How Story reply automation works
Instagram delivers a Story reply to your inbox as a direct message. That is the important detail: you do not need a special Story integration, you need a keyword automation on incoming DMs.
- Your Story
- They reply with a keyword
- Automatic DM back
You post a Story that says “Reply PLAN and I'll send you the 4-week plan.” Someone types PLAN. Komently matches the keyword and sends your message, with a link, a button or an email ask if you configured one.
Because the match is on the keyword and not on a specific Story, the same automation keeps working for every Story you post afterwards. You set it up once.
What you can trigger on
Anything the person types back to you, as long as it contains your keyword:
- A reply to a Story with a sticker prompt
- A reply to a Story with a question sticker answer
- A plain DM containing the same keyword
- A reply to a Story on a Facebook Page, handled the same way
Keywords that work well in Stories
Short, easy to type on a phone, and hard to type by accident:
- plan
- link
- guide
- price
- send
- yes
Set it up in five minutes
Once, and it covers every Story from then on:
- 1
Connect your Instagram account
Log in with Meta and pick the professional account. Komently never asks for your Instagram password. - 2
Create a DM auto-reply automation
This is the automation type that answers incoming messages, which is what a Story reply is. Give it a name you will recognise later. - 3
Set the keyword
Type the word you will put in your Story, for example PLAN. Matching is case- and accent-insensitive, and by default it matches when the message contains the word. - 4
Write the reply
The message you want sent back, with your link. On paid plans you can add a button, ask for an email first, or require a follow before the link goes out. - 5
Post the Story and test it
Add the instruction to your Story, then reply from another account. The DM should arrive within seconds.
The Free plan covers 1,000 DMs a month and 5 active automations, which is enough to run this on every Story you post.
Three Story prompts that work
The Story has to tell people exactly what to type. Vague prompts get vague replies:
Lead magnet
- Post says
- “Reply PLAN and I'll send you my free 4-week plan.”
- They comment
- PLAN
- Komently sends
- The plan link, and on paid plans an email ask before it.
Price question
- Post says
- “Curious about pricing? Reply PRICE and I'll send the full list.”
- They comment
- PRICE
- Komently sends
- Your pricing page link with a short line about what is included.
Restock or launch
- Post says
- “Back in stock tomorrow. Reply LINK for first access.”
- They comment
- LINK
- Komently sends
- The product link, sent the moment the Story reply lands.
What this cannot do
Worth knowing before you build a campaign around it:
- Story mentions are not a trigger. If someone tags your account in their own Story, Komently does not act on it. Only replies sent to you count.
- The person has to message first. Meta's rules do not allow an automated DM to someone who has not interacted with you, and no tool can change that.
- Stories expire, the automation does not. Keep the keyword generic enough that it still makes sense when an old Story is gone and someone types it late.
- One tool per keyword. If another automation tool is connected to the same account with the same keyword, the person receives two replies.
The account safety guide covers Meta's messaging rules and how paced sending keeps a viral Story from looking like spam.
What to watch
Three numbers tell you whether the Story prompt is working:
- Replies per Story. If it is near zero, the prompt was not clear or the Story did not say what to type.
- Delivery rate. The share of matched replies that actually received a DM. It should be close to everything.
- Link clicks. Tracked links tell you whether the message earned the tap, which is the only thing that matters after delivery.
The Instagram DM automation guide goes deeper on the other incoming-message flows you can build alongside this one.