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Instagram DMs arrive in your Inbox alongside WhatsApp, and your flows can answer them. Instagram connects through Facebook, not on its own — and it behaves differently from Messenger in ways worth knowing before you set your bot up.

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Read this first

Your welcome message never reaches Instagram. Instagram has no Get Started button, so the welcome message and greeting you configure in Bot setup are only pushed to Facebook. On Instagram, only Ice breakers and the Persistent menu reach Meta.
Two more things that look like features but are not:
  • Default reply — the Reply automatically when no keyword or flow matches section is shown and saved on Instagram and Facebook channels, but nothing sends it. It only works on Telegram. If no flow matches an Instagram DM, nothing is sent.
  • Buttons under the welcome message — the welcome editor lets you add up to three buttons. They are never delivered on Instagram or Facebook, even though the live preview draws them.

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Before you start

1

Your Instagram account must be a Business account

Personal and Creator accounts cannot be connected.
2

It must be linked to a Facebook Page

Link the Instagram account to a Page in Instagram or Meta Business Suite first. DMLY builds the picker from the Instagram accounts whose Page link Meta returns — an unlinked account never appears in the picker.
3

You must be an admin of that Page

The picker is built from the Pages your Facebook login administers. If you are not an admin, ask the Page owner to give you admin access, or have them connect it.

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Connect the account

1

Open the channel list

Go to Integrations → Channels and start adding an account.
2

Choose Instagram via Facebook

Select the Instagram via Facebook tile — Connect a new Business Instagram account. Not the Facebook Page tile.
3

Sign in to Facebook and approve the permissions

Approve everything Meta asks for. If you decline the messaging permissions, the account connects but DMs never flow.
4

Pick the Instagram account

Tick your Instagram account in the list and finish the connection. DMLY resolves the Facebook Page behind it, creates the Channel, and subscribes that Page to incoming messages and comments.
Your plan controls how many Instagram accounts you can connect. If you are over the limit you never reach the Facebook sign-in screen.
Your workspace may also show a second tile labelled just Instagram — same icon, same Connect a new Business Instagram account subtitle. Don’t use it for messaging: accounts connected that way are for publishing only — no Channel, no Inbox and no bot. The messaging tile is the one that reads Instagram via Facebook.

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The 24-hour window

Meta only lets you message someone who messaged you first, and only for a limited time. The rules are the same as Messenger:
  • Automated messages — flows, sequences and broadcasts can only reach a contact within 24 hours of that contact’s last message to you. Outside it, the send is blocked and recorded as failed, not silently dropped. The one exception is the Marketing Opt-in node: ask while the contact is still in the window, and if they accept you get exactly one more message after it closes.
  • Manual replies from the Inbox — a teammate can reply for 7 days after the contact’s last message. DMLY sends these under Meta’s human-agent allowance automatically.
  • No templates. Instagram has nothing like WhatsApp’s approved message templates. There is no way to open a new conversation with someone who has not written to you first. If you need to reach people cold, use WhatsApp.
Treat every inbound Instagram DM as a 24-hour clock. Anything you want automated — a reply, a booking link, a payment link — should fire while the contact is still in the window.
Broadcasts work on Instagram, but they are plain text sent inside that same window. Anyone outside it is marked failed with a window-closed reason on the broadcast report, unless they accepted a Marketing Opt-in request. See WhatsApp rules and limits for the contrast.

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What Bot setup gives Instagram

Open Bot setup and pick the Instagram channel from the channel selector. Two of the four sections reach Instagram:

Ice breakers

Up to 4 suggested questions a first-time visitor can tap. Each can send a text reply or start a flow. Instagram shows them on mobile only.

Persistent menu

An always-available menu in the conversation. Up to 3 items per level, up to 3 levels. Items can open a URL or start a flow.
Save the page and DMLY pushes both to Instagram. Turn the menu off and save to remove it again. If the push to Meta fails you get a warning on save telling you to check Salesbot → Logs — see Logs.
The live preview hides the persistent menu when the Instagram channel is selected. That is a preview limitation only — the menu does sync to Instagram and does appear in real conversations.
For a persistent menu item, use Start flow or Open URL. A Postback item’s payload is never acted on, so the tap does nothing useful.

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What starts a flow on Instagram

Beyond a plain DM, these trigger your automations:
  • A story reply or a story mention
  • A comment on a post, including Instagram Live comments
  • A tapped ice breaker or persistent-menu item bound to a flow
In a comment-triggered flow, the first text Send Message step opens a DM with the commenter as a private reply, bypassing the 24-hour window — the standard way to turn a comment into a conversation. Reply to Comment only posts a public reply under the comment; pair the two if you want both. Instagram flows can also check whether the contact follows your account, which Facebook has no equivalent for. DMLY reads this the first time it needs it and remembers it on the Contact.

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Instagram quirks in the Inbox

  • Quick replies are text-only on Instagram. Buttons, carousels and media all work.
  • No delivery receipt. Instagram never reports delivery, so a sent message stays at sent until the contact reads it. Messenger reports both. Nothing is wrong.
  • Names fill in late. A new contact is created as Instagram user <last 4 digits> and upgraded to the real name and username once Meta returns the profile. People who only ever commented may keep the username, because Meta does not return a profile for someone who has never DMed you.
  • Opt-out keywords work here too. A contact who sends stop or unsubscribe is opted out, tagged Unsubscribe, and removed from running flows and sequences. Automated messages stop; manual replies still go through.

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Troubleshooting

The commonest cause is not your connection — it is Meta’s app-level webhook, which controls whether Instagram events are delivered at all. Start with No inbound messages.Also check you connected through Instagram via Facebook and not a publishing-only tile, and that the Page behind the account is still one you administer.
Usually the Page access token — Instagram DMs are sent with the linked Page’s token, not the Instagram account’s. If the token expires or your Page admin access is removed, DMLY marks the channel unauthorized, shows a red dot on it and emails the workspace admins. Reconnect the account from Integrations → Channels.
It is not a Business account, it is not linked to a Facebook Page, or you are not an admin of that Page. Fix the link in Meta Business Suite, then start the connect again.

Facebook Messenger

The sibling channel — same window, but it does get a welcome message.

Bot setup

Ice breakers, menus and what each channel supports.