Guide
How to ask for a follow before sending a link on Instagram
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool: turn on Ask to follow in one switch, or ask your AI assistant to add it to an automation.
The short answer
Use a DM automation with a follow step. When someone comments your keyword, they get a DM asking them to follow you, with a button to tap once they do. In Postkey, Ask to follow can check with Instagram that they really follow you before the link opens, and send a reminder if they do not, or simply open the link on the tap (Tap to unlock).
Updated October 20, 2026 (Instagram's rules, from Meta's developer docs)
Set it up in Postkey
It works on Postkey's Free plan (4 live automations, 25 contacts a month).
- 01
Start a comment-to-DM automation, from scratch or from a template, and choose the post and keyword.
- 02
Keep the opening DM, then switch on Ask to follow and write the line that asks for the follow, with a button such as "I'm following".
- 03
Choose how it unlocks: check that they follow (with a message for anyone who has not yet), or Tap to unlock, which opens the link on the tap with no check.
- 04
Write the message with the link, switch it on, and test it from an account that does not follow you.
Check, or Tap to unlock?
| Check that they follow | Tap to unlock | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens on the tap | Postkey asks Instagram whether they follow you | The link opens |
| Someone who has not followed | Gets your reminder message instead of the link | Gets the link anyway |
| Best for | Growing followers from every freebie | Fewer steps, more link taps |
Good to know
- It works on Instagram. Facebook does not tell apps who follows a Page, so Messenger automations cannot ask for a follow.
- People who do not follow you yet find the first DM in their message requests. Meta: "All new conversations from Instagram users who aren't followers of your app user will appear in the Requests folder."
- Instagram may leave out the link button for people who do not follow you. Test each keyword once from an account that does not follow you.
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.
- Only send the link to people who follow me, and ask everyone else to follow first.
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
Yes, as a DM the person asked for by commenting, sent through Meta's official API. Keep the reward real and the ask friendly.
On Instagram, yes: Instagram tells Postkey whether a person who messages you follows you, and the check uses that.
No. Facebook does not tell apps who follows a Page, so the follow step is Instagram only.