# Instagram comment-to-DM automations

> Send a link by DM to everyone who comments a keyword under a post: how the DM flow works, keyword matching, followers-only links, extra buttons, activity, monthly contacts and Instagram's rules.

Source: https://saypage.ai/docs/automations · Updated October 5, 2026

A comment-to-DM automation sends a link by Instagram DM to everyone who comments a keyword under one of your posts. "Comment GUIDE and I'll send you the link" is the classic: you set it up with one sentence, and SayPage answers every comment, day and night.

## Set one up

Tell your assistant the post, the keyword and where the link goes:

> "Anyone who comments PASTA under my last Reel gets my recipe page. Followers only."

Your assistant finds the post, agrees the DM wording with you (you can write it yourself, or edit drafts in your tone), shows you the messages it will set, and creates the automation once you say yes. The link can open:

- **one of your published SayPage pages**, or
- **any web address** you already have: your blog, a recipe, a shop, a booking page.

## What your followers get

Instagram allows a business one private reply to a comment, and anything more only once the person answers. So every automation works in two steps:

1. Someone comments your keyword. They get a first DM (the **opening message**) with a button, such as "Send me the link".
2. They tap the button. They get a second DM (the **link message**) with a button that opens your page.

You choose the text of both messages and both button labels (20 characters at most per label). Your assistant writes every message and label in your language, the follow request included, so a DM never switches language halfway.

### Options

- **Followers only:** only followers of your account get the link. Others get a message asking them to follow you, with a button to tap once they do.
- **Public reply:** a reply under the comment, such as "Sent you a DM!".
- **Extra buttons:** up to 2 more buttons under the link, each opening another of your published pages or any web address ("Shop", "YouTube"). With the main one, that's up to 3 buttons per DM.
- **Your next post:** instead of picking a post, arm the automation for the next post you publish: it starts with that post's first comment. (Creator plans only.)

## How keywords match

- A comment triggers the automation when it contains the keyword **as a whole word**, in any case: "Recipes please 🙌" triggers `RECIPES`, "myrecipes" does not.
- Accents and emoji must match exactly.
- Replies under other comments count. Your own comments never do.
- When several automations on the same post match a comment, the longest keyword wins.
- There is one automation per post and keyword.

Keep keywords short and distinct (`GUIDE`, `MENU`, `LINK`), and say the keyword in your caption: "Comment GUIDE for the link".

## Change, pause or delete

- **Change** the keyword, any message or the buttons: live automations stay live.
- **Pause:** it stops answering. Comments made while it is paused are never answered, even after you turn it back on. Followers already halfway through still get their link.
- **Turn on** again after a pause, or turn on a draft.
- **Delete** it for good.

## See who got the link

Ask "How is my PASTA automation doing?". Your assistant reads the automation's activity: how many comments triggered it, how many people got the first DM, tapped its button, were asked to follow and got the link, and where the others stopped (a first DM nobody tapped, a follow request not followed, a monthly limit reached, a failure). It also lists the latest comments with their author and stage. Usernames and comment text are kept for 30 days, then only the outcome.

## Monthly contacts

Each plan caps how many **different people** automations DM per calendar month (UTC). Someone already DMed this month never counts twice. Once the cap is reached, new commenters get no DM until the month ends, and their comments are not answered later. Your assistant can tell you how many people you reached this month. The free plan includes 50 new contacts a month: see [Plans and limits](https://saypage.ai/docs/plans).

## Instagram's rules

SayPage uses Instagram's official API and follows its messaging rules:

- **Only people who comment get a DM.** SayPage cannot message your followers in bulk, write to someone first, or send newsletters.
- **The 24-hour window:** Instagram lets a business reply for 24 hours after someone's last message. SayPage checks the window again right before every DM, including retries, and never sends outside it.
- **It cannot read your DMs.** Your inbox stays yours; SayPage only sends its automation messages.

## Good to know

- Stories take no comments, so they can't have automations.
- A page an automation sends (or that one of its buttons opens) stays online while the automation uses it: change or delete the automation before unpublishing the page.
- The free plan runs 1 automation, on a post you pick. Paused and draft automations don't count toward the limit; active and armed ones do.

## Next

- [Read and answer comments](https://saypage.ai/docs/comments)
- [See the visits your DMs bring](https://saypage.ai/docs/insights#page-statistics)