InstantDM Complete How-To Guide - Part 4: Advanced Features

This is Part 4 of the InstantDM Complete How-To Guide. For the Flow Editor guide, read Part 3 first.

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19. Shopify Integration

InstantDM integrates with Shopify to bring e-commerce directly into your Instagram DMs. Connect your Shopify store and let your automations showcase products, recover abandoned carts, confirm orders, and upsell - all inside the DM conversation.

Connecting Your Shopify Store

1. Navigate to Shopify in the sidebar (or go to /shopify).
2. Click Connect Shopify Store.
3. Enter your Shopify store URL (e.g., yourstore.myshopify.com).
4. You'll be redirected to Shopify's OAuth screen to authorize InstantDM.
5. Grant the requested permissions (read products, read orders, etc.).
6. After authorization, you're redirected back to InstantDM. Your store appears as connected.

Once connected, your Shopify store URL is saved in your account settings and accessible across all your automations.

Product Catalog in DMs

With Shopify connected, you can send product carousels directly in DMs:

• Products are pulled from your Shopify catalog automatically.
• Each product card shows the product image, title, price, and a "Buy Now" button linking to the product page.
• Users swipe through the carousel in their DM to browse products.

To add a product carousel to a flow:

1. Open the Flow Editor and add a Message Reply node.
2. Select the Product message type.
3. Choose products from your Shopify catalog or enter product details manually.
4. The carousel is sent when the user reaches this node in the flow.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Set up automated DMs to recover abandoned carts:

1. Create a flow with a DM Reply or Welcome Message trigger.
2. When a customer abandons their cart, Shopify can trigger a webhook to InstantDM.
3. The flow sends a personalized DM: "Hey {user_name}, you left some items in your cart! Complete your order and get 10% off with code SAVE10."
4. Include a button linking directly to their cart checkout page.

Order Confirmations

After a purchase, send an automated DM confirming the order:

• "Thanks for your order, {user_name}! 🎉 Your order #{order_number} is being processed. We'll update you when it ships."
• Include a button to track the order or visit the order status page.

Product Recommendations

Use the AI Reply Node combined with Shopify data to recommend products:

1. Add an AI Reply Node to your flow.
2. In the prompt, include context about your product catalog.
3. The AI can ask about preferences and recommend specific products.
4. Follow up with a product carousel showing the recommended items.

Post-Purchase Upsells

After a customer completes a purchase, trigger a follow-up flow:

1. Set a Delay node (e.g., 24 hours after purchase).
2. Send a message: "Hope you're loving your new [product]! Customers who bought this also love..."
3. Include a product carousel with complementary items.
4. Add a discount code to incentivize the upsell.

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20. Dashboard & Analytics

The Dashboard (/dashboard) gives you a comprehensive view of your automation performance. It shows real-time stats, historical trends, and audience insights.

DM Stats Overview

The top of the dashboard shows two summary cards:

Last 24 Hours:

Metric	Description
DMs Sent	Total automated DMs sent in the past 24 hours
Links Opened	How many links in your DMs were clicked
CTR	Click-through rate (Links Opened ÷ DMs Sent × 100)

Last 7 Days:

Metric	Description
DMs Sent	Total automated DMs sent in the past 7 days
Links Opened	Total link clicks over 7 days
CTR	7-day click-through rate

Charts and Visualizations

The dashboard includes several interactive charts:

DM Hourly Trend (24h) A bar chart showing DMs sent per hour over the last 24 hours. Helps you identify peak engagement times.

Link Open Trend (24h) A bar chart showing link opens per hour. Compare this with DMs sent to see when your audience is most responsive.

DM Sent Heatmap (7 days) A color-coded heatmap showing DM volume by day and hour. Darker cells = more DMs. Use this to identify your best posting and automation times.

Last 7 Days DM Trend A daily bar chart showing DM volume over the past week. Spot trends and measure the impact of new automations.

Link Sent vs. Opened (24h) A side-by-side comparison of links sent and links opened per hour. Toggle between chart view and table view using the icons in the top-right corner of the card.

Top Audience by City (7 days) A horizontal bar chart showing which cities your DM recipients are in. Click "View All" to see the complete list in a modal with a sortable table.

Recent Automation Log

Below the charts, a table shows your last 50 automation events:

Column	Description
User	The Instagram username that triggered the automation
Status	Green "Sent" tag if successful, Red "Failed" tag if it failed
Responded At	Timestamp with relative time (e.g., "2 hours ago")
Reason	If failed, the error reason (e.g., "Rate limit exceeded", "Error validating access token")
Action	Suggested fix (e.g., "Reconnect your IG/FB account")

This table is your first stop for debugging automation issues.

AI-Powered Insights

InstantDM processes your dashboard data to generate insights:

• Best hour to send DMs (based on 7-day heatmap data)
• Platform breakdown (Instagram vs. Facebook)
• Engagement patterns and recommendations

Post-Level Analytics

For flows built in the Flow Editor, you can view per-flow analytics showing how many users entered the flow, where they dropped off, and which paths were most popular.

Note: The dashboard shows data for Inbox Automation and Quick DM automations. Flow Editor automation data is tracked separately in the flow-level analytics.

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21. Team Collaboration

InstantDM's team features let agencies and brands collaborate on automation. Invite team members to your workspace, assign roles, and manage permissions.

Creating a Workspace

When you connect your first Instagram account, a workspace is automatically created. Each connected Instagram account operates as its own workspace. If you're on a Multi plan with multiple accounts, you have multiple workspaces.

Inviting Team Members

1. Go to Team in the sidebar (or navigate to /team-settings).
2. Click Invite Member.
3. Enter the team member's email address.
4. Select a role (see role descriptions below).
5. Click Send Invitation.
6. The invitee receives an email with a link to /team-invite/{token}.
7. They click the link, create an account (or log in), and join your workspace.

Roles and Permissions

Role	Create/Edit Flows	Manage Members	Access Billing	View Reports
Owner	✅	✅	✅	✅
Admin	✅	✅	❌	✅
Editor	✅ (own flows)	❌	❌	✅
Viewer	❌	❌	❌	✅

Owner - Full control. Can delete the workspace, transfer ownership, manage billing, and do everything else.

Admin - Can create, edit, and delete any flow. Can invite and remove team members. Cannot access billing.

Editor - Can create and manage their own flows. Cannot access other members' flows or invite new members.

Viewer - Read-only access. Can view the dashboard, analytics, and automation list but cannot create or edit anything.

Managing Permissions

To change a team member's role:

1. Go to Team Settings → Members tab.
2. Find the member in the list.
3. Click the role dropdown next to their name.
4. Select the new role.
5. The change takes effect immediately - no re-invite needed.

To remove a member:

1. Click the Remove or Delete icon next to their name.
2. Confirm the removal. They immediately lose access to the workspace.

Workspace Picker for Switching

If you have access to multiple workspaces (either as an owner of multiple accounts or as a team member invited to others' workspaces):

1. Click the workspace picker in the sidebar or top navigation.
2. A dropdown shows all workspaces you have access to.
3. Select a workspace to switch. The entire dashboard updates to reflect that workspace's data.

Your selected workspace is stored in localStorage, so it persists across browser sessions.

Collaboration Invites for Specific Posts

The Collab Invite system allows you to grant someone access to manage automation for a specific post without giving them full workspace access:

1. From the post automation page, click Invite Collaborator.
2. A collaboration invite is created and stored in Firestore.
3. Share the invite link with the collaborator (via DM, email, etc.).
4. The collaborator opens the link at /collab-invite/{id}.
5. They see the post preview, sender info, and can Accept or Decline.
6. If accepted, they gain access to manage automation for that specific post only.

Collab invite details stored:

• Sender username and profile picture
• Post image, username, and caption
• Status: pending, accepted, or declined

This is ideal for agencies managing client posts or influencers collaborating with brands.

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22. Referral Program

InstantDM has a referral program that rewards you for bringing new users to the platform.

Generating Referral Codes

1. Go to Referrals in the sidebar (or navigate to /referrals).
2. Your unique referral code is displayed on the page.
3. Click Copy to copy your referral link to the clipboard.
4. Share the link with your audience, clients, or community.

Commission Structure

When someone signs up using your referral link and subscribes to a paid plan:

• You earn a commission on their subscription payment.
• Commission rates and structure are displayed on the Referrals page.
• Commissions are tracked automatically - you don't need to do anything after sharing the link.

Tracking Referrals

The Referrals page shows:

Metric	Description
Total Referrals	Number of users who signed up with your link
Active Subscribers	How many of your referrals are on paid plans
Total Earnings	Your cumulative commission earnings
Available Balance	Amount available for withdrawal

Withdrawal Requests

When your available balance reaches the minimum threshold:

1. Click Request Withdrawal on the Referrals page.
2. Enter your payment details (PayPal, bank transfer, etc.).
3. Submit the request.
4. Withdrawals are processed within the timeframe shown on the page.

Balance Management

Your referral balance updates in real-time as referred users make payments. You can track:

• Pending commissions (from recent signups not yet processed)
• Confirmed commissions (from completed payments)
• Withdrawn amounts (past payouts)

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23. Settings Deep Dive

The Settings drawer (accessible from the sidebar) contains five tabs that control your account's behavior.

Safety & Limits

Setting	Description	Default
Comment Limit / Hour	Maximum number of comment replies per hour. Prevents Instagram from flagging your account for spam.	Varies by plan
Rate Limit Retry	When you hit the rate limit, how long to wait before retrying.	Auto-configured
Smart Slowdown Mode	Automatically reduces automation speed when approaching rate limits. Available on Trendsetter Pro and above.	OFF

How rate limits work:

• Each plan has an hourly automation limit (e.g., 800/hour for Legend Pro, 2000/hour for Trendsetter).
• When you approach the limit, InstantDM queues remaining messages and processes them after the cooldown.
• Smart Slowdown Mode gradually reduces speed instead of hitting a hard stop.

Automation Controls

Toggle	Description
Account Automation (Global)	Master switch. When OFF, ALL automations on your account are paused. Turning this OFF also disables DM and Comment automation.
DM Automation	Controls whether DM auto-replies are active.
Comment Automation	Controls whether comment auto-replies are active.

These toggles are useful for quickly pausing all automation (e.g., during a live event where you want to respond manually).

AI Configuration

Field	Description
OpenAI API Key	Your OpenAI API key for GPT models. Get one at platform.openai.com.
Anthropic API Key	Your Anthropic API key for Claude models. Get one at console.anthropic.com.

Enter your keys here. They're stored securely and used by AI Reply nodes in the Flow Editor. You can add both keys and switch between providers per flow.

Integrations Tab

Item	Description
Webhooks & API	Quick link to the API & Integrations page (/make-integration). Shows whether webhooks are configured.
ConvertKit	Coming soon. Will allow direct sync of leads to ConvertKit email lists.
Mailchimp	Coming soon. Will allow direct sync of leads to Mailchimp audiences.

Account Tab

Field	Description
Email	Your account email address. Click to update.
Current Plan	Your active subscription plan name and ID.
Account Created	When your account was created.
Plan Details	Credits remaining, hourly limits, and feature access.

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Summary: Key Takeaways from Part 4

• Shopify integration brings your product catalog into DMs - product carousels, abandoned cart recovery, order confirmations, and upsells.
• The Dashboard shows DM stats (24h and 7d), hourly trends, heatmaps, city-level audience data, link analytics, and a recent automation log.
• Team collaboration supports four roles (Owner, Admin, Editor, Viewer) with granular permissions. Collab invites allow post-level access without full workspace access.
• The Referral Program lets you earn commissions by referring new users who subscribe to paid plans.
• Settings give you control over safety limits, automation toggles, AI API keys, integrations, and account details.

Continue to Part 5 for API & Webhook integrations, plans & pricing, safety best practices, troubleshooting, and FAQ.