Automation

Automation answers people for you. It sends a DM when someone comments on a post, writes a keyword to you, replies to or mentions you in a story, or opens a link you gave them. It is the mechanic behind "comment GUIDE and I'll DM it to you", and it runs on your connected Instagram and Facebook accounts. It keeps running when Postfjord is closed.

Your first automation, step by step

This builds the most common one: someone comments "guide" under a post and gets your link in their DMs. It takes about two minutes.

1. Connect an Instagram or Facebook account under Channels first, if you have not.
2. Open Automation in the menu and press New automation.
3. Under Pick a popular first move, press Comment to DM.
4. Post: pick which post to listen on. The next post or reel is the easy choice when the post is not out yet. Press Next.
5. Keywords: type the word people should comment, like guide, and press Enter. Leave Reply to their comment under the post on, so people see an answer under their comment. Press Next.
6. Opening DM: keep the question and its button ("Hey! Want the free guide?" and "Send me the link"), or write your own. Press Next.
7. The DM with your link: paste your link under Link. Keep {link} in the message where the link should go.
8. Press Save automation. The automation is on right away and shows Active in the list.
9. Test it: comment the keyword under the post from another account, then open Inbox to see what was sent.

The phone on the right side of the wizard shows what the person will see while you type. You can change everything later with Edit.

Pick a template

Press New automation and pick one of the cards. Each card starts the wizard with good texts already filled in, and each wizard has two to four steps. Link or QR code, Ask for a review and Default reply show up once an Instagram or Facebook account is connected.

The steps are listed on the left of the wizard. Press Next to go on and Back to go back. A step you have already filled in can be opened again by pressing its name. When something is missing, a red note under the step says what, and Next waits until it is fixed. Cancel on the first step leaves without saving. Automations built before the wizard open in it too, and are saved in the new format the first time you save them.

Step: Post

Only Comment to DM has this step. It decides which posts the automation listens on.

• A specific post or reel. Pick one or several from the latest posts on your connected accounts, shown as thumbnails with the account on each tile. Use it for a post that is already out.
• Any post or reel. Every comment on the account is checked against the keywords. Use it when the same keyword should work everywhere.
• The next post or reel. The first post you publish after saving, on any connected account. Use it when the post is not out yet. See below for how it finds the post.
• Posts I bind from the composer. Only the posts you attached to this automation while writing them (see Binding from the composer below). The list under the option shows every bound post with its link.

If you are not sure, pick A specific post or reel for a post that is out, and The next post or reel for one that is not.

How The next post or reel finds its post: Postfjord pins it the first time a comment with the keyword arrives. It reads the account's recent posts and picks the oldest one published after you saved. Posts published from Postfjord and posts published from the Instagram or Facebook app both count. Once pinned, the list says pinned to a post and the automation stays on that post through later edits. To wait for a new post instead, pick another post option, save, then pick The next post or reel again and save.

A post bound from the composer also counts for an automation set to a specific post, any post or the next post, so you can attach a post to an existing automation without editing it.

Step: Accounts

Every template except Comment to DM has this step. Tick the Instagram and Facebook accounts the automation should answer on.

• Leave every account unticked and it listens on all of them.
• Link or QR code belongs to exactly one account, because the link opens a chat with that account. Pick one.
• If no account is connected, the step says so. Connect one under Channels.

Step: Keywords

Keywords or emoji, comma separated. Type a word and press Enter or a comma, and it becomes a chip. Press the x on a chip to remove it. Emoji work too.

Matching ignores case and punctuation: "guide" also matches "GUIDE!" and "the guide please". If you leave the keywords empty, Next asks you to add one or to turn on Any word starts it. On Story replies, keywords are optional: leave them empty to answer every story reply.

Only when the whole message is the keyword. Turn it on when the word is common in normal talk. Then "guide" starts the automation, and "where is the guide" does not. Off, the word can be anywhere in the message.

Any word starts it. Every comment on the chosen posts, or every DM to the account, starts the automation, whatever it says. The keyword box goes away and a yellow note reminds you. Keyword automations still win when they match, so a catch-all never takes a comment meant for a specific automation. A sticker or a photo without text does not count. Leave it off unless you want to answer everyone.

Reply to their comment under the post

Comment to DM only. When it is on, Postfjord writes a public reply under the person's comment, so others see that you answered. You can write up to three versions under Variation 1, Variation 2 and Variation 3. Postfjord picks one at random for each comment, so Meta does not see the same sentence under a hundred comments. Leave the second and third empty to always use the first. Turn the whole thing off and the person only gets the DM.

Say in the reply that the message may be under message requests. The first message from a business almost always lands there, in both Messenger and Instagram, and most people never open that folder. The three replies Postfjord starts you with say it already.

Like the comment (Facebook) shows up when a Facebook Page is among the accounts. It likes the comment from the Page before the DM goes out. Instagram does not let apps like comments, so it does nothing there.

Wait before answering

Story replies has a Wait before answering select on this step: Answer at once, or after 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes. A reply a minute later feels less like a bot. A delayed reply goes out within a minute of its time.

Step: Opening DM

The first DM asks a question with one button, like "Hey! Want the free guide?" and "Send me the link". Write the question under Opening message and the button text under Button label (up to 20 characters).

Why ask first: Meta allows one private reply per comment. A tap on the button opens a real conversation, so after that you can keep messaging the person, run the add-ons and answer by hand from the inbox.

Skip the question and send the link straight away. Turn it on and the first DM is the link itself. Nobody has to tap anything to get it, but you cannot keep writing to the person until they write to you. Leave it off if you are unsure.

When they write instead of tapping

Instagram on a computer does not show buttons, so some people write their answer instead. Postfjord reads it as a tap when:

1. The message is the same as a button's text, like "Send me the link". Big or small letters and accents do not matter.
2. The step has only one button and the message is a short yes, like "yes", "ok", "ja", "oui", "sí", "sim" or 👍.

Anything else is left for you to answer in the inbox. A keyword still starts its own automation, STOP still stops everything, and the same limits apply as for a tap: the 24 hour window, the hourly cap and your contact limit. When someone on your team has written in the thread, a typed yes is left for them.

Step: The DM with your link

Message with the link. The text of the DM. Write {link} where the link should appear, like "Here it is: {link}". If you leave it out, a note reminds you, and the link is added at the end of the message.

Link. The web address, starting with http:// or https://. Postfjord shortens it, so it looks like app.postfjord.com/l/k3Fq9zLm2a. The short link carries a signed note of who it was sent to, so a click only counts for the person who got it. On Ask for a review this field is called Your review page.

Tag people who click. Shows up once there is a link. Pick tags, or type a new name to make one. Everyone who opens the link gets them, for example "Downloaded the guide". Use the tag in a segment, a condition or the Mailchimp sync. Leave it empty and nobody is tagged.

Show the link as a button. The message gets a button that opens the page directly, like the cards you see from other brands. Write the button text under Button text (up to 20 characters). The {link} in the message is removed, because the button carries it. If Meta refuses the button for a message, Postfjord sends the same message with the link in the text instead. On Instagram the link is also written in the message, because Instagram on a computer does not show the button.

A click counts when a person opens the link. Meta opens every link in a DM to build a preview, and those visits (and other bots) are never counted. The automation shows unique clicks, one per person and link. Hover to see the total and the click rate. The contact panel in the inbox lists which links a person clicked. Changing the address of a link makes a new short link with fresh counters.

Add-ons

Under Add-ons on the link step. Each is a switch: off by default, and its texts open when you turn it on. Postfjord fills in texts you can keep or change.

Ask them to follow you before they get the link

The person gets a message with one button before the link. The fields: Message, Button label and Message when they are not following yet.

On the tap, Postfjord asks Instagram whether they follow the account. Not following: the "not following yet" message goes out with the same button, at most twice. On the third tap the automation goes on anyway. Facebook Pages have no follow relation, so the gate always lets people through there. It also lets people through when Instagram cannot answer, so nobody is ever stuck. Ask for a review does not have this add-on.

Ask for their email in the DM

The person is asked to reply with their email. The fields: Ask for the email, Thank you message and Message when the answer is not an email.

1. A valid address is saved on the contact, the thank-you message is sent and the automation goes on.
2. Postfjord checks the address first. A typo in a common domain (like gmial.com), a Gmail name Gmail does not allow, a domain that gets no email, or letters like å or é before the @ count as not an email. The person is asked again and nothing is sent to that address.
3. An answer without an address gets the "not an email" message once. On the second miss the automation moves on without the email.
4. The wait ends after 24 hours.

In workspaces with postmail (in testing), a switch Send a confirmation email so they can join your email list is on by default. They join your list when they click Confirm in that email. If the link comes right after the email question, a yellow note warns you: people get the link before they confirm, so do not use the link as a reward for the email. Ask for a review does not have this add-on.

Follow up if they do not click the link

One more message if the person has not opened the link. Pick the time under Send after: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours or 23 hours. Write the text under Follow-up message.

It is 23 hours at most because Meta's 24 hour reply window must still be open when it goes out. Only if they have not clicked is on by default. Turn it off to send the follow-up to everyone. The follow-up is also skipped when the person opted out, was answered by a person in the meantime, or when the window has closed. Follow-ups go out within a minute of their time.

Advanced

Press Advanced on the last step to open more tools. Most first automations do not need them.

Advanced steps

Advanced steps is a list you build with Add step. The steps run after the steps above and before Claude, in the order you put them. Each row has Move up, Move down and Remove step. An automation has at most 20 steps in total, and the phone preview shows advanced steps as small grey notes, like "wait 2 hours, between 08:00 and 21:00".

• Message: a text with up to three buttons and an optional link. For each button, Goes to says what happens on a tap: Next step, Stop here, or a step by number. Links are shortened and counted like the link above. A message with a link button can have two more buttons.
• Ask a question: sends a question and saves the reply under Save the answer to, a contact field. Answer picks what kind of reply fits: Any text, Email address, Number, Date with year, Birthday (day and month) or Yes or no (buttons), with a Yes button and a No button. An answer that does not fit gets the text under If the answer does not fit once, then the automation moves on. A birthday can be written like 14 March, 14/3 or March 14th, with or without the year, and is saved as month and day, like 03-14. While Postfjord waits for the answer, the inbox shows Waiting for an answer.
• Wait: pauses the automation. See Waits below.
• Condition: picks a path without sending anything. See Conditions below.
• Add tag and Remove tag: change the contact's tags.
• Set field: writes a contact field. Leave the value empty to clear it. A value that does not fit the field's type, like text in a number field, is skipped and the automation goes on.

A birthday club is three questions in a row (name, email, birthday) and a tag.

Waits

A Wait step pauses the automation: an amount and a unit (minutes, hours or days), up to 30 days. Two filters make it a smart wait:

• Only send between, for example 08:00 and 21:00 in the workspace time zone, so a message never lands at 03:00. A from time later than the to time means overnight.
• Only on certain weekdays, so a Friday sign-up is answered on Monday.

The next step goes out at the first moment after the wait that fits both filters, within a minute of that time. When no moment fits within the next week, the automation stops and the thread gets a note about it.

A wait never reopens Meta's 24 hour window. A wait longer than 24 hours only sends if the person wrote again in the meantime. Otherwise the thread shows that the automation was skipped because the window had closed. A wait is also skipped when the person opted out, a person on the team was replying, automation is off for the thread, the automation was changed or removed, or the plan's contact limit is reached.

Conditions

A Condition step sends nothing. It checks the contact and picks a path. Choose All of these (every rule must be true) or Any of these (one is enough), press Add rule for up to five rules, and pick what happens If yes and If no: Next step, Stop here, or a step by number. Rules look at the contact as it is in the inbox:

• Tag is or is not one of your tags.
• Field is, is not, contains, greater than, less than, is set or is not set. Text is compared ignoring case. Greater than and less than compare numbers.
• Follows you: whether the person follows the account on Instagram, checked once per run. Facebook Pages count as following, like the follow gate.
• Inside the 24 hour window: whether Meta still lets you message the person.
• Has email: whether the contact has an email address.
• In segment: whether the person matches one of your saved contact segments right now.

Together with tags this gives "tag everyone who commented, then send the second message only to people without an email", all in the wizard.

Let Claude answer follow-up questions

Turn it on and write Instructions for Claude (up to 1,500 characters), like "Answer questions about our classes, prices and opening hours". Claude answers from your brand profile and those instructions, in the person's language, in one to three sentences, and never makes up prices or dates.

• It answers up to five messages in a row, then stops.
• It stops when a person replies from the inbox, when the person opts out, or when they write a keyword that starts another automation.
• When someone asks for a human, complains, or asks something Claude cannot answer from the profile, the thread gets Needs a human in the inbox.
• Each answer uses the AI budget, about one cent.

Leave it off and questions after the automation wait for you in the inbox.

Name this automation

Under the Advanced button on every last step. The name shows in the list and in the inbox. Leave it empty and Postfjord uses the first keyword, the link code or the template's name.

Story replies and mentions

Story replies starts when a person replies to one of your Instagram stories. Leave the keywords empty to answer every story reply, or add keywords so only "LINK" or an emoji starts it. An emoji reaction to a story arrives as a message with the emoji, so an emoji keyword works. When no story automation matches, the reply is treated as a normal DM, so a keyword automation can still answer it.

Thanks for a mention starts when a person tags your account in their story. There is nothing to match, so it always runs. Its steps are Accounts and Thank-you message: a message with an optional button, the Wait before answering select, and Only once per 24 hours per person, which is on by default. Turn it off to thank every mention.

A story reply and a mention are both messages from the person, so Meta's 24 hour window is open and the whole automation runs: buttons, the follow gate, email capture, the link and the follow-up, like a DM keyword. The inbox shows "Replied to your story" or "Mentioned you in a story" on the message, with a link to the story when Meta sends one.

Link or QR code

Link or QR code gives you a link that opens a chat with your account and starts the automation when the person arrives:

• Instagram: https://ig.me/m/yourhandle?ref=code
• Facebook: https://m.me/pageid?ref=code

On the Link code step, type the code under Link code: letters, digits, dash and underscore, 2 to 40 characters, not used by another automation in the workspace. Matching ignores case. Your link shows the finished link as you type. Once the code is accepted, you get Copy and a QR code you can save with Download QR, for a flyer, a screen or a menu card. The list shows Link and QR on the automation to get them again.

If Your link says the account has no username stored, press Reconnect on the account under Channels.

Two things Meta needs, set under Chat menu (see below):

• Instagram: at least one conversation starter. Without one, the link only opens an empty chat for people who never wrote to you.
• Facebook: Get Started button must be on.

Postfjord stores the code the person arrived with on the contact and shows "Opened your link (code)" in the thread. A returning Messenger user who taps an m.me link without writing anything still starts the automation. A link whose code has no automation behind it opens a normal chat and nothing more. The automation shows Link starts in its stats.

Default reply

Default reply answers when nothing else matched: no keyword automation, no story automation, no link. Make it from the template, or press Create default reply under Chat menu for one account. It is a normal automation with a special trigger, so it can have buttons, advanced steps and a Claude step.

• When step: Only between certain hours limits it to, for example, 22:00 to 07:00 in the workspace time zone. A from time later than the to time means overnight. Off, the step says Always.
• Message step: the text and an optional button.
• It is sent at most once per 24 hours per person, silently: the second unmatched message in a day gets nothing.
• It never answers a story mention or a button tap, only messages.

A default reply counts as an automation toward the plan cap, like any other. On the Free plan, which runs one automation, the default reply competes with your keyword automation.

Ask for a review

This automation thanks someone in their DMs when they book or pay, with a button to your review page on Google, Yelp or Trustpilot.

1. Connect your bookings or your Stripe sales under Settings, Apps, Bookings and sales. See Bookings and Link tracking and sales.
2. Open Automation, press New automation and pick Ask for a review.
3. Accounts: pick the accounts.
4. After: turn on A booking, A purchase or both.
5. The DM with your link: write the thank you and paste the link under Your review page. On Google, open your Business Profile and press Ask for reviews to copy it.
6. Press Save automation.

It only reaches people Postfjord can match to a DM thread: someone who booked or paid through a link from one of your automations, or whose email is on their contact. Instagram and Messenger let a business write only within 24 hours of the person's last message, so it goes out when they booked or paid soon after chatting with you. Outside that window nothing is sent, and the thread shows why. Each person gets one thank you a month at most, even when they book every week or have two of these automations. It also waits while the person is answering another automation or talking with Claude.

Add a wait or more messages under Advanced like in any automation. A wait longer than the 24 hour window means the rest is not sent.

Chat menu and conversation starters

Under the list on the Automation screen, each Instagram and Facebook account has a Chat menu button. The same settings are under Channels, on the account. They set what people see before they write to you:

• Conversation starters: up to four questions shown to people who open a chat with you for the first time. Each one starts an automation. Instagram needs at least one for ig.me links to work for new people.
• Menu: the menu in the chat. Each item has a Title and an Action: Start an automation or Open a link. Up to 5 items on Instagram and 10 on Facebook.
• Get Started button and Greeting (Facebook only): new Messenger contacts must press Get Started before any automation, m.me links included, can run. The greeting shows above the button, 160 characters at most.
• Default reply: shows the account's default reply, or Create default reply.
• Growth links: every link automation of the account, with its link and QR code, and New link automation.

Press Save to Meta to send the changes. The panel shows when it last synced and what Meta shows right now. If Postfjord does not have the permission yet, the panel says so. It switches on by itself after Meta's approval and a Reconnect.

Binding from the composer

You do not have to build the automation after the post. While writing a post to an Instagram or Facebook account, the composer shows DM automation for this post: pick one of your comment automations, or Create one from a keyword and fill in the keyword, the opening DM with its button, and the link message with its link. The choice is saved with the post, and the queue shows it as a badge.

The moment the post goes live, on every selected Instagram or Facebook account, Postfjord attaches the published post to the automation. No guessing which post is next, and no waiting for the first comment. In the wizard, the post step's Posts I bind from the composer option lists what has been attached. After publishing, the composer shows the binding read-only with a link to the automation.

The automation list

Each automation in the list shows what starts it (for example "On comment: guide, on the next post"), a badge and buttons:

• Active or Paused: whether it is switched on.
• Pause stops it. Nobody new starts it, and waits, follow-ups and button taps of people in the middle of it are dropped. Activate starts it again.
• Edit opens the wizard. If your change removes or replaces a step someone is waiting on, that wait is dropped and the thread says the automation was changed or removed.
• The bin deletes it after you confirm. People already in the conversation stop getting its messages.
• Not running on your plan: switched on, but your plan runs fewer automations. See Opt-out and limits.

Stats

Every automation shows Entered (people who got the first message), Completed (people who reached the end), Clicks (unique, with the total and the click rate on hover) and Emails collected. Story automations add Story replies or Mentions, link automations Link starts, default replies Default replies and review automations Thanked. Bookings and Sales show up when someone booked or paid through a link in the automation. An automation with posts bound from the composer says how many.

A comment automation also shows Failed when someone who commented did not get the message, and Retrying while we are still trying. Press either number to see who, what they wrote and why.

When a comment reply does not go out

Sometimes Meta refuses the message to someone who commented. Often it is a short problem on Meta's side. Then we try again by ourselves:

1. After 1 minute, 5 minutes and 30 minutes.
2. Then every 3 hours.
3. We stop 24 hours after the first try. Meta allows the message for 7 days after the comment, so there is time to spare.

Each try follows the same rules as the first one. The person gets one message and one public reply, never two. A try waits while Meta asks us to slow down or while the plan's hourly cap is reached, and it stops if the person opted out, if someone on your team is replying to them, or if you turn the automation off.

Some refusals will not change by trying again, for example when the person cannot get messages or the account needs to be connected again. Those show under Failed right away.

Press Failed or Retrying on the automation, or See who and why when you edit it, to open Messages that did not go out. It shows each person: their name, their comment, when they commented and the reason in plain words. A reply still being tried shows Trying again at and the time.

Send again tries once more, right away. It works when:

• the comment is less than 7 days old,
• the comment was not deleted,
• the automation is on,
• the account is connected and active.

Only editors and owners see the button. It follows the same rules as the automatic tries, so it never sends a second message to someone who already got one. The list is kept for 30 days.

Each person gets one reply per post

When the same person comments twice on the same post, the second comment is left alone: no public reply, no DM. Postfjord remembers the pair of person and post for 30 days. When the person already has a thread with you, it gets a grey line saying so.

To test an automation from your own account a second time, open the thread in the inbox, press Contact and choose Delete contact. That clears the record of the reply along with the conversation, and the automation answers you again the next time you comment. Commenting on a different post works too.

Why did it not send

When an automation would have answered but did not, the thread in the inbox gets a small grey line saying why, and the thread header shows Last automation skipped with the reason until the next send that works. The reasons:

• The 24 hour reply window had closed: a button was tapped or a wait ended more than 24 hours after the person's last message.
• A person was replying in this thread: automation was paused because someone on the team answered.
• This person opted out, or automation is off for this thread.
• The workspace reached its automated messages per hour: see the cap below.
• Meta asked us to slow down: Meta slowed the account down. Automated sends pause for a few minutes and go on by themselves.
• Outside its hours: the default reply is limited to certain hours.
• No allowed time to send within the next week: a wait's filters never opened.
• The plan's contact limit for this month is reached.
• The automation was changed or removed before a wait or follow-up came due.
• Thank-you already sent in the last 24 hours: a second story mention from the same person.
• This person already got a reply on that post: a second comment on the same post.
• The keyword belongs to an automation your plan does not run: the line names the automation, at most once an hour.
• A step has a link placeholder and no link: the message would be empty, so the automation stops. Add the link, or take {link} out of the text.
• The workspace is suspended.
• Meta refused the message: the send itself failed.

A comment private reply stopped by the hourly cap only reaches the send log, because there is no thread yet. A comment reply that Meta refused shows under Failed on the automation instead.

Every automated send attempt, sent, skipped or failed, is written to a send log kept for 30 days. Replies you write yourself from the inbox are never capped and never logged there.

Opt-out and limits

Writing STOP, stopp, unsubscribe, avsluta, avregistrera or sluta stops every automated message for that person, for good, and the inbox shows it. It counts when the message is short, five words or fewer, like "stop" or "please stop messaging me". A longer message that happens to contain the word, like "Can I stop by the studio at 5?", does not stop anything. You can still reply to the person yourself.

Automation never sends outside Meta's 24 hour window and never sends more than five messages in one run. Conditions, tags, fields and waits do not count as messages. When a person on the team replies in a thread, automation pauses there for a while (30 minutes by default, set in Chat settings at the top of the Inbox). A button the automation already showed still works during the pause.

Each plan has a cap on automated messages per hour for the workspace: 60 on Free, 400 on Solo, 1,500 on Studio and 5,000 on Agency. Over the cap, sends are skipped with a note in the thread and start again the next hour. A follow-up or a message after a wait that meets the cap goes back in line and is tried again when the cap lifts, up to three times. Your own replies from the inbox are never counted.

Each plan also runs a set number of automations at a time, the oldest first. On Free that is one. The list marks the others Not running on your plan, with a link to upgrade. When you save or switch on an automation that will not run, the list says so right away, and if it pushes another automation out, it names that one. See Plans and billing for the active contact limit.

A suspended workspace sends nothing, and its automations cannot be switched on.

FAQ