The short version
Every reply someone writes to your Instagram story lands in your inbox as a DM. So automating story replies needs no separate tool: a Direct Automation catches story replies with the same trigger words as any other message. What you do is tell viewers what to type in the story, and bind an automation to that word. This page covers the three setups (reply link, reply code, after a poll), the steps and the limits.
Why there is no separate automation
On Instagram, a story reply drops into the same conversation thread as a DM. BixoChat reads it the same way: when a message arrives, it checks the triggers of your Direct Automations, sends the matching reply if there is one, and otherwise follows your setting for all other messages (no reply, or the AI assistant). Being a story reply changes nothing. It also means an automation you build for a story runs on ordinary DMs too, so pick the word with that in mind. You cannot pick one story or answer every story reply; it needs a word.
Three setups
1. "Reply link": the link to the product in the story
Show the product in the story and say "Reply link for the link". A Direct Automation on the word "link" sends the product page. The most common setup, for accounts that prefer to hand the link out in the DM rather than through a sticker.
Hi! Thanks for writing 😊 The linen shirt from the story is in stock in white, sand and olive at $79. Product page: norastudio.com/linen-shirt. Anything else, just ask and we'll get back to you.
2. "Reply code": a story-only campaign
Say in the story "Reply code and get 20% off". The trigger kind must be Exactly: the word "code" appears in other sentences too, and the campaign should fire only when someone types that word on its own. Write the word in the story in lowercase, exactly as the trigger. The value of this setup is measurement: a story-only code shows you which sales came from the story.
Congratulations, you caught the story! 🎉 Your code: STORY20. 20% off everything until midnight tonight; enter it at checkout.
3. After a poll or a question box
Poll votes and question-box answers are not messages and start nothing. But say after the poll "Reply result to see the result" and that reply is a DM. You can also answer question-box questions in a story and say "reply details for more". The way to connect a poll to an automation is to ask viewers to type.
Setup in five steps
Tell viewers what to type in the story
Make the trigger word easy to read: short, one word, noticeable. Not "reply if you're curious" but "reply link". If viewers do not know what to type, the automation has nothing to do.
Make that word a trigger in a Direct Automation
Create a new Direct Automation and add the word as a trigger. Exactly for one-word codes ("code", "link"); Contains for questions inside sentences ("where did you get", "which brand"). Write the word in the story the way you expect people to type it.
Write the reply
Add the automatic reply: one line of facts ("in stock, 3 colors, $79") and the link. To show the product, set the reply type to Image; for several products, Card. The reply goes to the person, not to the story, so name the product rather than saying "the one in the story": the same word can arrive in an ordinary DM.
Set a delay and, for campaigns, a follow requirement
Under the advanced settings, set a Reply delay of 10–30 seconds. For a campaign, you can switch on Require a follow before replying: the person is asked to follow first and the code goes out after they confirm; say so in the story too.
Update the automation when the story ends
The story expires; the automation stays. Do not let it keep sending an old product's link: switch it off or update it for the next story. If the story goes to highlights, keep the automation on.
Common mistakes
- Not naming the word in the story: viewers write "nice!" and nothing fires.
- Reusing another automation's word ("price") for the story: keep each word in one automation only, so you know which reply goes out. Give stories their own short codes.
- Forgetting the automation after the story: weeks later, a "the one in the story" reply confuses the customer.
- Sending many links in a short time: cap it with Hourly send limits; see Why Instagram restricts accounts.
Story replies are part of your DM flow; the whole flow is in Instagram DM automation, and comments are in Instagram comment-to-DM automation.