How to create an automation

Before you start

You need a connected Instagram account. If you have not connected one yet, see How to connect your Instagram account.

Steps

1. Go to Automations in the menu and click New automation. If you have more than one Instagram account, choose which one this automation is for.
2. Name your automation. The name is only for you, so use something you will recognise, like “Recipe reel”.
3. Select a trigger. This is what starts the automation: a comment, a reply to your story, a mention in someone’s story, a comment on your live, or a DM. See Which trigger should I use?
4. Which posts? For a comment trigger, choose every post and reel, or pick the posts you want.
5. Set up keywords. Type the words people will comment, like RECIPE. Choose Contains keyword or Exact match, or tick Any keyword to answer every comment. See Keywords and matching.
6. Public comment replies. Write the reply people see under their comment, like “Sent you a DM 💛”. Add a few versions so the replies do not all look the same. Short on ideas? Click Fill with ready-made replies.
7. Response flow (DM). Write the DM. You can turn on Use a tappable button so the person taps once to get the rest, and add a link with Send a link button.
8. Optional: Invite them to follow, at the end, after they get what they asked for. See The follow invite.
9. Click Save & activate. Click Save draft instead if you are not ready yet.

Make the DM sound like you

The opening message. With the tappable button on, the Opening DM carries the button, so it must have text. With the button off, tick Send an opening message to send a short hello first. For story replies, mentions and DMs, this step is called Auto-reply.

Say it more than one way. Under the opening message, open Say it more than one way and click + Add another version. You can add up to 4 more versions. Each person gets one at random, so a hundred people do not all get the same line.

Each version needs at least 10 characters, and no two can be the same. Your main message counts as Version 1.

Fill with ready-made replies. In Public comment replies, this button adds tested replies, up to 20 in total. Your own replies are kept. Click Try a different set to swap the ready-made ones. One reply is picked at random each time, so many ready-made replies make yours appear less often.

Does it say it is automated?

If your opening message does not say it is automated, Replavia asks Does this say it is an automated reply? Instagram asks automated messages to make that clear, and in some places it is the law.

The ready-made openers start with “Hey! This is an automated reply”. Add something similar in your own words. The check never stops you saving, and it only reads Latin letters, so ignore it if you already said it in another script.

Test it

Comment your keyword on the post from a different Instagram account — not the account you connected. Replies arrive a few seconds later, not instantly. Replavia waits a short, random time on purpose, so it reads like a person and not like a bot.

Good to know

• Instagram allows one automated DM per comment. If two live automations want to answer the same comment, only one will. When you pick posts, Replavia marks the posts another automation already uses.
• Each comment is answered once. The same person can get a reply again from a new comment on a different post.
• If your Instagram account is disconnected, the automation cannot be switched on until you reconnect it.
• After you save, you can pause, edit or delete it from the list. See How to pause, edit or delete an automation.