Templates
Start from a goal instead of a blank page. Each goal sets up the trigger, the messages and the steps for a common job, ready for your own words, and counts the result that goal is for.
The five goals at a glance
| Goal | Starts from | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver something | Comments, Story replies, DM keywords | Clicks on your link buttons |
| Book an appointment | Comments, Story replies, DM keywords | Bookings made in the DM |
| Grow your audience | Story replies, comments | Followers gained |
| Get more sales (Growth and Scale) | Comments, Story replies, DM keywords | Emails collected and revenue |
| Answer questions | DMs, comments | Questions answered automatically |
Deliver something
Send a guide, a link, a playlist or a discount to everyone who asks. The opening DM has a button; the tap sends your content with its links as buttons. Each person’s clicks are counted, and bots aren’t.
Add a list of unique codes and each person gets their own, which suits a launch discount or limited spots. When the list runs out, the chat is handed to you so nobody is left without an answer.
Book an appointment
Uses the services and hours you set in Appointments. The DM offers the next three open times, the person replies 1, 2 or 3, and the booking is made with a confirmation and reminders. They can also ask for “Saturday morning” or “more times” in their own words. Set up a service before you build this goal; the builder lists your real services.
Grow your audience
Runs on Story replies and comments. It replies to everyone who uses your keyword, asks them to follow (people who already follow skip the ask) and sends what you promised. The automation’s page counts the followers it brought in.
Options include asking people to tag a friend in the comments, unlocking the content when someone mentions you in their Story, and running a giveaway that picks a winner from the people who took part.
Get more sales
Available on Growth and Scale. The DM asks for an email address, confirms it in the chat and starts a short email sequence. The sequence stops when the person clicks a link in it, buys or replies. Replies land in your Inbox. You can fill the builder in on any plan; Publish asks you to upgrade first if your plan doesn’t include it.
Send purchases from Shopify, Stripe or your own checkout to the conversion address shown on the automation’s page, and each sale is counted as revenue. Optional extra emails cover people who clicked but didn’t buy, and a last-chance reminder.
Answer questions
Save an answer with a few keywords each (price, hours, shipping, location) and Askenly replies when a DM or comment matches, with tolerance for typos and plurals. Questions nothing answers are logged on the automation’s page, so you can see which answers to add next.
Choose whether unanswered questions are handed to you, and add hand-off words such as “manager” or “complaint” that always go to a person. On paid plans, the business assistant can answer from your Business profile when no saved answer matches, up to 300 answers a day on Starter, 1,500 on Growth and 5,000 on Scale. Anything your profile doesn’t cover goes to a person.
- Deliver somethingSend a resource automatically
- Book an appointmentTurn conversations into bookings
- Grow your audienceTurn Story replies and comments into followers
- Get more salesInstagram to emailGrowth and Scale
- Answer questionsAuto-answer common questions
Use a goal
Open Automations and press Create automation
Choose the goal that matches what you want people to get.
Choose the trigger
A post or Reel, any post, your Story, or a DM keyword, depending on the goal.
Make the words yours
Every goal starts with sample keywords, an opening DM and button labels. Replace them with your own.
Preview and publish
The preview shows the exact DM and buttons a follower will see.
Change it later
Open the automation and choose Manage, or a step’s menu, to edit it in the builder. You can run several automations from different goals at once, up to your plan’s automation limit.
Picking the right goal
Ask what you want the person to do after the DM. If it’s open a link or use a code, choose Deliver something. If it’s book a time, choose Book an appointment. If you want them on your email list so you can sell over a few days, choose Get more sales. If it’s follow you, choose Grow your audience. If people keep asking the same questions, choose Answer questions.
You can combine goals across posts: a Grow automation on your Stories, a Deliver automation on this week’s Reel and an Answer questions automation on DMs all run at once. Use a different keyword for each so every comment starts the right one.