Create your first DM automation

Updated: August 2026

Open /automations/new, name the automation, pick what triggers it, write the DM, and save. The builder is three steps and takes a few minutes the first time. ReelDrop's free plan includes 5 active DM automations plus a full Instagram Reels scheduler, and it never asks for a credit card.

1. 1

   Open the builder

   Go to Automations in the left sidebar and click New automation, or go straight to /automations/new. The builder shows three step pills across the top: Trigger, Actions, Follow-up. You can click back to any step you have already filled in.

   Give the automation a name in the automation name field. It is required before you can move past step 1, and it is what you will be searching for in six months when you have fourteen of these. "Send link on comment" is the placeholder for a reason.

   

2. 2

   Choose the trigger type

   Three things can start an automation. Pick one:

   • Comment on post/reel: someone comments on one of your posts. This is the one almost everybody wants.
   • Incoming DM: someone messages you and the message matches a keyword.
   • Story reply: someone replies to one of your stories.
3. 3

   Point it at the right posts

   A comment automation has to know which posts it is watching. The options are Specific reel or Specific post (pick from a grid of your recent media), Scheduled reel or post (a post you have queued but not published), All reels & posts, and Attach while posting, which leaves the automation dormant until you attach it to something in the composer.

   Attach while posting is the one to use when you are building the automation before the Reel exists. It shows up in the composer with a "Ready to attach" badge, and picking it there is what wakes it up. There is a whole doc on that flow: comment-to-DM setup.

4. 4

   Set the keyword and the match mode

   Type a keyword and press Enter to add it. Add as many as you like. Then choose how strictly they match:

   • Contains keyword: fires on "guide" inside "send me the guide please!!". This is the default and the right answer most of the time.
   • Exact match: fires only when the comment is the keyword and nothing else.
   • Any comment: ignores keywords and responds to every comment on the post. Correct for a giveaway, wrong for anything that attracts an argument.
5. 5

   Turn on the public reply (optional, but do it)

   The public reply is the short comment ReelDrop posts back in the thread. It matters more than it looks: the next few hundred people scrolling the comments see that the keyword actually does something, and they comment too.

   Switch on Public reply and you get ten default variants like "Got it, check your inbox" and "Just messaged you". ReelDrop picks one at random per comment so the thread does not turn into a wall of identical replies. Edit them, delete the ones that do not sound like you, add your own.

   Reply limit stops public replies once the post passes that many comments. Read that carefully: it counts every comment on the post, not the ones that matched your keyword. On a Reel with 500 comments where 40 used the keyword, a limit of 50 stops public replies at the post's 50th comment overall, so only a handful go out. Set it against the comment volume you expect on the post rather than against the number of replies you want. Leave it empty for unlimited. DMs keep sending past the cap either way; only the public replies stop.

   

6. 6

   Write the DM sequence

   Step 2 is called Actions, and it holds three cards that run in order. Card 1 and card 2 are optional; card 3 always sends.

   Opening message is on by default. It sends a short message with a button, and the link only arrives after the person taps. That tap is doing real work: someone who asked for the thing confirms they still want it before a link lands in their inbox. The default button label is "Send me the link". Turn the card off if you would rather send the link immediately.

   Ask for follow is off by default. Switch it on and ReelDrop asks the commenter to follow you before delivering the link, then checks with Instagram whether they actually did. Follow gates and follow verification covers what that check can and cannot see.

   DM message is the one that always sends. Write a few variants here too. Attach up to three link buttons, each with a label of 20 characters or fewer. The builder flags any URL that does not start with https:// as you leave the field, but the warning is advisory and does not block the save, so fix it when you see it. The phone preview beside the editor shows the whole conversation the way the commenter will read it, which is how you catch an awkward line before a thousand people do.

   

7. 7

   Add a follow-up, or skip it

   Step 3 is one optional follow-up. Switch it on, pick a delay of 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 6 hours, or 24 hours, and write the message. It goes only to people who received the link and then said nothing.

   If they reply before the delay is up, the follow-up is cancelled and never sends. Timed follow-ups goes into the timing in more detail.

8. 8

   Save it and check it is live

   Save. The automation appears on /automations with an active toggle, its trigger badge, and a row of counters that start at zero.

   Test it on a real post: comment your own keyword from a second account, or ask a friend. Testing from the account that owns the automation will not work, because the engine skips events generated by your own account so an automation can never answer itself.

Something here out of date or missing a step? Tell us and we will fix it.