What types of Facebook messages appear in the Smart Inbox and what actions can I take?

The following Facebook message types appear in the Smart Inbox. For these message types, you can respond and take additional actions.

• Network: The social media network
• Message Type: The type of message listed
• Available in Inbox: The message type that appears in the Smart Inbox. If this is checked, Sprout expects to receive that message type. If this is marked with the symbol, Sprout doesn’t expect to receive the message type.
• Update Schedule: How often Sprout updates data and the kind of data updated.
• Backfill: How far back Sprout can provide data upon profile connection.

For information about message types on other social networks:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• TikTok

Network	Message Type	Available in Inbox	Update Schedule	Backfill
	Wall Posts		Every 20 minutes, the last 10 posts of each type (wall posts, tagged posts, sent posts and visitor posts) up to 7 days ago are updated. Every night, the last 10 days of posts of each type are updates.	A maximum of 500 posts of each type (wall posts, tagged posts, sent posts and visitor posts) created up to 365 days ago
	Comments on Posts		Realtime. Messages may take up to 20 minutes to appear.	All comments
	Shared content (including comments on shared content)		N/A	N/A
	Comments on Ad posts   Includes Comments on Facebook Ads which use Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) or Placement Asset Customization (PAC)		Sprout receives ad comments in two ways: realtime and scheduled updates. Realtime: Ad comments may come in realtime if Sprout receives them from Facebook in realtime.  Scheduled Updates: Ad Posts created/updated in the last 7 days: Every 15 minutes (up to 1000 comments) Ad Posts created/updated in last 60 days: Once a day (up to 1000 comments) For Ad Posts created/updated beyond 60 days: Sprout may or may not receive these updates from Facebook.	Maximum of 1000 comments. Facebook Ads Manager must be connected to Sprout to get backfill data.
	Ad Posts		For the most recent 30 Ad Posts created or updated: Every 20 minutes (up to 1000 comments) For Ad Posts created or updated in the last 30 days: Every 4 hours (up to 1000 comments) For Ad Posts created or updated in the last 60 days: Once a day (up to 1000 comments)	Ad posts that were created/updated in the last 180 days
	Private Messages		Realtime. Messages may take up to 20 minutes to appear.	None
	Sent Messages (Also check the Wall Posts filter for these to appear)		Every 20 minutes, the last 10 posts of each type (wall posts, tagged posts, sent posts and visitor posts) up to 10 days ago are updated	A maximum of 500 posts of each type (wall posts, tagged posts, sent posts and visitor posts) created up to 365 days ago
	Facebook Mentions from other Pages (shown under the Wall Posts checkbox)		Every 20 minutes, the last 10 posts of each type (wall posts, tagged posts, sent posts and visitor posts) up to 10 days ago are updated	A maximum of 500 posts of each type (wall posts, tagged posts, sent posts and visitor posts) created up to 365 days ago
	Facebook Mentions from personal, public Profiles (shown under the Wall Posts checkbox)		Due to an API limitation from Facebook, these message types are not accessible.	N/A
	Comments on Facebook Live posts		N/A	N/A
	Comments on Facebook Events		N/A	N/A
	Comments on Facebook Watch posts		N/A	N/A
	Facebook Offers		N/A	N/A
	Facebook Check-Ins		N/A	N/A
	Facebook Group comments		Daily, going back at least 10 days to fetch at least 100 group posts and the associated comments. Every 15 minutes, going back at least 1 day to fetch at least 10 group posts and the associated comments	30 days to fetch at least 100 group posts and the associated comments

What actions can I take on Facebook messages?

There are a few actions you can take on Facebook messages in the Smart Inbox. At a high level you can:

• Change sentiment
• Apply a Macro
• Apply a Sprout tag
• Start an internal conversation
• Create a task
• Mark the comment as complete
• Save messages to the Saved Messages Inbox View
• Mark messages complete in bulk
• Use the overflow menu to select more actions
  • Ban users on Facebook
  • Update the message language
  • Export message threads to share with stakeholders and analyze conversation responses

Learn more about how to perform these message actions with this article.

Repost Facebook messages

You can repost Facebook posts to any of your Facebook Page profiles using Compose. This is a great way to feature your most active audience members and drum up more engagement for your brand.

To repost:

1. Locate the wall post in the Smart Inbox that you want to repost.
2. Click.
3. Click Repost to Facebook. Compose opens with a preview of the post.
   
4. Select the Facebook Pages you want to post to and add in post text.
5. Click Send or Submit based on your workflow.
   

After your repost is scheduled, it appears in the Publishing Calendar.

It's important to note that you can't repost all wall posts from the Smart Inbox. In the case of a private Facebook user or a private Group post, you won't be able to repost these. 

Can I search for Facebook messages in the Smart Inbox?

You can search for Facebook messages that contain particular keywords or messages. When you run a keyword search, the Smart Inbox shows results for all your Facebook messages since you connected your profile to Sprout. If you're searching for social profiles, the Smart Inbox shows results for all profiles since you connected your profile to Sprout. Learn more about Inbox searching with this overview.