How does Cheerful handle creator replies?
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Cheerful handles creator replies by picking them up from your connected mailbox, setting aside bounces, auto-replies and warm-up mail, sorting the rest into opted in, opted out or asked a question, and drafting a response in the same thread. By default every drafted reply waits for your approval. You can instead let simple opt-ins send on their own, or let every reply send automatically.
Replies go out from your own mailbox, in the creator’s language, as a normal reply in the existing thread. The settings below are the ones that decide how much of that happens without you.
Cheerful drafts a response to every creator reply in the same email thread, and by default holds each draft for approval; campaigns can instead auto-send simple opt-ins or all replies.
How does Cheerful pick up and sort replies?
Connected Gmail mailboxes are checked continuously, with a two-minute pause between passes. SMTP/IMAP mailboxes have their own inbox sync, and Instagram DMs arrive the moment Meta delivers them. Each new message is matched to the campaign it belongs to and then sorted.
- Bounces, out-of-office and other auto-replies, and warm-up network mail are set aside automatically, so they do not get drafted against or counted as replies.
- A real reply is classified as an opt-in, an opt-out, or a reply with questions.
- The thread then either gets a draft or waits for the creator, and the campaign’s status for that creator moves with it.
What does the AI read before drafting a reply?
- The whole thread, not only the last message.
- The campaign’s goal and the rules you wrote for it, its FAQ answers and sample emails, and the products in the campaign.
- Anything specific to that creator you added as a custom field, which is treated as a rule for that thread only.
- The current offer: compensation, timeline and usage rights.
- Examples of replies already sent on similar threads.
- Your calendar availability, when the creator asks to meet and a Google Calendar is connected.
The draft is written in the language the creator wrote in. For gifting campaigns, the shipping address a creator sends is pulled out of the reply and checked, and the creator moves from interested but missing details to ready to ship.
Does Cheerful send replies automatically?
Only if you choose to. Each campaign has one of three reply-automation levels, and Manual is the default.
| Level | What happens to a drafted reply |
|---|---|
| Manual (default) | Every reply is drafted and held for your review before sending. |
| Semi-auto | Simple opt-in replies are sent automatically. Replies with questions are drafted for review. |
| Fully automated | All replies are generated and sent automatically without review. |
Even on the automatic levels, a draft falls back to review when the creator only reacted with an emoji, when the thread cannot be confirmed as belonging to the campaign, or when a newer message has arrived since the draft was written. Replies to Instagram DMs are never sent automatically at any level; they are always drafted and held.
How do follow-ups work, and when do they stop?
There are two kinds, and both are off unless the campaign turns them on.
- A follow-up sequence for creators who have not replied to first contact. You write up to five follow-ups when you set up a campaign, each sent a set number of days after the previous email, three days by default, by email or Instagram DM. They send as replies in the same thread, and all pending follow-ups for a creator are cancelled the moment that creator replies.
- Follow-up drafts in an ongoing conversation. When your message was the last one and the creator has gone quiet, Cheerful drafts a nudge after a gap, three days by default and up to three times. These are drafted for review, and are skipped if anyone on your side has already replied.
Follow-ups draw on the same daily sending budget per mailbox as first-touch outreach. A reply to a creator who has written to you is not held back by that budget.
What does Slack do in the reply flow?
Slack is for alerts and gifting orders, not for approving drafts. With the Cheerful for Slack app connected, a campaign posts to its channel when creators reply. Sales campaigns alert on every reply; other campaigns alert when a reply is flagged interested or asks a question. Gifting orders can be approved, skipped or edited straight from the Slack message. Drafted email replies are reviewed and sent in Cheerful.
What this does not do
- Reply automation is set per campaign, not per message type. The one built-in split is Semi-auto, which auto-sends opt-ins and holds questions.
- Instagram DM replies are never sent automatically.
- Drafted email replies cannot be approved from Slack; Slack handles reply alerts and gifting-order approvals.
- Drafts follow the rules you wrote. A constraint that is not in the campaign rules or a creator’s custom fields is one the drafter does not have.
- Follow-up sequences are capped at five steps when a campaign is created.
Frequently asked questions
Only if the campaign is set to. The default, Manual, drafts every reply and holds it for review. Semi-auto sends simple opt-ins automatically and holds questions; Fully automated sends every reply. Instagram DM replies are always held.
Yes. Any reply from the creator cancels all of their pending follow-ups.
Up to five in a campaign’s follow-up sequence, three days apart by default, each as a reply in the same thread. In an ongoing conversation that goes quiet, Cheerful drafts up to three nudges for review.
Yes. Replies go from the mailbox you connected, as normal replies in the existing thread, so the creator sees one conversation with your address.
Yes. Drafts are written in the language of the creator’s message.
No. Slack gets reply alerts and gifting-order approvals. Drafted email replies are reviewed and sent in Cheerful.
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