Auto DM "Next post" — now locks onto the first post you publish after it turns on

When you pick "Next post" as the target of an Instagram Auto DM rule, the rule attaches itself to the first post published after it turns on. Even with several posts scheduled, you can prepare one rule per post ahead of time.

What it does

An Auto DM rule set to "Next post" finds the first Instagram post published after it turns on and attaches to it. Once attached, its target changes to "Specific post" and it only reacts to comments on that post. This is the same behavior Facebook Page rules already had.

So when you have several posts scheduled, create one rule per post and set each rule's scheduled activation to that post's publish time. A rule attaches to the first post published after it turns on, so leave at least 10 minutes between posts so the next rule turns on only after the previous post is up.

How to use it

When creating a new Auto DM rule from the automation menu in your dashboard, choose Activate on schedule in step 1 and set the time equal to the post's publish time (the rule turns on 5 minutes before the scheduled time). Then choose Next post in step 2 and you are done.

Within a few minutes after the post goes up, the rule attaches automatically, and the rule's detail view shows that post as its target.

Good to know

• "Next post" rules you created earlier (active or paused) were actually reacting to comments on every post. To keep the DMs you send today unchanged, we relabeled those rules' target as All posts. They behave exactly as before. If you want one of them to react to a single post only, edit it and pick a specific post.
• Until a new post is published after the rule turns on, no DM is sent. Comments on older posts are ignored.
• A post published before the rule turns on will not be attached. Do not set the scheduled activation later than the publish time. Conversely, if two posts go up within 5 minutes of each other, both rules may attach to the earlier post. Leave at least 10 minutes between posts and each rule attaches to its own post.
• Attaching can take a few minutes. New posts are checked every 5 minutes, and if a comment arrives first, the rule attaches right then.

Questions? Use the chat at the bottom right of your dashboard.