When viewers react to or reply to your story, Zaprep instantly sends them a personalised DM. Turn your most engaged audience into leads — automatically, 24/7.
Built with security & compliance in mind
Instagram story reply automation is a feature that detects when a viewer reacts to or sends a text reply to an Instagram story and immediately triggers an automated direct message to that viewer. Tools like Zaprep connect to Instagram Business or Creator accounts via the official Meta Graph API and listen for story interaction webhook events in real time. The moment a reaction or reply fires, Zaprep dispatches a personalised DM — optionally including the viewer's username or their reply text — and can follow up with a lead-collection step that captures their email address. Because story viewers are among the most engaged segment of an Instagram audience, automating story replies converts warm interest into measurable leads without manual effort. Unlike unofficial bots, API-based story automation complies with Instagram's platform terms and keeps business accounts safe.
Setup
No developer needed. Connect your account, set your rule, and Zaprep handles the rest.
Link your Instagram Business or Creator account via Meta OAuth. Zaprep subscribes to your story interaction webhooks automatically — no manual API setup required.
Choose "Story Reply" as the trigger type. Write the DM your viewers will receive, optionally add a keyword filter, and set a lead-collection step if you want their email.
Publish your story on Instagram as you normally would. Zaprep listens in the background via webhooks and fires the DM the moment a viewer reacts or replies.
Check your Zaprep inbox or Contacts dashboard. Every story interaction that triggered your rule shows the DM thread and any collected data.
Why it works
Story interactions signal genuine interest. Automation ensures you capture every one of them.
Someone who reacts to or replies to your story is 10x more engaged than a passive follower. Story reply automation lets you reach them in the moment their interest is highest — before they scroll away.
Every story view that turns into an interaction can become a DM conversation, an email address, or a sale. Zaprep converts that fleeting engagement into a durable lead — without a single manual reply.
Story reactions often happen outside business hours. Zaprep responds within seconds, no matter the time zone. Your audience gets an immediate, personalised reply and you wake up to a list of warm leads.
Features
Reactions, text replies, keyword filtering, lead collection — all handled automatically using the official Instagram API.
Fire an automation when a viewer taps any emoji reaction on your story. Works for all reaction types.
Detect when a viewer types a reply to your story and instantly open a DM conversation.
Only trigger the automation when the story reply contains a specific word or phrase — useful for story CTAs like "Reply YES for the link."
Include the viewer's username or reference their reply text inside the automated DM for a human feel.
Chain a follow-up DM that asks for their email. Responses are saved to Contacts and exportable as CSV.
Set whether the same viewer can trigger your story rule once ever, once per N days, or every time they interact.
Every DM thread started by story automation appears in your Zaprep inbox so you can take over the conversation manually at any point.
Run story reply rules across multiple Instagram Business accounts from one Zaprep dashboard.
Zaprep replies to every story interaction instantly — even while you're asleep. Set it up once and watch leads arrive on autopilot.
Pricing
Story reply automation is included on every plan. Start free and upgrade as you grow.
Free
$0
forever
Starter
$19
per month
Pro
$49
per month
Related
Comment → DM Automation
Auto-reply to every post comment with a personalised DM.
Keyword Triggers
Fire automations only when a comment or DM contains your chosen word.
Follow Gate
Require a follow before delivering the DM. Followers are gained, leads captured.
ManyChat Alternative
See how Zaprep compares to ManyChat for Instagram automation.
FAQ
Instagram story reply automation automatically sends a DM to anyone who reacts to or replies to your Instagram story. When a viewer taps a reaction emoji or types a reply, Zaprep detects that interaction via the official Meta Graph API and immediately dispatches a personalised DM — without any manual effort from you.
Yes. Zaprep connects exclusively through the official Meta Graph API and Instagram Webhooks — the same infrastructure Meta provides for approved business partners. There is no scraping, no unofficial access, and no violation of Instagram platform terms.
Yes. Zaprep captures both story reaction events (when a viewer taps an emoji reaction) and story reply events (when a viewer types a text reply). You can set separate rules or use one rule to handle both interaction types.
Absolutely. After the initial automated DM is sent, you can chain a lead-collection step that asks for their email address. Responses are saved to your Contacts dashboard in Zaprep, ready to export to your email marketing tool.
You need an Instagram Business or Creator account connected to a Facebook Page. Personal Instagram accounts are not supported by the Meta Messaging API. Switching is free inside the Instagram app and takes under a minute.
Have more questions?
Browse the Zaprep blog for guides and tutorials →Free plan. No credit card. Set up your first story reply automation in minutes.