A post has more than one automation. Which one runs?

Before you start

• Own automation: set up on one post (Send Link or PDF, Lead Gen, or a flow that picked that post).
• All-posts automation: set up for every post (Global Posts Automation). See How do I automate all my posts?

Steps

Use these steps to check which automation a post will use:

1. Open Quick Automation → Instagram → Posts and look at the post’s tag.
   • Automated: it has its own Send Link or PDF or Lead Gen automation.
   • Flow Editor: a flow is set on it.
   • Global Automated: only your all-posts automation covers it.
   • Not Automated: nothing answers its comments.
2. Click the post. On “Post Automations”, see which cards are switched on.
3. If both Send Link or PDF and Lead Gen look on, switch off the one you don’t want and click Disable.
4. Open the one you want to keep and save it again (Publish, or Save → Publish & Activate for Lead Gen), so it is the last one saved.
5. Test with a comment from a friend’s account.

The order InstantDM follows for each comment

1. The post’s own automation. If the comment matches its trigger words (or it uses All comments), it answers and nothing else runs.
2. No match on the post. If the post’s own Send Link or PDF automation has trigger words and the comment matches none of them, InstantDM checks your all-posts Send Link & PDF automations. If the post’s own automation is Lead Gen or a flow, only your all-posts Lead Gen and flow automations are checked.
3. No own automation, or it is switched off. Your all-posts automations answer the post.
4. Inside your all-posts automations, a keyword automation that matches is used first. If no keyword matches, your catch-all (“Any Comment / Reply”) is used, if you have one.
5. Nothing matches. No reply is sent.

Stories follow the same order, with your all-stories automation in place of all-posts.

Two setups on the same post

• Send Link or PDF and Lead Gen: both cards can look switched on, but only the one saved last runs.
• Two flows with the same trigger word: only the most recently published flow runs.
• Two all-posts automations with the same word: only one of them can answer that word. Give each one different words.

On the phone app

The app follows the same order. One extra rule: publishing a post’s automation from the app removes any Lead Gen on that post that you made on the web. If a post uses Lead Gen, edit it only on the web.

What your followers see

One reply per comment: one DM and, if switched on, one public reply. They never get two automations for the same comment.

Good to know

• Lead Gen on a post works a little differently: if none of its words match, only your all-posts Lead Gen and flow automations are checked, not your all-posts Send Link & PDF ones.
• Automation Groups don’t change the order. Each post in a group counts as having its own automation.
• A new comment from the same person is a new chance to match, so they can get the DM again.

What you can’t do

• Run two automations on one comment.
• Set a priority number between automations.
• Make a post skip your all-posts automation, except by giving that post an All comments automation of its own.

How to turn it off

Switch off the automation you don’t want to run. See How do I turn off, edit or delete an automation?

If it doesn’t work

• The wrong DM arrives: check for an all-posts automation with a matching word, and for Send Link or PDF and Lead Gen both looking on.
• A post you switched off still answers: your all-posts automation is covering it (tag Global Automated).
• Lead Gen stopped after you edited the post on your phone: the app removed it. Set the Lead Gen up again on the web.