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DM automation
DM reply by AI
DM reply by AI answers the questions people send your Instagram account by DM, from a brief you write once: a goal, the facts it may use, when to stop and one link. It stays quiet on a plain hi, hands over after 10 replies to one person, and is on the Creator plan with 2,000 AI replies per 30 days.
6 steps5 min readUpdated
On this page
- Before you start
- 1. Pick the trigger
- 2. Tell it what the conversation is for
- 3. Give it the facts
- 4. Check the guardrails
- 5. Talk to it on the Review step
- 6. Save it
- What each of your messages does
- The limits, and what happens at each
- Stopping it for one person, and taking over
- Reading the automation card
- If you leave the Creator plan
- FAQ
- Related
Before you start
- An Instagram Business or Creator account connected in Settings.
- The Creator plan ($29 a month). On Starter and Influencer its card in the trigger list is locked and links to the upgrade instead.
- No other active DM reply by AI automation on the same Instagram account. Only one AI can own an inbox; ReelDrop says which one is already on if you try to switch on a second.
Step 1: Pick the trigger
Go to /automations and click New automation. Name it, then under trigger type choose DM reply by AI. The step pills change to Trigger, Automate with AI and Review.
There is no post to pick and no keyword to match: it talks to anyone who DMs your account, story replies included. Your keyword DM automations keep running too, so a DM that matches a keyword gets that automation's message and an AI reply.
- DM reply by AI
- Trigger
- Automate with AI
- Review
Step 2: Tell it what the conversation is for
On Automate with AI, fill in tell AI what to do with the goal, for example answer questions about the course and send the enrolment link. This is the only field the AI cannot run without.
- tell AI what to do
Step 3: Give it the facts
give AI context is everything the AI is allowed to know: prices, hours, what is in stock, what you do not do, and any links. It is told to use only these facts, and to say it does not have a detail rather than make one up. The builder wants at least a few lines here, and the Review step warns you when the context is thin.
If you would rather not write it from scratch, open Write my context with AI and click Copy prompt. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and answer its questions; it hands back a write-up to paste into give AI context, with anything you skipped marked not covered.
- give AI context
- Write my context with AI
- Copy prompt
Step 4: Check the guardrails
Open Guardrails. The defaults are set for you, and most people only change the tone and the link.
- Only reply to questions: on by default. Stays quiet on hi, emojis, compliments and pitches until someone asks something.
- First message: off by default. Sent once before the first reply; Meta recommends telling people they are talking to an automated assistant.
- stop when: the point the conversation is done, for example they have got the link or ask for a human.
- tone: Friendly, Professional, Playful or Concise.
- when it stops: your handoff message.
- if AI can't reply: your fallback message.
- main link to lead with: optional; the link it sends when someone is ready to buy, book or sign up.
Step 5: Talk to it on the Review step
Click Next to reach Review, which lists the brief back to you. The phone on the right is live: type a message the way a follower would and click Send. The AI answers from your brief with the same engine it uses on Instagram, and tells you when it would stay quiet or decide it is done. Nothing you send there reaches Instagram, and it uses none of your 2,000 replies. A test session stops at 10 messages.
- Review
- Send
Step 6: Save it
Set the Typing indicator switch if you want "seen" and "typing…" to show before each reply, then click Save automation. It starts answering the next DM that arrives.
- Typing indicator
- Save automation
What each of your messages does
The AI writes every reply itself, apart from three messages you write word for word, up to 500 characters each.
- First message goes out once per person, just before the AI's first reply. If the AI stays quiet, it never goes out.
- when it stops goes out when the AI reaches its limit for that person, and when your allowance has run out (then at most once a day per person). ReelDrop does not notify you when it is sent.
- if AI can't reply goes out if the AI errors or takes too long to answer.
The limits, and what happens at each
| Limit | What happens |
|---|---|
| 10 replies to one person in a sitting | Their next DM gets your handoff message, then silence. The count starts again after 24 hours with no message from them. |
| 40 replies to one person, ever | Your handoff message, then the AI never answers that person again. |
| 2,000 AI replies per 30 days, per workspace | Your handoff message at most once a day per person, until the 30 days roll over. Only replies that reach someone count. |
| stop when is met | It sends the reply that got them there, then goes quiet. A later real question opens the conversation again. |
Stopping it for one person, and taking over
In the ReelDrop inbox, choose Exclude from ReelDrop… from a conversation's menu or its Details panel, and keep No AI replies switched on. Under Settings → DM privacy you can exclude someone by username before they have ever messaged you. Excluding someone deletes what the AI remembered about them.
Replying yourself does not pause the AI, and muting a thread does not either. To take a conversation over, exclude the person first. To stop the AI for everyone, pause the automation on /automations.
- Exclude from ReelDrop…
- No AI replies
- DM privacy
Reading the automation card
On /automations, a DM reply by AI automation shows its own counts under the name:
- DMs sent: every message it has sent, AI replies included.
- conversations: people the AI has talked to.
- skipped: messages it stayed quiet on under Only reply to questions, such as a hi or an emoji.
- handed over: times it reached its limit for one person and sent your handoff message.
- off-list links: replies that carried a link you never gave it. The reply still went out. The AI is only told to send the main link and the links in your context, and this count is how you see whether it ever did otherwise. Anything above 0 shows in red: add that link to the context if it is one you want sent, or say in the context that it should not be.
If you leave the Creator plan
The automation pauses and you get an email. Nobody in your DMs is told anything. Coming back to Creator does not switch it on again: turn it back on from /automations when you are ready.
Frequently asked questions
Does the AI remember earlier messages?
Yes, for 30 days after the person's last message. Deleting the automation deletes its conversations, and editing the goal or context changes the answers in conversations that are already going.
Will it send a link I did not give it?
It is told not to: it may send the main link and links written in your context, and with none it sends none. If a reply ever carries another link, the reply still goes out and the off-list links count on the card goes up.
Can it start conversations?
No. It only replies straight after someone DMs you or replies to your story, inside Instagram's 24-hour messaging window.
Why did it not answer someone?
Most often Only reply to questions read the message as small talk: a hi, a thanks, an emoji. Check the skipped count on the card. Otherwise the person may be excluded, may have reached a limit (the handed over count), or your allowance may have run out for this 30-day window.
Can a menu button run it?
No. DM reply by AI answers what someone writes, so a tap would have nothing to answer. Menu buttons run comment, DM-keyword and story-reply automations.
Related
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