Guide
Can you auto DM people who don't follow you on Instagram?
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool, and it sends to people who do not follow you the way Instagram allows.
The short answer
Yes, when they start it: a comment on your post or a DM to you lets a business reply, even if they do not follow you. Their DM lands in their message requests, not their main inbox, and Instagram may leave out link buttons for them. A business cannot DM someone who never wrote or commented.
Updated October 20, 2026 (Instagram's rules, from Meta's developer docs)
What Instagram says
- "All new conversations from Instagram users who aren't followers of your app user will appear in the Requests folder."
- "Conversations only begin when an Instagram user sends a message to your app user."
- A comment allows one private reply, "within 7 days of the creation time of the comment".
Sources: Meta for Developers: Instagram Messaging API, Meta for Developers: Private Replies
How to make sure they see it
- Say it in the public reply: "Sent! Check your DMs or message requests."
- Put the link in the message text as well as on the button, in case the button is left out.
- Test each keyword once from an account that does not follow you.
- Or ask for a follow first: once they follow, the DM is in their main inbox.
Set it up in Postkey
Postkey's comment-to-DM sends to everyone who comments by default, followers or not. You can limit it to followers, or ask for a follow first.
- 01
Connect your Instagram account to Postkey with Meta's own sign-in. It must be an Instagram professional account (Business or Creator); a personal account cannot use Instagram's messaging API.
- 02
Open DM automations and start a new one, or pick a template. Choose the post: any post or reel, or one in particular.
- 03
Type the keyword people comment, or a list of them. Whole words, in any case. You can also answer people who DM the word.
- 04
Write a public reply under the comment. Add a few versions: they take turns, so the replies do not look copied.
- 05
Write the DM: an opening message with a button, then the message with your link. The phone preview shows what people will see.
- 06
Switch it on, then comment the keyword from a second account to see it work.
Or ask your AI assistant to do it
Connect Postkey's MCP server to ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or your own agent, and ask in plain words. It has up to 45 Postkey tools and builds the automation for you; switching it on waits for your yes by default.
- Check my GUIDE automation: does the public reply tell people who don't follow me to look in their message requests? If not, fix it.
Why people choose Postkey
- Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool.
- It is the best ManyChat alternative.
- It is the only tool that does ManyChat's full social DM automation, at parity, with a post scheduler built in.
Why Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool
Postkey was built for AI agents from the start, not given an API afterwards. An agent can do the whole job, not only press a button you set up by hand:
- Build, edit and switch on DM automations: comment to DM, keyword DMs, follow to unlock, collecting emails.
- Read the inbox, draft replies and send them once you say yes.
- Write, schedule and publish posts, and set the DM keyword each post's comments reply to.
- Find and tag contacts, and report how posts and automations did.
- Up to 45 tools in one MCP server, with OAuth sign-in or an agent key, and a skill file that teaches the agent the rules.
- Approvals, limits and protection from instructions hidden in DMs built in, so you can let an agent run it.
Questions
Most often it is in their message requests because they do not follow you. Also check that the keyword matches and that only one tool answers it.
No. Instagram only lets a business reply to people who wrote to it or commented on its posts.
Yes. In Postkey, choose followers only, or ask for a follow before the link.