trigger types on Instagram
Meta's reply window — DM IQ answers inside it
official Meta Instagram API — no password bots
free plan: 100 users/mo, 3 active workflows
How it works
Link your Instagram professional account through Meta's official Instagram login. DM IQ requests only the business messaging, comments, publishing, and insights permissions — no password, no browser extension, no third-party session.
Pick the trigger — a comment keyword, a story reply, an @mention, or an inbound DM — then set keyword matching (any, all, exact, or every comment), scope it to all posts or specific ones, and write the public reply, the DM, and the buttons.
DM IQ replies the moment the event lands, asks your qualifying questions, and saves the answers as a structured record. Flows can be active, paused, or left as drafts, and a teammate can take over any conversation mid-thread.
Why DM IQ
DM IQ authenticates through Instagram API with Instagram Login and holds Meta-issued business messaging permissions. Nothing logs in as you, nothing scrapes the app, and nothing depends on a session cookie that breaks the next time Instagram ships a release.
DM IQ only messages people who engage first — a comment, a story reply, a mention, or a DM they sent you. That is exactly how Meta's messaging platform is meant to be used, which keeps your account clear of the enforcement that hits cold-DM tools.
Replies are instant, relevant, and one-to-one. Followers get the speed of a bot with the tone of a real reply — and a teammate can take over any conversation mid-thread without losing the context the automation already captured.
DM IQ's AI asks for need, budget, email, and phone, then saves a CRM-ready record. Names, answers, and outcomes stop living inside the Instagram inbox and start feeding your pipeline.
Native vs. tool
Meta Business Suite includes basic inbox automations — instant replies to first messages, away messages, and a small set of saved FAQ responses. They send one canned message and stop. If all you need is an acknowledgment while you sleep, start there and spend nothing.
DM IQ runs keyword comment-to-DM flows on your Instagram posts, picks up story replies, mentions, and inbound DMs, then holds a multi-step conversation that asks qualifying questions and captures every answer as structured lead data — with AI auto-replies on paid plans.
What we automate
Most tools in this category blur the line. Here is exactly where DM IQ starts and stops, so you can tell in ten seconds whether it is the right tool for you.
Comments on your posts and reels, story replies, @mentions, and DMs. DM IQ subscribes to Instagram's webhook events, dedupes Meta's retries so nobody gets the same DM twice, and sends the reply back through the Instagram Send API with up to three tappable buttons.
DM IQ does not connect a Facebook Page, so it does not automate Messenger threads or click-to-Messenger ads. Meta Business Suite's built-in instant replies and away messages cover the Page basics for free, and dedicated Messenger tools go further. We would rather say so than sell you a connection that does not exist.
Meta's rules
Meta's Instagram messaging docs are explicit: your app has 24 hours to respond to any message a user sends. After that the standard window closes and a normal automated reply is no longer allowed.
Anything scheduled, batched, or queued behind a human eventually lands outside the window and fails. This is also why cold outreach cannot work on the official API at all — with no inbound message, there is no window to reply inside.
The reply is fired from the webhook event itself, seconds after the comment, story reply, mention, or DM arrives. The automation is never waiting on a queue, a schedule, or an available human, so the 24-hour limit is never the binding constraint.
Triggers
Someone comments a keyword on a post or reel. DM IQ posts a public reply and sends the private DM in seconds. Match on any keyword, all keywords, an exact phrase, or every comment, and scope the rule to all posts or to specific ones.
A reply or reaction to your story opens a thread. DM IQ answers it, asks what the person is after, and routes them to the link, the offer, or a booking — while the story is still live and attention is highest.
Someone tags you in their story or a comment. DM IQ picks the mention up as its own trigger type, so the people already talking about you get a reply instead of being missed in the notification pile.
A direct message arrives cold from a follower or an ad. DM IQ answers immediately, runs the qualifying questions, and hands the hot ones to a human — which is exactly the behaviour Meta's 24-hour window is designed around.
FAQ
Meta DM automation is software that handles Instagram and Messenger conversations automatically through Meta's official messaging APIs, instead of someone typing every reply. DM IQ covers the Instagram side: it triggers on comments, story replies, mentions, and inbound DMs, then auto-replies, qualifies the lead, and shares the right link or booking.
No. DM IQ connects through Instagram API with Instagram Login and automates the Instagram inbox only — comments, story replies, mentions, and DMs. It does not connect a Facebook Page, so Messenger threads and click-to-Messenger ads are outside what it does. Meta Business Suite's free instant replies and away messages handle the Page basics, and dedicated Messenger tools go further if you need them.
Meta's Instagram messaging documentation states that your app has 24 hours to respond to any message sent by a user. Outside that window a standard automated reply is not permitted; Meta provides a human agent tag for conversations that genuinely need a person to take longer. DM IQ replies within seconds of the triggering event, so it operates well inside the window by default.
Yes, when it is permission-based and built on the official API. DM IQ only messages people who comment, reply to a story, mention you, or DM you first — which is exactly how Meta's messaging platform is designed to work. What violates the rules is sending unsolicited bulk messages or using tools that log into your account with your password. DM IQ does neither.
Four event types: a comment on a post or reel, a story reply, an @mention, and an inbound DM. Comment rules match on any keyword, all keywords, an exact phrase, or every comment, and can be scoped to all of your posts or to specific ones. Each automation is active, paused, or a draft, so you can stage a flow before it goes live.
An Instagram professional account — a business or creator profile, since Meta's messaging permissions are not available on personal accounts. You authorise DM IQ through Meta's own Instagram login screen, which grants business messaging, comments, publishing, and insights permissions. Your password is never entered into DM IQ and can be changed at any time without breaking the connection.
Not when it runs through the official API on permission-based triggers, which is how DM IQ works. Enforcement lands on tools that automate the app by logging in as you or blasting cold messages. Because DM IQ only replies to people who engaged first and never touches your password, it stays inside Meta's rules.
No. DM IQ uses a visual, no-code builder. You choose the trigger, set the keyword match, write the public reply and the DM, add up to three buttons, and pick where captured data goes. Most flows go live in minutes.
Meta Business Suite covers the free basics: instant replies, away messages, and saved FAQ responses. Each one sends a single canned message and stops. DM IQ runs multi-step flows that fire on comment keywords, ask qualifying questions, capture structured data you can export, and hand hot conversations to a human.
Yes. DM IQ's paid plans add AI auto-replies, so responses adapt to what each person actually asks instead of following one fixed script — while staying inside the same permission-based triggers and Meta's official API rules.
DM IQ has a free plan at $0 covering 100 users per month and 3 active workflows, which is enough to run a real comment-to-DM funnel on one account. Pro is $24/month billed annually when you need more volume, AI auto-replies, and the built-in scheduler for Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.