By business · Professional services

Instagram auto-replies for marketing agencies

An agency’s inbox mixes prospects, job seekers, students and people selling something to the agency. Comment-to-DM can sort them before anyone on the team reads a message. This page has the keywords, four set-ups and the qualifying questions that fit an agency, not a solo freelancer.

Updated 6 October 2026

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Comment words for marketing agencies

Ask people to comment one word in your caption or video. Each word sends something different.

CASE: A case study from your carousel with the brief, what the team did, the timeline and the result, plus a question about the sector the person works in.
AUDIT: A request for a short review of a brand’s marketing: which channels, which goals and the monthly budget range, so the right strategist replies.
RETAINER: How a monthly engagement works: what the team delivers, the minimum term, how reporting runs and what is billed separately, like ad spend.
HIRING: Open roles and internships, what a portfolio task looks like, and where to send an application, so job seekers do not sit among sales enquiries.
REPORT: A redacted monthly report from a past client, showing the metrics you share and how you explain a bad month.
PROCESS: How the first 30 days go: discovery, strategy, creative sign-off and launch, with who on the team the new client meets and when.
SPEAKING: Where to send invitations for talks and podcasts: who on the team speaks, topics, past events and the contact for organisers.

4 set-ups to try

Each one shows the conversation it creates. After a comment, the first DM is plain text, as Meta requires, and the link follows once they answer.

Sector questions on a case-study carousel
Someone comments on your post
CASE
Public reply under their comment
Thanks! The full case study is on its way to your DMs 📈
First DM (plain text)
Thanks for commenting. Which sector is your business in, and what are you trying to improve right now: enquiries, sales or awareness? Answer here and I’ll send the full case study.Yes pleaseThe full case study, step by stepRead the case
Case-study carousels bring in prospects, competitors and students at once. The sector and goal answers sort them: a prospect describes a real objective, and the reply tells the right account director who to call.
A budget-aware audit request from a Story
Replied to your story
AUDITThanks for replying. Which channels are you using today, and roughly what do you spend on marketing each month? Reply with those and I’ll send how our review works and who joins the call.How our marketing review worksBook a review
A review costs the agency strategist time, so the first reply asks about channels and spend before anything is booked. A range is enough. Agencies often set a minimum, and asking early spares both sides a wasted call.
Job seekers and interns who message the inbox
HIRINGThanks for your interest in joining us. Which role are you after, and do you have a portfolio or a recent project you can share? Tell me and I’ll send the open roles and how to apply.Open roles and how to applySee roles
Agencies get many students and early-career applicants through DMs, and they bury the real client enquiries. Sending the keyword-matching message to the careers page keeps that stream out of the sales inbox without ignoring anyone.
Retainer details for people who ask about monthly work
Someone comments on your post
RETAINER
Public reply under their comment
Thanks for asking, the details are in your DMs 📩
First DM (plain text)
Thanks for the comment. Are you looking for ongoing monthly support, or help with one campaign? Answer here and I’ll send how our retainers work and what the minimum term is.Yes pleaseHow a monthly retainer worksRead how it works
Retainers and one-off campaigns are sold, staffed and priced differently. Asking which one the person wants at the start sends the lead to the right person on the team and the right page.

Freebies worth commenting for

A redacted monthly report from a past campaign, with the numbers explained in plain words
A campaign brief template with the twelve questions we ask before any work starts
A 90-day launch calendar for a new product, with owners and sign-off dates for each task
A marketing budget worksheet that splits spend between channels and shows what to cut first
A checklist for choosing an agency, including what to ask about reporting and who owns the accounts
A one-page creative brief that stops three rounds of unclear feedback
A guide to the first 30 days with an agency: what you provide, what you receive and when
A competitor-scan template: five brands, six things to compare and where to find each one

Who messages an agency, and what each needs

A freelancer has one kind of enquirer in mind. An agency has at least five, and each wants a different reply. The mistake is putting them all through one auto-reply.

Who writes	Their usual first line	What they should get
A prospect	We need help with our social media	The PROCESS card and a question about goals and budget
A job seeker or intern	Are you taking on interns?	The HIRING card with roles and how to apply
A vendor	We can help you with lead gen	A polite note on where to send proposals: a person reads these
A student	Can I ask you a few questions for a project?	A short reply: a person decides who has time
An event organiser	We would love you to speak	The SPEAKING card with the contact and topics
An existing client	Quick question about the campaign	Nothing automatic: route it to the account lead

Tip: Existing clients should never land in an automated flow. Give them a direct contact, such as a number or a shared channel, and keep Instagram for people who do not yet work with you.

Posts that earn comments for an agency

A carousel that walks through one campaign from brief to result, with CASE for the full study. Only post what the client has approved.
A Reel of the team in a creative review, with PROCESS for how the first month runs.
A Story with a screenshot of a redacted report, so viewers reply or say REPORT.
A hiring post with the open role and a tiny task, with HIRING for the details.
A speaker clip from a past talk, with SPEAKING for organisers who want to invite you.

Agency enquiries tend to cluster before budgets are set, at the start of a quarter or year, and after a client win goes public. Plan posts around those dates and test each keyword by commenting from a second account.

Qualifying without being cold

The first DM asks about the goal or the sector, never about the budget, unless the person asked about audits or pricing.
The card goes to a page that matches the person: the case study, a booking page, the careers page or the retainer page.
Collect an email in exchange for the report or the brief template, and export it as a CSV for your own newsletter.
The one reminder is for a prospect who asked about a retainer and then went quiet.
Assign a person to read the inbox each morning, because a good prospect does not wait long before trying another agency.

DMFast does not connect to a CRM, so the exported list or a notification is where your team takes over. If an agency sells templates or toolkits in India, the DMFast store can sell them as digital products, with payments through Razorpay.

Rules and honesty to check

Client confidentiality. Share a case study or a metric only with the client’s written approval, and check your contract.
Results. Say what happened on one campaign, not what a new client will get. Marketing claims are regulated in many countries.
Sector rules. If you market for health, finance, alcohol, gambling or similar industries, advertising rules can be strict. Check them before a card offers anything.
Hiring privacy. Applicants’ portfolios and personal details do not belong in public comments. Tell them to use your application form.
Meta’s limits. One private reply per comment, within 7 days, and automated messages only reach someone within 24 hours of their last message.

Messages to copy

Questions people ask

Can an auto-reply tell a prospect whether we can take them on?

No. It sends the words you wrote and collects what the person replies. Whether the agency has capacity is a human decision. Ask about sector, goal and budget range in the first message so a person can answer quickly and with context.

Can different team members get different leads?

Use different keywords for different needs, such as CASE, AUDIT or HIRING, and send each to its own page. DMFast does not assign conversations to people, so decide who reads the inbox and which keywords go to whom. The Business plan allows several seats for a team.

Does it work with a client’s Facebook Page too?

Yes, for Pages: comment replies and Messenger work. Story replies and the follow gate exist only on Instagram. If an agency promotes a client’s Page, agree in writing who owns the account access and the email list.

Can we message prospects who followed us after a webinar?

Not in bulk. Automated messages reach only people who commented a keyword, replied to a Story or messaged you in the last 24 hours. For a webinar follow-up, collect emails through a lead magnet in the registration flow and use email, within your local marketing rules.

Related businesses

Words to know

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