Triggers
A trigger defines what event causes your automation to fire. EngageDM supports three trigger types.
1. Comment Keyword
Fires when someone comments on a specific Instagram post and their comment contains a matching keyword.
- Post selection â attach the trigger to one or more specific posts, or set it to "Any post" to cover everything on your account.
- Keywords â enter one or more keywords (e.g. GUIDE, LINK, YES). The match is case-insensitive. A comment matching any keyword triggers the automation.
- Match type â Contains (comment includes the word anywhere) or Exact (comment is exactly the keyword).
Avoid generic keywords like "hi" or "ok" â they will fire too often and Instagram may throttle your account for sending too many DMs in a short window.
2. Story Reply
Fires when someone replies to one of your Instagram Stories.
- You can match any story reply, or filter by keyword in the reply message.
- Useful for story CTAs like "Reply 'SEND' to get the link".
- Story reply DMs land in the Instagram DM inbox as a standard message thread.
3. DM Keyword
Fires when someone sends you a Direct Message containing a specific keyword.
- Great for building keyword-based chatbot flows ("Text HELP for pricing").
- Only works within the 24-hour messaging window (standard Instagram policy) unless the user has opted in to marketing messages.
First-touch only â by default EngageDM sends one DM per unique user per automation to avoid spamming your audience. You can disable this in advanced settings.
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