How to do comment-to-DM on ATRAY
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How to do comment-to-DM on ATRAY
Comment-to-DM works like this: you publish a post, and anyone who comments a keyword instantly gets a message from you in their Instagram DMs. It is the fastest way to turn a comment into a conversation - and a conversation into a sale.
The classic example
You publish a post or reel with a call like this:
"I put together a guide with 12 post ideas for your salon. Comment I WANT IT and I'll send it to your DMs."
Everyone who comments "I WANT IT" automatically receives your message with the link to the guide. You don't have to watch the comments or reply one by one.
Set it up in under a minute
Go to CRM > Automations and click Comment and get a DM. The recipe asks for just two fields:
- Comment keyword - what people have to comment. E.g.
I WANT IT. You can add more than one, separated by commas (I WANT IT, WANT, SEND IT). Case does not matter. - Direct message - what they receive. E.g.
Hi {{primeiro_nome}}! Saw your comment 💜 Here's the guide: https://...
There is also an optional third field, the public reply to the comment - the "Just sent you a DM!" that shows up under the comment for everyone to see. It's worth using: it shows passers-by that the automation works.
The automation goes live right away. If you later want to tweak conditions, cooldown or add more actions, open it from New automation (the full builder).
Variables you can use
| Variable | Becomes |<br>|---|---|<br>| {{primeiro_nome}} | The first name of the person who commented |<br>| {{nome}} | The full name (or the @ handle, if no name is available) |<br>| {{usuario}} | The @ handle of the person who commented |
First things first: connect Instagram
The recipe only fires if your Instagram account is connected to ATRAY. See Connect Instagram and WhatsApp. It has to be a professional account (business or creator).
Meta limits you need to know
These are not ATRAY limits, they are Instagram's own rules:
- 1 DM per comment. If the same person comments five times, they get five DMs (one per comment), but each comment is worth at most one. You cannot send a burst of messages at once.
- 7-day window. The automatic DM can only be sent up to 7 days after the comment. Anything older than that no longer triggers.
- Your own comments don't count. If you comment the keyword on your own post, nothing happens - otherwise the automation would reply to itself.
- People who blocked business DMs won't receive it. If someone has messages from businesses turned off, the send fails silently.
What happens next, in the CRM
This is the part most tools skip:
- Whoever commented becomes a contact in ATRAY, with their Instagram @ on record.
- The DM you sent shows up as a conversation under CRM > Conversations.
- If the person replies, the AI agent takes over the conversation and keeps going on its own - answering questions, qualifying, routing. Set it up in AI agent on WhatsApp; the same agent handles Instagram DMs.
- You can take over the conversation at any moment and reply yourself.
In other words: the comment doesn't die in a sent DM. It becomes a tracked conversation, with full history, inside your CRM.
Tips to make it actually work
- Pick a short, simple keyword. "I WANT IT" works better than "please send me the material".
- Ask for the comment in the visual and in the caption. People scrolling the feed don't always read the whole caption.
- Careful with generic words. If the keyword is "yes" or "nice", any casual comment fires the DM.
- Test before you promote it. Comment from another account and check that the DM arrives exactly as you wrote it.
- Keep the promise clear. The DM has to deliver precisely what the post promised, otherwise it turns into frustration.