Automations answer people after they interact with your Instagram account. You can respond to a DM containing “price”, a story reply, a first message, a tapped starter question, a chat menu button, or a tracked link. Each automation has a trigger and a reply you write.
This guide starts with a simple DM keyword rule, then shows where templates, buttons and account controls fit. If you want to send a DM because someone commented on a post or Reel, use Campaigns instead. Check the connected Instagram name before building either kind of flow.
Open Automations and choose a starting point
- Sign in to InstaDM, connect your Instagram Business or Creator account, and check its name in the dashboard menu.
- Choose Automations in the menu, or open instadm.aipatnam.com/automations.
- Choose Templates to preview a ready-made conversation, or New automation to set up one rule from an empty form.
If you have no rules yet, the page shows a template gallery. A template can contain several related automations, so read its preview and edit its words and links before creating it. The Comment to product in DM template opens the Campaigns form because a comment, rather than an incoming message, starts that flow.
Step 1: choose when the reply should happen
| When… option | Useful example |
|---|---|
| Someone DMs a keyword | Answer PRICE or DETAILS with the information the person asked for. |
| Someone replies to your story | Answer a story question; a keyword is optional. |
| First message from a new person | Greet someone who writes to you for the first time. |
| Someone taps a starter question | Answer a question shown in an empty chat on the Instagram phone app. |
| Someone taps your chat menu | Answer a button shown in the chat menu on the phone app. |
The When… menu also offers story mentions, reactions to your messages and tracked ig.me links. Pick the event you actually want to answer. A broad first-message rule can overlap with a keyword rule; test the result from another account before sharing the flow widely.
Step 2: write a DM keyword rule
Enter Keywords such as “price, cost”. Separate alternatives with commas. You can add a negative word such as “-refund” to skip messages containing it. Keep the trigger specific: the message “What is the price?” should get a price answer, while a complaint should still reach a person.
In Reply, write the answer you would be comfortable sending yourself. For example: “Thanks for asking! The price list is here. Reply if you need help choosing a size.” Put --- on a line by itself between versions if you want the wording to rotate. Watch the byte count below the field; emoji and Indian-script letters can make a message longer in bytes than it looks.
Add a full https address in Link if you want to share a page. Add a Button label to present that link as a tappable button. The button changes which other extras the form can send, so check the visible options after you add it. If you leave the label empty, the link is included with the text instead.
Press Create automation when the reply and trigger are ready. The new rule appears in the list with its trigger, keyword, reply and sent count. Send the keyword from another Instagram account and inspect what that person receives. If it is missing, check that account’s message requests as well as its main inbox.
Monitor, pause and replace a rule
The Automations list shows active and total rules, plus each rule’s sent count and any skipped or failed count. Use Pause to stop a rule and Resume to turn it back on. The list has no Edit action for an existing rule: to change its trigger or reply, create the replacement, test it, then pause or delete the older one.
People excluded from automation lists people who replied STOP or whose conversation you took over from Contacts. Do not turn an opted-out person back on just to test a rule. The button They asked to hear from me again is for someone who actually asked to receive automated messages again.
If a reply does not appear, check the connected account, the exact keyword, whether the rule is active, the excluded-people list, and the skipped or failed count. For an interaction that happened earlier, a messaging window or account permission may prevent delivery. A new message from the test account gives you a clearer test than repeatedly resuming the same rule.
Questions people ask
Should I use Campaigns or Automations for a comment?
Use Campaigns for comments on posts, Reels or a Live. Use Automations for incoming DMs, story interactions, starter questions, chat menu taps and tracked links.
Why does a quick reply button not send a second answer?
A tap sends the button title back as a message. Create a DM keyword automation for that same title if you want InstaDM to answer it.
Can I edit an automation after creating it?
The current list offers Pause, Resume and Delete, but no Edit action. Create and test a replacement rule, then pause or delete the old one.
Why can I see a starter rule but no question in Instagram?
Publishing may have failed, or you may be checking desktop Instagram. Read the publish message, use Publish starter questions to retry, and verify in the Instagram phone app.
Start with a single DM keyword rule and test it from another account before adding extra steps.
Open Automations →Sources
- Meta — Instagram Messaging API and Send API
- Meta — Instagram starter questions
- Meta — Instagram chat menu
Written by the aipatnam team from Meta's developer documentation and what we see building tools for Indian creators. Platform rules change; we review these guides regularly. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.