How to Automatically Reply to All Your Instagram DMs

What you’ll learn in this guide:

• The two entry points for creating this flow, and the difference between them
• How to configure the trigger filter: reply to all DMs or only those containing keywords
• What message to write so the reply feels natural, not robotic
• How to add optional actions: buttons, images, and email capture
• The most common mistakes when setting up this automation and how to avoid them

Reading time: 10 minutes | First automation active: 8 minutes

Every day, thousands of Instagram accounts lose sales, inquiries, and potential followers for the same reason: they don’t respond in time. A DM left unanswered in the first few hours is, in most cases, losing that contact forever.

The good news is that this problem has a straightforward solution: setting up an automatic reply for your Instagram inbox. In this guide, we explain how to do it with AppSorteos in less than ten minutes, without code and without putting your account at risk.

Why automate DM replies instead of just replying manually?

The short answer is: volume and time. The bigger an account grows, the more messages it receives, and the window in which a reply has real impact is very short.

Key fact: According to Meta data, 60% of users expect a reply to a DM from a business within 24 hours. Accounts that respond within the first 60 minutes are up to 7 times more likely to convert that conversation into a sale or qualified lead. Automation makes it possible to always reply within that first minute, regardless of the time or volume of messages.

Beyond the numbers, automating incoming DMs has three concrete advantages:

• Total availability: your account replies at 3 AM, on weekends, and during a message spike after a viral post, without you having to monitor your phone.
• Consistency: every person receives the same clear, well-written message, without typos or variations based on your mood at the moment.
• Starting point for follow-up: the automated flow makes the first contact; you or your team can pick up the conversation when needed, with the advantage that the user has already received useful information.

That said, automating doesn’t mean disappearing. The tool manages first contact; human judgment remains essential for closing complex sales or building long-term relationships.

What you need before you start

• An Instagram Business or Creator account (personal accounts don’t have access to Meta’s messaging API).
• An active AppSorteos account. The free plan is enough. If you don’t have an account yet, create one at AppSorteos — no credit card required.
• Your Instagram account already connected to the AppSorteos dashboard. If you haven’t done this yet, first follow the introduction to DM Automation guide.

Tip: If you manage multiple Instagram accounts, you can have them all connected to the same AppSorteos dashboard and create independent flows for each one. No need to log in and out of different profiles.

Step by step: how to reply to all DMs

Step 1 — Create a new flow: choose your entry point

From the AppSorteos main dashboard, go to DM Automation and click “+ New flow”. You’ll see a screen with two sections: available triggers at the top and pre-designed templates at the bottom.

To automate replies to your DMs, you can start from either place:

• “Reply to All Your DMs” Template: Click on the template in the lower section. The editor opens with the trigger already configured and a sample message preloaded. Just click Next and adjust the details you want to change.
• “DM Received” Trigger: Click on the trigger in the upper section. The editor opens blank, ready for you to configure each setting from scratch. It’s the same screen as the template, but without preloaded text.

Same steps, different starting point. Once you enter the editor, the configuration process is identical in both cases: you define the trigger filter (Step 2) and configure the send action (Step 3). The only difference is that the template already has a sample message preloaded that you can edit or replace, saving you a few seconds. If you started from the trigger, you simply write the message yourself from the beginning.

Step 2 — Configure the trigger: all DMs or just some?

Whether you’re on the template screen or entered from the trigger, you’ll see the same section in the left panel: “And the message contains”. Here you define which DMs activate the flow.

One or more specific keywords

The flow activates only when the incoming message contains a word or phrase you define. Write them separated by commas. AppSorteos suggests some frequently used ones: Price, Info, Hello, Link, Want, Help, Buy.

When to use it: when you want different replies for different types of inquiries. You can have multiple active flows running in parallel, each with its own keywords and its own message.

Any message (no filter)

The flow activates with any incoming DM, regardless of what it says. It covers 100% of messages that arrive in your inbox.

When to use it: when your goal is to make sure no message goes without an immediate reply. Ideal as a welcome flow or for accounts that receive many messages with varied inquiries.

Tip: combine both approaches.A very effective strategy is to have a filter-free flow as a “safety net” (a generic welcome message or “I’ll get back to you soon”) and specific flows with keywords for the most frequent inquiries. Keyword flows take priority; the filter-free flow only activates when no other flow matches.

Step 3 — Configure the action: what the person receives

Once the filter is configured, click Next (if you’re on the template) or on the Send DM action in the flow diagram (if you started from the trigger). You’ll reach the same action configuration screen.

From here you can:

• Edit or write the text message: if you used the template, you’ll find a sample message already written that you can freely modify. If you started from scratch, the field will be empty and you write your message directly.
• Add buttons with links: include one or more buttons with URLs within the same DM. The user sees them in the Instagram conversation and can click to go to your store, website, or landing page.

Write a message that sounds natural

A good automatic message meets three conditions:

1. It’s immediately useful: it answers the question or delivers the resource in the first message, without unnecessary additional steps.
2. It sounds natural: avoid phrases that give away that it’s a bot. “We have received your message and will get back to you shortly” sounds like a form, not a conversation.
3. It leaves the door open: invites the conversation to continue if the person has more questions.

Message examples by use case

Use case	Suggested message
Generic welcome reply	Hi! Thanks for reaching out. I’ll reply personally as soon as I can. In the meantime, you can view all the information by clicking the button. Best regards!
Price inquiry	Hi! The updated prices are just a click away. If you have any specific questions, drop me a line and I’ll help you out.
Availability / shipping	Hi! We ship nationwide. The timelines and costs are listed below. Do you have any specific questions?
Free resource delivery	Hi! Here’s the resource you requested. If you’d like me to let you know when I post something new, just let me know.
Out of hours	Hi! We received your message. We’re available Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM. We’ll write back soon. Thanks for your patience!

Key fact: Automatic messages with a warm and friendly tone have response rates up to 40% higher than generic corporate messages. Meta’s API doesn’t allow using name variables in DM received flows, but a well-written message can be just as effective.

Tip: don’t overload the first message.The temptation is to pack all the information into the first DM: prices, link, image, button… The result is usually a message that overwhelms rather than helps. The first message should have one clear objective. If you need more steps, use chained actions that activate with the person’s reply.

Step 4 (optional) — Add more actions to the flow

If you want to go beyond a simple text reply, you can chain additional actions from the flow diagram by clicking “+ Add action”:

• Request email: ask for the email address before delivering the resource. If the format is invalid, the system retries automatically. It’s one of the most effective ways to capture qualified leads from Instagram.
• Request follow: verifies if the person follows you and, if not, sends them an invitation before giving them access to the content. Check out the use case for gaining followers with Instagram automations for more details.

Step 5 — Save, activate and test the flow

Before activating the flow, do a test from a secondary account or from a collaborator’s phone. Send a DM to your Instagram account and verify that:

• The text is exactly what you configured (without typos or weird spaces)
• If you included a link, it works and leads to the correct page
• If you added buttons, they display correctly on mobile
• The flow appears as “Active” in the AppSorteos dashboard

Once verified, activate the flow. From that moment on, every DM that arrives in your inbox will receive an automatic reply according to the configuration you defined.

Common mistakes when configuring this flow (and how to avoid them)

• Using the filter-free flow for everything without strategy. A generic flow can be useful as a “safety net”, but if you use it as your only automation, all inquiries receive the same reply regardless of what was asked. Create specific flows for your most frequent inquiries.

• Not editing the template’s sample message. The template comes with a generic sample text. It’s meant to be personalized before you activate the flow; publishing it as-is usually results in messages that don’t match your brand tone.

• Writing messages that are too long. In an Instagram conversation, the first message should be concise: maximum 3-4 lines. Long messages are perceived as spam or simply ignored.

• Activating the flow and never reviewing it. Links change, prices are updated, pages are redesigned. Review your active flows at least once a month.

• Forgetting that the conversation can continue. When someone replies to the automatic DM with a follow-up question, check your inbox regularly to pick up those conversations.

Most common use cases for this flow

The DM received trigger adapts to almost any type of account. These are the scenarios where it adds the most value:

Businesses and ecommerce

Automatic reply with prices, availability, or a link to the catalog. Ideal for handling inquiries outside business hours without losing leads: the flow replies at 2 AM exactly the same as at 2 PM.

Tip: Set up a flow with the keyword PRICE that delivers the link to your updated catalog. When that link changes, you only need to edit the flow once; nothing else needs to be updated. Your DMs will always be up to date.

Content creators

Welcome message for new followers who write for the first time, or automatic delivery of free resources promised in posts or Stories. The flow acts as a 24/7 assistant so you can focus on creating content.

Real example: A personal finance content creator published a Reel mentioning she was sending her monthly budget spreadsheet via DM to anyone who wrote the word SPREADSHEET. She configured the DM received flow with that keyword and, in the 48 hours following the Reel, the flow replied to more than 1,200 messages without any manual intervention.

Services and consulting

Initial reply with basic information — rates, methodology, delivery times — that qualifies the prospect before passing to manual follow-up. When you pick up the conversation, the person already knows the context and the chat moves faster.

Tip: Instead of replying to any DM, create flows with keywords by service type: BRANDING, WEB, PHOTO, etc. Each flow delivers specific information about the service they asked about, instead of a generic message. This reduces back-and-forth before reaching a meeting.

Agencies and community managers

Manage multiple client Instagram accounts from a single dashboard, with custom flows and messages for each brand. No logging in and out of profiles, no mixing up conversations, no missing messages from any client.

Tip: If you manage accounts with very different brand identities, take a few minutes to adapt the tone of the automatic message to each brand’s voice before activating the flow. A message that sounds like brand A copied to brand B is one of the most common — and most visible — mistakes in multi-account management.

Infoproducers

Automatic delivery of lead magnets, webinar access, or purchase links when someone writes a specific keyword. The flow turns every content mention into an opportunity to capture a lead or generate a direct sale.

Real example: A digital marketing infoproducer configured three simultaneous flows: COURSE (delivered the link to his main course), FREE (delivered his welcome ebook) and MENTORING (sent the link to schedule a call). In one month, the three combined flows managed more than 2,000 DMs and generated 340 new email-captured leads, all without manual intervention.

How to combine this flow with other AppSorteos triggers?

Incoming DM automation works independently, but its real power multiplies when you combine it with the other available triggers:

• With the post or Reel comment trigger: when someone comments on your publication, they receive an automatic DM with the promised resource. If they then write to you via DM to ask something, the DM received flow handles that second interaction. Learn how to configure it in the guide how to send an automatic DM when someone comments on your Post or Reel
• With the Story reply trigger: someone reacts to your story and receives a DM. If they then reply with another question, the DM received flow can capture that reply and give it continuity. Discover how in the guide how to send an automatic DM when someone replies to your Story.
• With the email capture action: in any of these flows you can request the email before delivering the resource, turning each interaction into a lead with real contact information. Find out all the details in the guide on capturing emails from Instagram.

To go deeper into each combination, visit the DM Automation tutorials section where you’ll find specific guides for each case.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between using the template and starting from the trigger?

None in terms of features: both paths open the same editor with the same options. The difference is that the template comes with a preloaded sample message that serves as a starting point, while the trigger opens the editor blank. Choose whichever is more comfortable for you.

Does the flow work when I close the app?

Yes. Once activated, the flow runs continuously in the AppSorteos cloud. You don’t need to have the app open.

Can I have multiple DM received flows active at the same time?

Yes. You can combine a filter-free flow with several keyword flows.

What happens if the same person writes to me multiple times?

By default, the flow replies once per user in a given period to avoid sending the same message repeatedly. If they write with a different keyword that has its own flow, that one will activate.

Can I personalize the message with the user’s name?

Currently, Meta’s API doesn’t allow using name variables in DM received flows. You can compensate with a warm and personalized tone in the message.

Can DM Automation negatively affect my Instagram account?

No. AppSorteos operates exclusively through Meta Business’s official API. It doesn’t simulate human behavior or use external methods that put your account at risk.

Does this flow also reply to DMs that come from Stories or comments?

Yes. Any DM that arrives in your inbox — regardless of its origin — can be captured by this flow.

It’s your turn!

You now have all the steps: go to AppSorteos, choose whether you prefer to use the template or start from the trigger, and configure your message. In less than ten minutes, no DM will go unanswered again.

Next steps: other DM Automation guides

Once you have your incoming DMs flow active, you can expand your strategy with these guides:

• Guide: How to Send an Automatic DM When Someone Comments on Your Post or Reel — The most popular flow: comment with keyword + automatic DM.
• Guide: How to Send an Automatic DM When Someone Replies to Your Story — Take advantage of one of Instagram’s most intentional interactions.
• Guide: How to Capture Your Followers’ Emails from Instagram — Turn every DM into a lead with real contact information.
• Guide: How to Gain Followers Using Instagram Automations — Use the request follow action inside your DM flows.