Instagram Journeys
Build automated DM conversations — from an example or a blank canvas — that carry on when people tap a reply or answer a question.
An Instagram journey handles a DM conversation automatically — answering the questions you get
constantly, collecting details, rewarding followers, and handing over to a person when it cannot.
Instagram journeys live in the one Journeys list with WhatsApp and Messenger
ones: open Automation → Journeys and set the channel filter to Instagram
(/dashboard/automation/journeys?channel=instagram), or click Instagram journeys at the top of
the Instagram page, which opens the same filtered list.
Journeys were previously called Chatbots.
This page covers what is special about Instagram. The list itself — cards, runs, the on/off switch, cloning — is described on Journeys.
Create a Journey
Click Create journey on the list. With the list filtered to Instagram, the wizard opens on Channel with Instagram already picked — "DM replies, comment-to-DM, story mentions and follower rewards."
Click Next. Pick Start from scratch or one of the examples. The chips along the top filter them by use (Welcome, Support, Growth, …). On a wide screen, the selected example plays in a phone preview on the right.
Click Next. Check the Journey Name — at least 3 characters, only your team sees it.
Optionally pick an Instagram account — "The account whose DMs and comments start this journey." The journey itself is not tied to an account: the rule the wizard creates listens on the account you pick, or on every connected Instagram account if you leave it empty.
Under How it starts, pick DM with a keyword, Comment on a post or reel, Story mention or ig.me link. The example picks one for you.
Click Create journey. The editor opens with the example laid out. Change the wording, then switch it on — see Make It Start.
docs/screenshots/instagram/journey-wizard.pngWith no Instagram journeys yet, the filtered list offers three examples and Start from scratch as buttons.
Instagram Examples
| Example | Filter | What it does | How it starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| DM welcome | Welcome | Greets people with quick replies to shop, ask a question or talk to you | DM with a keyword |
| FAQ quick replies | Support | Answers your most common questions with one tap each | DM with a keyword |
| Lead capture | Lead capture | Asks for a name and a phone number or email, then hands the lead to your team | DM with a keyword |
| Product cards | Sales | Shows products as swipeable cards with a link to buy each one | DM with a keyword |
| Booking request | Bookings | Picks a service, asks for a preferred time and passes the request to your team | DM with a keyword |
| Comment to DM a link | Growth | Replies privately to anyone who comments on a post, with the link they asked for | Comment on a post or reel |
| Follow to unlock a code | Growth | Sends a discount code to followers and asks everyone else to follow first | DM with a keyword |
| Story mention thank-you | Growth | Thanks people who mention you in their story | Story mention |
| ig.me link campaign | Growth | Welcomes people who open your ig.me link from an ad, bio or QR code | ig.me link |
| Talk to a person | Handoff | Lets people ask for a person and assigns the chat to your team | DM with a keyword |
Examples use placeholder links and codes — https://example.com/offer, WELCOME10. Replace them
before you switch the journey on.
Make It Start
A journey runs only when an automation rule starts it with Start a journey. A rule can only start a journey of its own channel, so an Instagram rule lists only Instagram journeys.
The wizard creates that rule for you, switched off:
| How it starts | Rule the wizard creates |
|---|---|
| DM with a keyword | Message Received, waiting for a keyword |
| Comment on a post or reel | Instagram Comment on all posts and reels |
| Story mention | Story mention |
| ig.me link | ig.me link |
In the editor, the This journey is off card switches it on — type the keyword first if it asks for one. Edit rule opens the rule, for example to narrow a comment rule to specific posts. If no Instagram account was connected, the editor shows Set up the trigger instead; Create the rule opens a new Instagram rule with the trigger already chosen.
A journey whose rule is off never runs. If you closed the editor without switching it on, open the journey again, or switch on its rule — named "… · start" — in Automation → Rules. A comment, story or ig.me rule made from the Comments, Story Mentions or ig.me Links tab on the Instagram page can start the journey too.
An agent can also start an Instagram journey by hand from the Inbox: Journey in the composer — see Start a Journey from the Inbox.
What an Instagram Journey Can Send
The editor is the same one WhatsApp uses — see the Journey Builder for the canvas itself. On Instagram, the Components panel offers:
| Group | Components |
|---|---|
| Basic Messages | Text · Image · Video · Audio |
| Interactive | Input |
| Templates | Cards · Quick Reply · Product Template · Follow Check · Continue on WhatsApp |
| Flow Control | Pause · Start |
| None Interactive | Assign |
| Component | Detail |
|---|---|
| Quick Reply | A Message Text with up to 13 tappable replies, each up to 20 characters |
| Cards | Up to 10 swipeable cards — a title and subtitle (80 characters each), an Image URL, and up to 3 buttons per card. A button is a URL or an Action |
| Product Template | Up to 10 products from your catalogue |
| Input | Asks a question and saves the answer under Save Answer to Variable — for an email address, a phone number or a name |
| Follow Check | Branches on whether the person follows you — see below |
| Continue on WhatsApp | A button that moves the chat to one of your WhatsApp numbers and joins the person's Instagram and WhatsApp contacts — see Continue on WhatsApp |
| Assign | Hands the conversation to your team in the Inbox |
WhatsApp-only parts — Reply Buttons, List, Document, templates, catalogs, flows, Location and Contacts — do not appear.
How a Conversation Continues
A Quick Reply, Cards or Input step stops and waits for the person. When they answer, the journey carries on down the matching branch:
| They… | The journey… |
|---|---|
| Tap one of the step's own buttons | Follows that button's branch |
| Type text that matches a button's title (case does not matter) | Treats it as that button |
| Type anything else at a Quick Reply step | Keeps waiting; the message goes to your rules instead |
| Answer an Input step | Saves the answer and moves on |
A reply that the waiting journey consumes does not also fire your keyword rules. The journey waits for up to 24 hours — Instagram only lets a business message someone within 24 hours of their last message — and after that the next DM is treated as a fresh message.
A tap on an old button from earlier in the thread, or on the persistent menu, is not an answer to the current step. It goes to your rules instead.
Reward Followers with Follow Check
Follow Check sends the person down one of two branches: Follows you or Doesn't follow yet. The Follow to unlock a code example shows the pattern — the code goes out on the first branch, a "Follow us, then send “code” again" nudge on the second.
Instagram only shares who follows you once the person has messaged you. A Follow Check straight after a comment always takes Doesn't follow yet. Put it after a quick reply — "Follow us, then tap Done" — so the person has written to you first.
Journeys Started by a Comment
When a comment rule starts a journey, the journey's first message goes out as a private reply to that comment — the only way to reach someone who has never messaged you. Instagram allows one per comment, and nothing more until the person writes back:
- Only a Text step is sent as the private reply. Make the journey's first step a Text.
- An image, video or audio cannot be a private reply. If one comes first, the journey sends its caption (or "Thanks for your comment!") as the private reply, then tries the media as a normal DM.
- Every step after the private reply is a normal DM. Instagram refuses those to someone who has never messaged you, and a refused message stops the journey at that step.
Keep a comment journey to one Text message — the Comment to DM a link example is built exactly that way.
Test It
Click Preview in the editor to walk the conversation in a phone frame. Check that every reply leads somewhere, that nothing loops, and that a person is reachable within a step or two.
Manage Journeys
Search, sort, the on/off switch, Clone and Delete work as on every journey — see Journeys. Settings in the editor toolbar renames the journey.
Editing a journey changes it for everyone already part-way through it. Clone, edit the clone, test it, then point the rule at the clone.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The journey never runs | Its rule is still off, or no rule starts it | Switch it on from the editor's card, or add Start a journey to an Instagram rule |
| The journey does not move on after a quick reply | The person typed something that matches no button | Word the buttons so people tap them; a typed message is handled by your rules |
| Everyone gets the "follow first" branch | The Follow Check runs before the person has messaged you | Put a quick reply before it |
| A comment journey sends nothing, or stops after one message | Its first step is not a Text, or it sends more than the one private reply Instagram allows | Start with a single Text step |
| Select journey on a rule does not list the journey | The rule does not run on Instagram alone | Keep Instagram as the rule's only channel |
Related Pages
- Comments & Story Mentions — rules that start a journey from public activity
- Ice Breakers, Menu & Links
- Journeys — the list for every channel
- Journey Builder — the editor canvas
- Messenger Journeys
- Automation Rules
- Inbox
Instagram Overview
Automate Instagram DMs, comments, story mentions and ig.me links, and route conversations into the Inbox.
Comments & Story Mentions
Answer Instagram comments with a private DM and a public reply — on posts, reels and live videos — sell from a comment, and thank people who mention you in their story.