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Story-reply automation

Every story reply is already a DM — which makes stories the friendliest way to start automated conversations.

Updated Sep 19, 2026
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Why story replies work so well

A story reply is an inbound DM, so it opens Instagram’s normal messaging window. Your flow can answer with a message, link, or resource while that window remains open. Account status, opt-outs, and sending limits still apply.

The classic play: post a story with a prompt — “reply YES and I’ll send you the checklist” — and connect matching replies to your checklist flow.

Set it up

Create the flow you want to run, then wire a Story Reply trigger at it:

  1. 1Go to Automations → Triggers and create a new trigger with the Story Reply event.
  2. 2Choose scope: all stories, or specific stories you pick.
  3. 3Optionally add keywords — the trigger then fires only when the reply contains one of them (matching is case-insensitive).
  4. 4Set the frequency guards: once per story per person, and once per day per contact.
  5. 5Pick the flow, review, and create.

Story mentions: the other direction

Story Reply fires when people respond to your stories. Its sibling, Story Mention, fires when someone features you in their story — a share, a shout-out, a tag. There’s nothing to configure: an eligible mention received from Instagram starts the flow you attach.

It’s the easiest gratitude engine you can build: a thank-you DM for a story mention, with a relevant next step if you want to continue the conversation.

Good to know

A few behaviors worth understanding before you lean on stories:

  • Replies appear in your inbox like any DM, and the conversation carries the full flow — buttons, branches, asset delivery, all of it.
  • Keyword matching looks anywhere inside the reply text, so “YES please!” matches YES.
  • Frequency guards keep it polite: someone replying to three story frames in a row isn’t greeted three times.
  • Opt-outs are honored here too — a story reply of “stop” opts that contact out of automation before any flow runs.
  • Stories expire after 24 hours, and “specific story” triggers go quiet with them — the “all stories” scope is the set-and-forget option.