types in the Instagram or Facebook app counts, as does any reply sent from Exoconnect. A private message sent from the Instagram or Facebook app doesn’t count, because Meta doesn’t tell Exoconnect about it.

Which one to pick

You want to…	Start from
Send a link to people who comment a word	Send a link
Answer one common question, however it’s asked	Answer price questions
Confirm every entry on a contest post	Giveaway entries
Make sure no comment goes unanswered	Catch missed comments

You can also mix them. For example, start from Send a link and turn on Give your team time first, so the link goes out only if nobody on your team answered first.

Turn it on and watch it

Whichever you pick, choose Turn on, then Check recipe. Exoconnect tries the recipe on sample comments while it’s still off, and nothing is sent. Try a comment of your own under Try a comment, then choose Turn on. It answers from the next comment on.

Each recipe’s page has Runs: every comment it picked up and what it did. A run counts toward your plan only when the recipe sends something. Free includes 2,000 runs a month, Starter 25,000 and Pro 100,000 (plans).

When a recipe isn’t enough

A recipe matches comments one way and sends one reply. If you want a different answer for each product, or replies that depend on more than one thing, describe it to Exi or your own AI agent and it builds an automation for you. Build automations with AI shows how.