Turn a heart on your story into a real conversation — one friendly message about the exact product they reacted to
A shopper hearts your story, replies with a 😍, or shares your Reel into a DM. They're interested, but they didn't ask anything. Proactive Approach lets Rep open the conversation: one short message about the content they reacted to, written to invite a reply. If they answer, it becomes a normal conversation that Rep handles like any other DM.
What Rep responds to
- A reaction or reply to your story
- A mention of your brand in a customer's story
- A post or Reel shared into the chat
Facebook Messenger
- A Page post shared into Messenger
Rep reads the story or post the shopper reacted to, so the opener names the actual product — for example, "Glad that one caught your eye — it's the olive linen jacket from today's story. We still have S–L. Want me to send you the link?" If Rep has nothing specific to say about the content, it doesn't send anything.
Proactive Approach isn't available on WhatsApp.
What you need
- Instagram or Facebook connected to Rep AI, with Omnichannel AI active.
- AI answering turned on for that channel. Without it, the switch is unavailable and the row reads "Turn on AI Answering for Instagram to use Proactive Approach."
Turn it on
- Open AI Social → Messages.
- Pick Instagram or Facebook in the channel bar.
- Find Proactive Approach and switch it on.
- Under Approach the same customer at most, choose how often Rep may reach out to the same shopper: Once every 24 hours, Once every 3 days, Once every 7 days (default), Once every 30 days or Only once ever.
- Click Save changes.
Each channel has its own switch, so you can run it on Instagram and not on Facebook. The What your customer sees preview on the same row shows how the opener looks in the shopper's inbox.
Built-in guardrails
- One message, not a sequence. Rep sends a single opener. It doesn't follow up or nudge if the shopper doesn't answer.
- Your team comes first. Rep doesn't send an opener while a person on your team is handling the conversation.
- Inside Meta's rules. Rep only sends while Meta allows a business to message that shopper (within 24 hours of their last message).
- Frequency cap. The same shopper is approached no more often than the limit you set.
- Paused with AI answering. If you turn AI answering off for a channel, Proactive Approach pauses there too and resumes when you turn answering back on.
How it's billed
The opener is free. A conversation only uses a ticket if the shopper engages and it becomes a resolved conversation — exactly like any other DM. Conversations Rep starts this way are tagged Started by Proactive Approach, so you can find them in your conversation history.
Frequently asked questions
Will Rep reply to every story like?
No. Meta doesn't send story likes to businesses, so there's nothing to respond to. Rep responds to story reactions and replies that land in your DMs, story mentions, and shared posts or Reels.
Why doesn't Facebook respond to story reactions?
Messenger doesn't tell Rep which story a reaction belongs to, so Rep can't write a message about it. On Facebook, Proactive Approach responds when a shopper shares one of your Page posts.
Is it on for my account?
Open AI Social → Messages, pick the channel, and check the Proactive Approach switch. You're always in control: your choice there is what Rep follows.
Will shoppers get messages from Rep they didn't ask for?
Only after they've engaged with your content in a DM — reacting to or replying to a story, mentioning you, or sharing your post. Rep never messages shoppers who haven't contacted you.