A scenario is an automated flow that runs when something happens on Instagram. The most common starting point: someone comments on your post, and Inrō sends them a DM. This guide uses the Comment-to-DM wizard to build that first scenario. It takes about 5 minutes.
Step 1: Open the wizard
Go to Automation → Scenarios and click Create scenario. When prompted, choose Comment to DM.
The wizard has 7 steps, and you can go back and edit any step before you activate.
Step 2: Select your posts
Choose which posts trigger this scenario when someone comments:
All posts covers your 30 most recent posts. Good for a general offer or lead magnet.
Next post only fires once, when your next post goes live. Good for a one-off launch.
Posts with keyword in caption targets posts whose caption includes a word you set.
Select manually lets you pick posts by hand.
For your first scenario, All posts works fine.
Step 3: Filter which comments trigger it
Decide which comments actually start the automation:
All comments fires for every comment on the selected posts.
Comments with keyword(s) fires only when a comment contains a word you define, like "link" or "info." This is the most popular option.
AI-detected intent fires when a comment means something you describe in plain language, even if the words differ.
⚠️ The Exclude hateful and negative comments checkbox is on by default. Leave it on.
Step 4: Reply to the comment (optional)
You can post an automatic public reply to the comment, like "Sent you a DM!" Click Add comment variant to add a few versions. Inrō rotates through them so your replies don't look identical across posts.
⚠️ Keep public replies short and natural. Identical automated replies posted at scale can trip Instagram's spam detection.
Step 5: Ask a question in the DM
This sets up the first DM your contact receives. You can send a plain message, or add a question with tappable reply buttons. Your options:
A simple question with up to 3 buttons the contact can tap.
Ask for follow before the flow continues.
Ask for email to collect their address.
For a first scenario, a simple question with a couple of buttons is a good start. For example: "Hey, what are you most interested in?" with buttons for your main offers.
Step 6: Send a link
After the contact replies, you can send a conversion link: a trackable card with a title, description, button, and optional image. Fill in the URL, a short title and description, and a button label like "Get it now."
Inrō tracks who clicks, and you can set a follow-up for people who don't. For everything you can send here, see Conversion Actions: Links, Payments, Bookings & Surveys.
Step 7: Review and activate
The final step summarises your full flow. From here you can:
Test it with a contact you choose, to see exactly what they'll receive before anything goes live.
Trigger on existing comments to DM people who already commented in the last 7 days.
Activate to turn the scenario on.
Click Activate. Your first scenario is live.
⚠️ Instagram allows one automated DM in reply to a comment, and only within a 7-day window after the comment. That's a Meta rule, not an Inrō limit. The Comment-to-DM playbook explains how to work within it: Comment-to-DM: Turn Comments into Customers.
🐾 Netsuke's Tips
Test before you activate. Test mode runs the whole flow for a contact you pick, so you can check every message looks right before real followers see it.
If you're using a keyword, keep it short and obvious. "Comment the word LINK" works better than a long phrase.
Start simple and add steps later. Once you see how contacts move through the flow, you'll know exactly where to improve it.
What's next?
Comment-to-DM is one of many triggers. The Triggers: The Complete Reference covers every way to start a scenario, and What Are Scenarios? Overview & Concepts explains how scenarios work under the hood.