When someone shares your post or reel to their Instagram story, it’s a perfect opportunity to connect. With the Share to DM trigger, you can automatically send a personalized message to anyone who shares your content, turning a simple share into a meaningful interaction.
This allows you to thank your followers, offer exclusive discounts, share helpful resources, or start a conversation that deepens engagement. It’s a simple way to reconnect with your audience and make every share count—all automatically, without extra effort.
| 💡 The Instagram Share to DM trigger activates only once per automation for each user. If the same user shares the same content again, the automation won’t trigger a second time. This limitation comes from Instagram’s API and applies across all tools using it. |
Who can use it
The Share to DM trigger is only available to Manychat accounts connected through Instagram’s new enhanced connection. If you don’t see this trigger, you’ll need to switch to the new connection method.
To update your Instagram connection:
- Open Settings in your Manychat account.
- Switch to the Instagram tab.
- Scroll down to the Change Instagram Connection and click Connect Via Meta.
- Next, click Login via Instagram, and you’ll be prompted to sign in to your Instagram account.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.
Once you’ve switched to the new enhanced connection, the Share to DM trigger will become available in your automations.
The reconnection process is seamless and securely transfers your existing data, so you won’t lose contacts or experience any disruptions with your automations.
Setting up the automation
To set up the Share to DM automation, you’ll need to create a new automation and choose the Share to DM trigger as the starting point.
- Open your Manychat account.
- Click Automation in the sidebar.
- Click + New Automation.
- Select the + Start from Scratch option.
- Click Start with a blank. The Flow Builder opens where you can start creating your automation.
- Click + New Trigger.
- Select User shares your Post or Reel as a Story from the list of available Instagram triggers. If you don’t see it in the list, make sure to switch to the new enhanced connection first.
- Next, a window opens where you can configure the trigger settings. Choose whether the trigger should apply to:
- A specific post or reel you already have in your account
- All posts or reels you have in your account
- Your next post or reel
- Additionally, you can select when to send the message: immediately or after a short delay (30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes). Adding a short delay before sending your message can help make the conversation feel more natural and human-like.
- Click Save.
- Next, choose Instagram as the first step in your automation.
- Set the first message type to Private Reply. If the first message is not set to Private Reply, you’ll see the following error when trying to publish the automation: “Mark this message as a ‘Private Reply’ if you want to send it as a reply to a post, reel comment, follow action, or share to story reply”. Note that a Private Reply can include only one content type — either text, image, video, audio, a card, or a gallery block.
- Add your message content and adjust the settings to fit your needs. You can send a simple message or include a button to encourage users to interact and keep the conversation going.
- When your automation is ready, click Preview to test it before publishing. You can select from two options: preview the automation in Manychat or directly on Instagram. Previewing on Instagram shows exactly what your audience will experience.
- Click Set Live to activate your Share to DM automation.
| ⚠️ Note: If your content receives a high number of shares, Manychat automatically manages message delivery in the background to ensure stable performance and prevent spam detection. |
Messaging and opt-in behavior
When someone shares your content, they don’t automatically become a subscriber, and the 24-hour messaging window does not open. You can only send one message as a Private Reply.
Once the user interacts with your account — by clicking a button, selecting a quick reply, or sending a direct message — the 24-hour window opens, allowing you to send additional messages.
For example, when users click the Get the discount 🚀 button, the 24-hour window opens, they receive the second message, and are added to the contact list in your Manychat account.
⚠️ Note: If you choose the Open website option for a button action, it won’t count as an opt-in to your Instagram channel. As a result, users won’t appear in your contact list as Subscribers, the 24-hour window won’t open, and you won’t be able to continue messaging them.