By the end of this page you'll have a live automation that DMs anyone who comments a keyword on your post.

Your list isn't empty to start with: a new workspace already holds a paused Example automation. You can edit that one instead of starting fresh — The example we left you — or leave it alone and follow the steps below.

Steps

1. In big, click New automation.
2. Choose a trigger. Pick Comment on a post and select the post (or reel) you want to watch. (The other two triggers — an incoming DM, and a reply to one of your stories — need no target: they watch the whole account. See Triggers.)
3. Set the keyword. Type the word people will comment, for example LINK. big matches the whole word, so a comment of link or Send me the LINK will fire, but linkup will not. See Triggers for the exact matching rules.
4. Add an action. Click Send a DM and write your message. Drop in your link or call to action.
5. (Optional) Also reply to the comment so people know to check their inbox. Click Reply to comment and write something short like "Just sent it your way!"
6. Turn it on. Toggle the automation to Active.

Test it

Comment your keyword on the post from a different Instagram account. Within a few moments you should see the DM arrive and, if you added one, the public reply.

One thing to know before you test twice: each account can trigger a given automation only once every 24 hours. If you comment again from the same test account to double-check, nothing happens — that's the per-contact cooldown, not a bug. Use a second account or wait it out.

It didn't fire?

Don't worry — there are a few common reasons (the keyword didn't match exactly, the messaging window had closed, or you hit your plan cap). Walk through "Why didn't my automation fire?".

Next step

Learn how matching works in Triggers.