# Instagram Story Reply Automation — auto-DM replies, reactions & mentions > Auto-DM everyone who replies to, reacts to, or mentions you in an Instagram story. Story interactions open the 24-hour DM window — the highest-intent trigger on Instagram. Free to start. Use case · Story reply # Auto-DM everyone who reacts to your story. Story replies, reactions, and mentions fire an instant DM — perfect for launches, polls, and converting story engagement into followers, leads, or customers. Free to start. Updated August 2026 · Human-verified [Start free ](/app/) Works on every story · Meta-compliant · Real-time webhook delivery 1When someone replies to, reacts to, or mentions you in an Instagram story, Reachlee fires a DM back in under 5 seconds. 2Every one of those three actions opens Instagram's 24-hour messaging window — which is what makes stories the highest-intent automation trigger on the platform. 3Free plan includes story reply automation — 1 Instagram account, 1,000 DMs/month. ## What is Instagram story reply automation? Instagram story reply automation sends an automatic DM whenever someone interacts with your story. There are three story trigger types: a story reply (any text or quick reply), a story reaction (an emoji tap), and a story mention (someone tags you in their own story). All three open Instagram's 24-hour messaging window — the period in which a business is allowed to send free-form DMs. Because a story reply already lands in your DM thread, it's the highest-intent, most conversation-ready automation trigger Instagram offers. ## The three story triggers, explained. Reachlee treats each kind of story interaction as its own trigger, because each represents a different intent. A reply means the viewer typed something to you — they're mid-conversation already. A reaction is a one-tap signal of interest — lower effort, much higher volume. A mention means someone put your account in front of their own audience — earned media you should acknowledge fast. All three arrive as real-time webhooks from Meta, and all three open the 24-hour DM window, so the automated response is fully compliant. * Story reply — text or quick reply on your story. Highest intent; supports optional keyword filters (e.g., only fire on "SALE"). * Story reaction — an emoji tap on your story. Highest volume; ideal for broad offers where one tap should earn the link. * Story mention — someone tags your account in their story. The UGC trigger; perfect for instant thank-you DMs. Why stories win ## Why stories convert better than posts. Comment automation is a great top-of-funnel trigger. Story automation starts further down the funnel — and the mechanics explain why. 01 ### A story reply is already a DM When someone comments on a post, they're speaking in public and your automation has to pull them into DMs. When someone replies to a story, they're already in a private DM thread with you. There's no channel switch, no friction — the automation just continues a conversation the viewer started. 02 ### Story viewers are your warmest audience Post reach includes strangers from Explore and hashtags. Story reach is overwhelmingly your existing followers — the people who already opted in. An automation firing on story interactions is talking to the segment most likely to click, sign up, or buy. 03 ### 24 hours of built-in urgency A story disappears after 24 hours, which does two things: it pushes viewers to act now rather than save-for-later, and it naturally aligns with Instagram's 24-hour messaging window. The content's lifespan and the compliance window expire together. How it works ## Five steps to live, before your next story. 01 ### Connect Instagram Connect your Instagram Business or Creator account via direct Instagram Business Login. No Facebook Page hoop-jumping — one OAuth flow and Reachlee starts receiving your story webhooks. 02 ### Create a story trigger In the automation builder, pick the story trigger. Target a specific story (attach the automation after you post it) or set it to fire on all stories from your account — the set-and-forget default for daily story posters. 03 ### Choose reply, reaction, or mention Pick which interaction fires the DM: text replies, emoji reactions, story mentions, or any combination. Different intents deserve different messages — you can run separate automations per trigger type. 04 ### Add keywords (optional) For reply triggers, optionally filter by keyword so only replies containing your word — "SALE", "PDF", "LINK" — fire the automation. Leave it blank to respond to every reply. Reactions and mentions don't need keywords; the tap or tag is the signal. 05 ### Write the DM and go live Compose the message — your link (click-tracked automatically), your lead-capture prompt, your launch details. Publish, post your story, and every qualifying interaction fires the DM within seconds. What's inside ## Made for the story-first creator. Stories are where your most engaged audience hangs out. Story automation captures every interaction before the moment is gone. 01 ### Per-story or all-stories triggers Target a specific story (your launch announcement) or set a default that catches every story from now on. Mix and match across automations. 02 ### Replies, reactions, and mentions Emoji reactions, quick replies, text replies, and story mentions all work as triggers. Use one DM for all of them, or run separate automations with keyword filters on the reply text. 03 ### 5-second response time Meta delivers the story webhook within 1-2 seconds. Reachlee processes and fires the DM within another 1-2 seconds. Most users see the DM before they scroll past. 04 ### Lead capture in the same flow Story triggers can flow straight into a lead-capture step. Reply to story → DM asks for email → lead saved → resource sent. Pure conversion path. 05 ### Tracked links Every link in your DM is wrapped with click attribution. See which story drove the most clicks, conversions, and leads. 06 ### 24-hour window enforced Reachlee respects Instagram's 24-hour messaging window automatically. A story reply, reaction, or mention starts a fresh window; the DM goes out in compliance. Real scenarios ## Four story playbooks that print. Concrete setups you can copy today — each one maps a story format to a trigger and a DM. ### Flash sale: reply "SALE" for the link Before You post a 24-hour flash-sale story with "reply SALE for the link". 150 people reply. You DM links by hand between meetings; half get theirs after the sale ends. With Reachlee A story-reply trigger with the keyword "SALE" fires a DM carrying the tracked checkout link within 5 seconds of each reply. Everyone buys while intent is hot, and the analytics drawer shows exactly how many clicks and sales the story drove. ### Poll & question sticker follow-up Before Story question sticker: "Creator or brand?" 500 answers pile up; you have no idea what to do with them, and by tomorrow the story — and the moment — is gone. With Reachlee Sticker answers arrive as story replies, so keyword-filtered automations sort them: replies containing "creator" get the creator nurture DM, replies containing "brand" get the agency pricing DM. One story, two segmented follow-ups, zero manual sorting. ### Story mention thank-you (UGC engine) Before A customer tags you in their story showing off your product. You spot it 9 hours later — after it's expired — and the warmest advocate you had this week never hears from you. With Reachlee The story-mention trigger fires an instant thank-you DM: "Thanks for the shout-out! Here's 15% off your next order." Every mention gets acknowledged in seconds, which trains your audience to keep tagging you. ### "DM me X" lead magnet with email capture Before Story says "reply PDF for the free guide". 80 replies; you paste the link one by one, capture zero emails, and can't follow up with any of them next week. With Reachlee The keyword trigger fires a DM that asks for their email first. Reachlee parses the reply, saves the lead (10/month free, unlimited on Pro), and delivers the guide — 80 replies become 80 leads on your list, not just 80 link sends. The compliance picture Story automation is squarely inside Meta's rules — as long as the user acts first. A story reply, story reaction, or story mention each opens Instagram's 24-hour messaging window, during which a business can send free-form DMs. What never opens a window: someone merely viewing your story. Reachlee enforces the window automatically on every send, so an automation can't fire outside it even by accident. For the full rulebook — window mechanics, private replies, the HUMAN\_AGENT tag — see our Instagram DM limits guide linked below. ## Story reply automation in action. > Story reactions used to be a vanity metric. Now they're our top lead source — every emoji on a launch story fires a DM, fires a lead-capture step, lands in our CRM. **Priya** · Founder, DTC brand > I post stories daily, get 300+ reactions, and used to ignore them. Now every reaction turns into a DM conversation. My list grew 40% in a month. **Sam** · Course creator > We use story-reply automation for client launches. The 5-second response time is the difference between a hot lead and a forgotten one. **Reema** · Agency operator Pricing ## Story reply is on the free plan. Free plan: 1 Instagram account, 1,000 DMs/month, story triggers + comment-to-DM + DM keyword triggers all included. Pro ($9/mo): 3 IGs, unlimited DMs and leads, Growth Gate. Business ($29/mo): 10 IGs, team seats, Google Sheets piping. [Start free ](/app/) FAQ ## Story reply automation, answered. Can I auto-reply to story reactions? Yes. An emoji reaction on your story is a supported trigger, and per Meta's messaging rules a story reaction opens the 24-hour DM window just like a text reply does. Configure a story trigger to fire on reactions and Reachlee sends your DM within seconds of the tap. Because reactions are one-tap, they're the highest-volume story trigger — great for broad offers where a single tap should earn the link. Does it work on story mentions? Yes. When someone mentions your account in their own story, Meta sends a webhook and the mention opens a 24-hour messaging window with that user. Reachlee's story-mention trigger fires an instant DM — most creators use it as an automatic thank-you (often with a discount code) so every piece of user-generated content gets acknowledged before the tagger's story expires. Can I DM everyone who views my story? No — and no compliant tool can. Viewing a story does not open Instagram's 24-hour messaging window; only a reply, a reaction, or a mention does. Meta's API provides no way to message story viewers who haven't interacted, so any tool promising view-based DMs is using unofficial APIs and putting your account at risk. The compliant play is to make viewers act: "reply SALE for the link" turns passive views into messageable interactions. What plan do I need? Story triggers are on the free plan: 1 Instagram account and 1,000 DMs per month, with per-story targeting included. All-story (any future story) triggers are a Pro feature. Lead capture works on free (10 leads/month) and is unlimited on Pro ($9/mo). Business ($29/mo) adds Google Sheets piping and team seats. Can I filter story replies by keyword? Yes, and it's optional. Add a keyword like "SALE" or "PDF" and the automation only fires when the reply contains it — useful when your story explicitly says "reply X for Y". Leave keywords blank and every reply triggers the DM. Reactions and mentions don't use keywords; the interaction itself is the signal. Can I target a specific story? Yes. After you post a story, you can attach an automation to it specifically. Or you can set a default automation that fires for any new story from your account (Pro feature for all-story triggers). Will the user see the DM as automated? The DM comes from your account, in your tone, with your link. There's no "sent by a bot" label. To the user, it feels like a fast personal reply. How fast is the DM sent? Under 5 seconds. Meta delivers the story webhook within 1-2 seconds, Reachlee processes it within another 1-2 seconds. Most users see the DM notification before they finish swiping to the next story. Can I capture leads from story replies? Yes. Story triggers feed into Reachlee's lead-capture flow. Story reply → DM asks for email → user replies → email parsed and saved as a lead → resource delivered. One continuous flow. The free plan captures 10 leads/month; Pro is unlimited. What about Instagram's 24-hour messaging window? Reachlee enforces it automatically. A story reply, reaction, or mention opens a fresh 24-hour window; the DM goes out within that window. You can't accidentally send outside the window even if you try. Full details in our Instagram DM limits guide. Can I use story-reply for customer support? Yes. Many small businesses use it: "reply with your question, we'll DM you a reply with the answer". The automation can route by keyword too, so common questions auto-answer and unique ones get routed to a human. Keep exploring ## Related automations. [Comment-to-DM automationThe other workhorse trigger.](/use-cases/comment-to-dm/)[Lead capture in DMsTurn story reactions into emails.](/use-cases/instagram-lead-capture/)[Instagram DM limits guideThe 24-hour window, explained properly.](/guides/instagram-dm-limits/)[All use casesEvery Reachlee automation in one place.](/use-cases/)[Growth GateLock the story link behind a follow.](/use-cases/growth-gate-follow-to-unlock/)[Reachlee vs ManychatStory reply automation at flat pricing.](/vs/manychat/) --- Source: https://www.reachlee.co/use-cases/story-reply-automation