An automation has one job. Bring the contact into your inbox, give them the free thing they asked for, then ask one question so a person on your team can step in when they answer.
This page is the recipe we recommend and why. For how each screen of the builder works, see Automations.
In this guide
The Recipe
For an automation triggered by a Comment or a Live Comment, build the Actions step in this order.
Set Campaign Stage, set to New Lead. Every new automation starts with this action already in place. Check that the campaign is the right one and leave the stage alone.
Opening DM. Choose Message + Button or Message + Quick Reply. The button here isn't a link. Tapping it sends the button's text back to you as a reply, which is what lets the rest of the automation send. The wording can be generic, like "Hey, thanks for commenting on my post. Tap below and I'll send that over."
Message + Button, with the button type set to URL. Keep the message short, like "Great, here you go." Point the button straight at the free resource, with no email or phone number required to get it.
Ask Question. This is your positioning question, covered below. The automation waits here until the contact answers.
Set Campaign Stage, set to a stage for people who answered. We call ours Engaged Lead. Because the automation waits at the question, only contacts who answer get moved. This step is for Pro and above. On Core, the recipe ends at step 4.
For an automation triggered by a Story Reply, a Direct Message (DM), or an Ads Message, the contact has already messaged you, so there's no Opening DM. The opening message and the free resource go out together.
Set Campaign Stage, set to New Lead.
Message + Button, with the button type set to URL. Something like "Hey, thanks for reaching out. Here you go."
Ask Question, with your positioning question.
Set Campaign Stage, set to Engaged Lead. Pro and above only, same as above.
To put a pause between steps, add a Delay action. Keep it to a few seconds between the resource and the question, long enough to read as a person typing. Delays run up to 6 hours, but a long one at a point where the contact is likely to reply backfires, because the next step still sends after they've written back. For a follow-up that should go out tomorrow or next week, schedule a follow-up reminder on the contact instead. See Delays in the Automations guide.
Opening DM or Single Message
A comment automation starts with either an Opening DM or a Single Message.
Use the Opening DM whenever someone on your team needs to continue the conversation. If the goal is a booked call and a person has to qualify the contact first, this is the one you want.
Single Message only fits when nobody needs to follow up. With it, your team can't message the contact after the free resource goes out unless the contact writes back on their own.
The Opening DM explains the rule from Meta behind this.
The Positioning Question
The positioning question is one open-ended question about the contact, tied to what you sell. It comes right after you've given them something of value, which is when people are most willing to answer.
To write yours, think about the first thing your team would ask in the conversation anyway. Ask that.
Then end it by telling them what answering gets them, like "I'd love to send over some more specific resources." Don't skip that line. It gives them a reason to reply, and it makes it clear more value is coming.
A fitness coach might ask one of these.
"By the way, where are you currently at in your fitness journey? I'd love to send over some more specific resources."
"By the way, how long have you been trying to get in shape? I'd love to send you a few more resources that fit where you're at."
"What's got you looking to level up your fitness? I'd love to send over some more resources for that."
Their answer tells your team who they're talking to and what to send next. Sometimes the next piece of value is another resource. Sometimes it's a link to book a call, because that's what fits once you know more.
The Engaged Lead Stage
This part is for accounts on Pro and above. Core has a set pipeline with no custom stages, so there's no stage to add.
Every contact who enters an automation lands in New Lead. The second Set Campaign Stage action moves the ones who answered your question into Engaged Lead. That split is what tells your team who to work first.
Engaged Lead means they answered the question. They're in the conversation right now, so your team replies to them first.
New Lead means they got the free resource and didn't reply. Your team can follow up with them, for example with a voice note.
You add the stage yourself. Go to Settings → Campaigns → Pipelines, type the name into Add a Stage inside your pipeline, and set its status to Active. Any name works, like Engaged Lead or In Conversation. The steps are in Pipelines and Stages. Plans and Limits shows what each plan includes.
Don't map an activity to this stage. When an automation moves a contact into a stage, the activity mapped to that stage isn't logged, so it would never count. Reports aren't built around engaged contacts either, so there's no number there to look for.
On comment automations, New Lead also holds people who never tapped the button on your Opening DM. Your team can't message them yet. To keep them out of the way, set the inbox's Availability filter to 7 Day, which shows only the contacts you can message right now, and save that view as a Spotlight. More in What Is the 7-Day Messaging Window? and Setting Up Inbox Spotlights.
Why Not to Ask for an Email or Phone Number First
The builder has Ask for Email and Ask for Phone actions, and they work. If your team works the inbox, we recommend not putting one in front of the free resource.
A lot of people stop when they're asked for an email or phone number before they've gotten anything. Fewer of them reach your team.
The ones who do continue arrive colder, because the first thing you did was ask for something.
People who get real value with no strings are more likely to answer your positioning question and stay open in the conversation.
The point of capturing an email is to start a conversation. You're already in one. The email comes later, when they book a call or buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the first Set Campaign Stage action for?
It puts the contact into your campaign. That's what lets Ellipsend track the links you send and credit the results to the right post, and it's how your team filters the inbox by stage. It has to come before any message with a link.
Can I put my link in the Opening DM?
No. The button on an Opening DM only sends a reply, and a link pasted into the message text isn't tracked. Send the link in the next message, as a button, once they've tapped.
Nobody on my team works the inbox. Does this recipe still apply?
Not all of it. If no one is going to continue the conversation, Single Message is fine for comment automations. The advice on emails and phone numbers is written for teams that work the inbox, so it may not fit you either.