Make your first Instagram automation

01First, make a DM reply

1. 1

   Open Automations and select Instagram.

2. 2

   Create a flow. Choose Someone sends you a message, then Continue setup. Choose Start from scratch and continue. Enter CATALOGUE in the Keyword step. Uppercase and lowercase both work.

3. 3

   In Reply, write a short greeting and your actual shop link. Continue to Review and finish creating the draft. In the editor, keep exact matching for this example.

4. 4

   Connect the steps to an end. Save and run the path test.

5. 5

   Publish after validation passes.

6. 6

   Send a new CATALOGUE DM from a different Instagram account. Check the inbox and delivery result.

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02Then, try comment-to-DM

1. 1

   Confirm that your Instagram connection has comment access.

2. 2

   Create a flow. Choose Someone comments on a post. Continue setup, choose a starting goal, then set a keyword such as PRICE.

3. 3

   Select all eligible posts or a specific post or reel that you own.

4. 4

   Use one private reply message, including the link you want to share. Keep the path to the supported single reply.

5. 5

   Test and publish. Leave a new matching comment from a different account on the chosen post.

6. 6

   Check the delivery result. Have the customer reply to the private message before trying normal DM follow-ups.

03Know the boundaries

The current integration limits a private reply to one per eligible comment, within seven days of the comment. Sending it does not itself open a customer DM reply window. The customer must respond before normal follow-ups are available.

Do not test using an old comment, the connected business account, or a different post than the one selected. Requests for a person or stop pause automation. A test preview does not prove that Meta will deliver the live message.