How do I manage messages from my Facebook Groups?

Before you get started interacting with your Facebook Groups from the Smart Inbox, you need to add the Sprout app on Facebook. If you don’t add the Sprout app to your Facebook Page, your posts appear as coming from an anonymous user and not the Page that owns the Group.

You must authorize the app from the Facebook Page you own that sponsors the Group. Due to API limitations from Facebook, you can only interact with your Groups as the Page that sponsors the group. You won’t be able to interact as an individual Group moderator or admin from Sprout. 

Considerations

Glossary:

• User refers to Sprout users in the following considerations. We are mostly referring to the individual user that authenticates the group in Sprout must be sure they are set natively to interact as the Page and not themselves.
• Member refers to the audience member, not a Sprout user. The audience member has to allow Sprout to read their data in order for Sprout to pull it into the app. If a member doesn't authorize Sprout when they receive a pop-up, then Sprout can only pull in an anonymous Facebook user profile.

Be aware of the following:

• When a Facebook user joins a customer's Facebook Group, they're prompted to accept the privacy terms and allow Sprout to access their information. The Facebook user allowing this is what enables Sprout to pull in their information into the Smart Inbox. If the Facebook user doesn't allow Sprout access, Sprout can pull in their message data, but the message isn't accompanied by the user's profile information.
• When you post to your Facebook Group, the attribution of the post shows as the Facebook Page that owns the group. 
  • For example, Let’s say Nike created a Facebook Group called Chicago Running Enthusiasts. When Nike goes into Sprout to post to Chicago Running Enthusiasts, the posts appear in the Group as being posted by Nike, and not Chicago Running Enthusiasts or an admin from the Group.
• If a Sprout user authenticates the Group in Sprout sets their native Facebook experience as interacting with the Group as themselves, then all likes made in Sprout will appear as interactions from that individual user and not the Page. 
• When an audience member of your Group is engaging with the Group, by posting messages or comments, they need to grant access to the Sprout app. If access isn’t granted, the posts from the Group member appear in Sprout as coming from “Facebook User” and they remain anonymous. 

• If a user likes your Facebook Page and is a member of your Facebook Group, they’ll have two separate profile cards in Sprout. Due to API limitations, there isn’t a way to combine these profile cards. 

How do I manage messages?

After you connect your Facebook Group to Sprout, you’ll start seeing comments appear in the Smart Inbox. These messages appear with an indicator to denote the Facebook Page that owns the Group. You also see the Facebook Group icon next to the name of the Group.

In the following example, the R denotes the Facebook Page called Random Tigers. Hover over the indicator to see which Facebook Page owns the Group.

On the messages from your Group, you can:

• Like
• Tag
• Pin
• Reply
• Email the message
• Send the message to an integration

You can’t delete Group messages from the Smart Inbox due to a Facebook API limitation. You can click the timestamp of the comment to navigate to Facebook and delete it from the Group directly.