Playbook
Should you ask for a follow before you send the link?
A follow gate adds a little conversion and a few new followers. Here's when it's worth it.
The short answer
Yes, but expect a small lift. In a study of 798,041 DM conversations, automations with a follow gate converted at 39% against 36% without, and opening the DM with the follow ask reached 43%. Follow gates fail about 1 time in 10, so plan for that.
By the Postkey team · Published
The data
From a vendor's 90-day study of 798,041 conversations across 753 automations. Observational, so treat it as a guide.
- 39% with a follow gate, 36% without
- 43% when the DM opens with the follow ask
- Follow gates fail about 1 time in 10
A real example
@instacoachmike shared his own flow: 3,241 sent, 60.5% opened, 53.3% tapped Done. His wording is short and says what happens next: "To get the materials, please follow me first. Once you've followed, click Done and I'll send it to you."
Plan for the misses
In Postkey, Ask to follow can check with Instagram that they really follow you before the link opens, and send a reminder if they don't. Or use Tap to unlock, which opens the link on the tap.
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 your link.
- 04
Switch on Ask to follow and write the line that asks for the follow.
- 05
Switch it on, then comment the keyword from a second account to see it work.
Questions
In that study it helped slightly. Keep the ask short and friendly.
Yes. Ask to follow can check with Instagram before the link opens.
Turn the gate off, or use Tap to unlock.