Comment-to-DM on Instagram ads

The same Comment → DM automation that answers comments on your posts can answer comments left on your Instagram ads: a post you boosted, or an ad you built in Ads Manager. Someone comments your keyword under the ad, HyperDM replies publicly under their comment and sends them one DM. This page walks the whole job in order, from the offer to the first DM. It covers Instagram placements; comments on the Facebook placements of an ad are answered only when your Facebook Page is connected too — the last two sections say how.

Start with the offer, not the ad

The comment is the trigger. The DM is the payoff. Decide the payoff first.

1. What are you handing over? A guide, a discount code, a waitlist spot, a link to buy. Write it down — that sentence is your DM.
2. Pick a keyword people will actually type. One word, easy to spell: GUIDE, LINK, PRICE. Put the instruction in the ad itself ("Comment GUIDE and I'll send it"), because nobody comments a keyword they were never told about.
3. Make the first DM worth answering. Instagram allows one private reply per comment, and only within 7 days of the comment. HyperDM sends that one DM and can only continue after the person replies — so the first DM must carry the value, or a reason to reply.
4. Write the public reply. It appears under their comment where everyone can see it: "Sent you a DM 👀" tells the next person what happens when they comment.

What you need before you build

1. Instagram connected. Settings → Channels shows a green Connected badge on the Instagram card. You need a professional account (Business or Creator) — see getting-started.md.
2. The ad runs as that same Instagram account. In Ads Manager that is the ad's Instagram account identity; a boost from the Instagram app always uses the account you boosted from. An ad that runs under a different Instagram account never reaches HyperDM; one that runs under your Facebook Page only is answered by a Facebook Page automation instead (last section).
3. A role that can build automations — owner, admin or agent. See roles-and-permissions.md.

There is nothing to switch on and nothing to connect in Ads Manager. HyperDM does not need access to your ad account.

Build the automation, step by step

1. Go to Automations and click New automation (or the Comment → DM starter card).
2. Step 1 — Choose the trigger: Comment → DM. Enter up to 5 keywords, comma-separated, and choose contains the keyword or is exactly the keyword.
3. Under Where can the comment happen? choose Instagram ads (only ad comments) or Both (the post's own comments and ad comments). Organic posts and reels will not answer ad comments.
4. Under Listen on choose All posts & reels. Specific posts or reels can never cover an ad — an ad has its own media id that the post picker cannot see — and Your next post or reel only ever binds to a post, never to an ad.
5. Top-level comments only is on for ad comments and stays on: replies inside someone else's comment thread on an ad do not trigger anything.
6. Step 2 — Reply publicly under the comment. Write the public reply; click + Add a variation for up to 3, rotated at random.
7. Step 3 — Send this DM. Write the DM, add merge tags from the variable picker, and up to 3 links — every link is tracked. Under When to send the link, After they reply is the safer choice for ads: a link in the very first DM to someone who has never messaged you can land in their Requests folder.
8. Optional: Capture their email, Nudge if they don't tap.
9. Click Set live. Only comments made after the automation went live are processed.

The rest of the builder is described field by field in automations.md.

Run the ad: boosting vs Ads Manager

Both work. Nothing changes in HyperDM between the two.

• Boost a post from the Instagram app (Boost post) or Meta Business Suite. Instagram creates a second copy of your post as the ad. Comments on that copy are ad comments; comments on the original post stay organic. An automation set to Both answers both. See "Boosted posts have two comment streams" below.
• Create an ad in Ads Manager. Choose your Facebook Page and, as the ad's Instagram account, the account connected to HyperDM. Include Instagram placements (feed, Reels, Explore). The ad is not a post on your profile, so only an automation set to Instagram ads or Both can answer its comments.

Comments must be allowed on your account: if you have turned commenting off for your account, there is nothing to answer.

What happens when someone comments

1. They comment your keyword under the ad.
2. HyperDM posts your public reply under their comment (one of your variations).
3. The DM goes out through a small queue that runs every minute, so it normally lands within a minute or two of the comment. If Instagram is rate-limiting your account the DM waits and retries for up to 7 days rather than being dropped.
4. The conversation appears in your Inbox with the contact. You can reply by hand or Take over; the AI agent continues it only if AI replies are switched on — see inbox.md and agent.md.
5. When they reply, Instagram's normal messaging window opens and the rest of the automation — the link, the email ask, the nudge — proceeds as it does for any comment.
6. On the Automations list, the row shows triggered → clicked, with CTR when there is a link, and each answered comment starts a conversation that counts toward your plan's allowance like any other — see concepts.md.

HyperDM's AI Comments stay out of a comment an ad automation answered, and never post under an ad on their own.

Boosted posts have two comment streams

Instagram keeps the comments on the boosted (ad) version of a post separate from the comments on the post itself. In HyperDM:

• the post's own comments are organic;
• the boosted copy's comments are ad comments.

So an automation set to Organic posts and reels answers only the post's own comments and will not answer comments on the boosted version. Choose Both to cover the post and its boost with one automation. And because the boosted copy has its own media id, Specific posts or reels covers only the original — use All posts & reels.

Pausing, editing and deleting while an ad runs

• Pause the automation (row action), or Settings → Workspace → Pause everything: nothing goes out while paused. DMs already queued wait and are re-checked; they still expire at the 7-day limit, so a long pause loses them. Set live again to resume.
• Edit the DM text: a comment that arrived before you saved gets the text that was live when it arrived. Comments after the save get the new text.
• Delete the automation: queued DMs are dropped and do not come back when you restore it from Recently deleted.
• Pause the ad in Ads Manager: new comments stop, but DMs already queued still send. Pause the automation too if you want them stopped.

Test it on your own ad

1. Set the automation live.
2. Find the ad's post from a different Instagram account. In Ads Manager, select the ad, open Preview, then Share → Instagram post with comments — that link is the ad's own post. For a boost, the boosted copy is a different post from the original.
3. Comment the keyword from the other account. Comments from your own connected account are ignored.
4. Watch the Inbox: the public reply appears under the comment and the DM arrives within a minute or two.

What is not covered yet

• Facebook placements of an ad (comments left on the Facebook feed, Reels or Marketplace copy of the ad) — unless your Facebook Page is connected and a Facebook Page comment automation is live. See the next section.
• Choosing which ads an automation answers. An automation set to Instagram ads or Both answers every ad that runs under your account and matches its keyword.
• Catalog (Advantage+) ads. HyperDM has not verified comments on catalog ads; treat them as not answered.
• Ads that run under a different Instagram account.
• Replies inside a comment thread on an ad, comments made before the automation went live, and comments older than 7 days.

Facebook placements of your ad

An ad built in Ads Manager can run on Facebook as well as Instagram. Facebook comments belong to your Facebook Page, not your Instagram account, so an Instagram automation never sees them. To answer them, connect the Page in Settings → Channels and create a comment automation with Facebook Page under Which account? — see the last section.

Without a connected Page those people get no DM. If every comment on the ad must be answered and you would rather not connect the Page, run the ad on Instagram placements only: in Ads Manager choose Manual placements and untick Facebook. A boost from the Instagram app runs on Instagram already.

Common questions

I boosted a post and my automation didn't answer the ad's comments. It is set to Organic posts and reels. Open it and choose Both. Also check that Listen on is All posts & reels — a picked post covers only the original.

The public reply appeared but no DM arrived. The DM goes through a queue and can take a minute or two. If Instagram is rate-limiting your account it retries for up to 7 days. Check the Inbox for the conversation; if the DM was sent, it may be sitting in the person's Requests folder — that is the reason After they reply is the safer link setting for ads.

Someone commented on the Facebook version of my ad and got nothing. An Instagram automation does not see Facebook comments. Connect your Facebook Page and create a Facebook Page comment automation — see the last section. If you already have one set to top-level comments only, check the person commented on the post itself rather than replying to another comment.

Does HyperDM need access to my ad account? No. It needs your Instagram account connected and the ad to run as that account — or, for the Facebook placements, your Facebook Page connected.

Does this cost extra? No. It is available on every plan, including Free; each answered comment starts a conversation that counts toward your plan's allowance like any other. See plans-and-billing.md.

Facebook Page comments (new)

If you connect a Facebook Page in Settings, the same comment automations work there. Create a comment automation, choose Facebook Page under Which account?, then choose where it listens — your Posts, your Facebook ads (ads built in Ads Manager), or Both (the default): a matching comment gets your public reply under it and one Messenger private reply. Facebook, like Instagram, allows one private reply per comment — the conversation continues once the person replies. Comments the Page itself leaves are ignored, the public reply and the DM go out under the Page's name, and the reply arrives within about a minute.