Teardown
326 comments vs 22: what 350 sponsored reels showed
A brand looked at six months of sponsored reels and split them by one habit.
The short answer
Sarah Adam, who runs influencer marketing at Wix and Base44, looked at 350 sponsored Instagram reels over six months. The 134 reels using comment-to-DM averaged 326 comments. The 216 without it averaged 22. At around 100K views, it was 529 comments per reel against 21.
By the Postkey team · Published
The numbers
Creators chose whether to use it, so this isn't a lab test. Asking for a comment also drives comments by design, which isn't the same as sales. The gap is still hard to ignore.
| Reels | With comment-to-DM | Without |
|---|---|---|
| All 350 sponsored reels | 326 (134 reels) | 22 (216 reels) |
| 20 reels at around 100K views | 529 (9 reels) | 21 (11 reels) |
Brands have noticed
Creator Brandon Smithwrick says a QuickBooks and Mailchimp collab put comment-to-DM in the creative brief, and that "engagement was far beyond any other partnership." Base44 suggests it in briefs too, as a suggestion rather than a rule.
Build it in Postkey
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool. It works on the Free plan, and you can set this up by hand or ask ChatGPT or Claude to do it for you.
- 01
Connect your Instagram professional account with Meta's own sign-in.
- 02
Open DM automations and start a comment-to-DM automation. Choose one post or any post.
- 03
Type your keyword, then write the DM that sends the link or freebie your sponsor wants people to have.
- 04
Keep a button on the opening DM. The tap lets you send the link and any follow-ups.
- 05
Switch it on, then comment the keyword from a second account to see it work.
Questions
Not by themselves. But every comment here is someone who asked for the link, and they get it directly.
Yes, if your brand deal allows it. Disclose the partnership as you normally would.
It gives people a reason to comment: they get something back.