How to send an Instagram DM when someone comments a keyword

You post a sourdough Reel. Someone asks for the recipe. You copy the link, open their profile, and send a DM. Then another person asks. And another.

Nice problem to have. Still a lot of copying and pasting.

You can automate that reply. When someone comments a keyword on a post you choose, Every Sent starts the DM conversation for you. This guide walks through a recipe example, but the same setup works for a product page, booking link, or free download.

The extra tap is part of the template we'll use. If all you want is a single DM with a link, there's a shorter option below.

• An Instagram professional account you can connect to Every Sent.
• A post or Reel to use for your first test.
• A working link to the resource you're promising.
• A separate Instagram account for testing the recipient's experience.

Sign in to Every Sent and connect the account that owns the post. Keep the comments and messaging permissions enabled during connection. If you're prompted to choose a plan, finish that step before connecting.

This uses Instagram's private replies for professional accounts. Meta's official API reference explains how a comment can start a private reply, including where the message appears and when follow-ups are allowed.

Open Send a link with a reminder and select Use this template. It gives you the opening DM, the tap, and the link message to edit.

Keep your first version small. One post, one keyword, one destination. Leave email collection and extra follow-up steps out until the basic conversation works.

Open the comment trigger. Under Which posts?, choose Posts I choose and select your sourdough Reel. Set the comment keyword to RECIPE.

Start with a specific post rather than any post. Someone asking for a recipe under a bread video shouldn't get the offer from a completely different campaign.

Want the sourdough recipe? Comment RECIPE and I'll send you the link.

In Every Sent, comment keywords match whole words and ignore capitalization. RECIPE, recipe, and ‘recipe please’ can match RECIPE. ‘Recipes’ is a different word, so add it separately if you want that variation too.

The person just asked for a recipe. You don't need a long introduction or a pitch for everything you sell. Remind them what they're getting, then make the next step obvious.

Replace the sample URL with your recipe page. Open it without being signed in to your own account. If it's a shared document, check its sharing settings. A perfect DM isn't much help when the link says ‘Request access’.

If you keep Reply publicly too enabled, edit the public reply so it fits your offer. Keep it short. Its job is to point the person toward their inbox.

Walk through the preview first. Check the opening message, tap the button, and read the final reply. Fix any setup issues, then select Set live.

1. From a separate account, leave a fresh RECIPE comment on the selected Reel.
2. Check that the opening DM arrives. If it's not in the inbox, look in message requests.
3. Tap Send the recipe and check that the link message follows.
4. Open the link on a phone. Confirm it leads to the promised resource.
5. Try an unrelated comment from an unused test account. It shouldn't trigger this keyword rule.

When you edit a live automation, select Publish changes to apply the update. If you've paused it, Resume turns it back on.

One important limit: a comment isn't permission to send an endless sequence of DMs. Meta allows one initial private reply to a comment. Follow-ups require a response from the recipient and must stay within the permitted messaging window. See the limitations in Meta's private-reply reference.

Pick a post where people already ask for the same thing. Give them a clear keyword, send what you promised, and read the first few conversations before copying the setup to more posts.

You can start with the comment-to-DM template. Change the recipe to your own offer, then run through the checklist once. That's enough for your first automation.