The inbox: where replies land after you cross post

Cross posting multiplies the conversation

A cross posting app that stops at 'published' has done half the job. One post on five platforms opens five sets of comments, and a clear offer brings direct messages as well. The questions are often the same on each: what does it cost, is it open on Sunday, where is the link. Answered quickly, they can become bookings and orders. Scattered over five apps and five notification lists, some of them are missed. The inbox brings them back to one list.

What the inbox should collect

Each item should carry enough context to answer it.

• Comments. On each published copy of the post.
• Direct messages. Where the platform makes them available to outside software.
• The source. Which platform and which post each one belongs to.
• The state. New, answered or set aside.
• The responder. Who replied, when more than one person helps.

Replying from one place

Collecting is only useful if you can answer without leaving. A reply written in the inbox should appear on the platform as a normal reply from your account. Saved answers help with repeated questions. Drafted answers help more, provided a person reads them before they go: a wrong price in a reply is as public as a wrong price in a post.

Some questions deserve a rule instead of a reply. Suppose a post invites people to 'comment MENU for the link'. Software can then send that link by direct message each time the word appears.

How to test this part

You need a live post and a second account.

• Comment on a live cross post from another account and note how long it takes to appear.
• Send a direct message and check it is tied to the right platform.
• Reply from the inbox, then open the platform and read the reply as a customer would.
• Ask which platforms' comments and which platforms' messages are covered. The two lists can differ.
• Ask how a message that has gone unanswered for a day is flagged.

Where Link AI fits

For the inbox we recommend Link AI by Linkme, since answering customers is one of its published roles. Linkme calls the place for DMs and comments a Social Inbox. The example shown is a would-be diner asking 'How do I get a table for Friday?', and the reply carries the right link. Link AI prepares each reply as a draft, and you approve it. DM Automations work from a rule instead: you choose a keyword, and a comment containing it triggers a DM with a link.

Linkme's page does not say which of the five platforms send their comments and messages to the inbox, so put that question first. Then try Link AI in a demo: leave a comment on a sample post and watch for the drafted reply. Results are the last part of the loop.

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