How do I auto-reply to comments on my Instagram ads and boosted posts?

People comment “price?” or “link” on your ads all day. InstantDM can answer each one with a public reply and a DM, the same way it does for your normal posts.

Before you start

• Your Instagram must be connected with Facebook Login (through your Facebook Page). The ad list stays empty without it. See Should I connect with Instagram or with Facebook?
• Your Facebook account needs access to the ad account in Meta (Business Manager or Ads Manager).
• The ad must run on Instagram. Comments on the Facebook placement are not automated.
• Ad comment automation is listed on Trendsetter and above.

Steps

1. On Home, click New Automation (top right).
2. Under “When should it run?”, choose Comment to DM.
3. On “Which posts?”, click Ads (“Pick one or more of your Meta ads”). Keep the Instagram platform pill selected.
4. If you have more than one ad account, choose it in the Ad account dropdown.
   • You’ll see your ads with an Active or Paused badge.
   • Ads marked Not on Instagram can’t be picked. They have no Instagram post.
5. Click one or more ads, then click Next.
6. Under “What should it send?”, pick one:
   • Send Link & PDF: one reply for everyone, like a product link.
   • Lead Gen: ask for a name, email or phone in the DM.
   • Flow Automation: a multi-step chat with buttons (Trendsetter and above).
7. If you picked 2 or more ads, type a Group name (or leave it blank), then click Publish Setup. This opens the editor. It does not go live yet.
8. Add your trigger words (for example “price, link, cost”), your public replies and your DM.
9. Click Publish (in Lead Gen: Save, then Publish & Activate; in a Flow: Set Live).

You can also start from Quick Automation: open the Instagram tab, choose Meta Ads, click your ad account, then click an ad.

On the phone app

The phone app can’t set up ad automations. Use the web app at app.instantdm.com for this.

What your followers see

They comment on your ad and get your public reply under their comment, then your DM. If you use a Welcome Message, they get a short message with a button first, and the link arrives after they tap it.

Good to know

• Boosted posts: the automation sits on the original post. If that post already has an automation, comments from the boost are answered by it.
• Dark posts (ads made only in Ads Manager that never appear on your profile) show up in the ad list with their own Instagram post.
• Several versions of the same ad (different images or texts) are matched back to the main ad.
• Someone who comments twice gets the DM twice. There is no once-per-person rule for comments.

What you can’t do

• Automate comments on the Facebook placement of an ad. See Can InstantDM handle click-to-message ads or Facebook ad comments?
• Reply to people who tap “Send message” on click-to-message ads.
• Create, pause or edit ads from InstantDM.

How to turn it off

Open the ad’s automation and switch off its Send Link or PDF (or Lead Gen) card. More in How do I turn off, edit or delete an automation?

If it doesn’t work

• “No ads found on this ad account. Ads need Facebook Login.” → connect with Facebook Login. See Why can’t I see my ads in InstantDM?
• An ad shows Not on Instagram → it has no Instagram post, usually because it runs only on Facebook. Add the Instagram placement in Ads Manager.
• An ad isn’t in the list at all → check in Ads Manager that the ad uses your connected Instagram account. Ads set up with another Instagram account, or none, are not listed.
• Ad comments get no DM, but you also have a Flow that runs on every post → on some accounts this combination skips ad comments. Write to hey@instantdm.com.
• Anything else → Why didn’t my automation send a DM?