This flow template helps you engage with customers who interact with your Instagram stories, so they can receive a timely direct message without your team replying manually each time.

When to use this template

Use this template when you want to:

• Follow up with customers who reply to your Facebook/Instagram stories
• Send product details, pricing, booking links, or next steps automatically
• Reduce manual replies for common story interactions
• Keep story-based conversations organized in SleekFlow

Example use case

Your business posts an Instagram story promoting a new product launch. A customer replies with “Price” or “Interested”.

With this template, SleekFlow can automatically:

1. Detect the customer’s reply to the selected story
2. Wait for a short delay, so the response feels more natural
3. Send a direct message with the product details, price, or next step

This helps your team respond faster while still creating a smooth customer experience.

Set up “Reply to Facebook/Instagram story replies” template

1. Within Advanced Flow Builder, click “Create new flow”.
   
2. In the flow template step, select “Reply to Instagram story replies” template
   

In the flow canvas, the system will automatically generate a basic flow that includes:

• User replies to stories trigger node
• Time delay node
• Send message action node
  
   

These nodes work together as a simple sequence:

Customer replies to story → SleekFlow waits briefly → Customer receives a direct message

You can use the default setup as a starting point, then adjust the story selection, keyword conditions, delay duration, and message content based on your campaign.

Configure “User replies to stories” trigger

1. Click the “User replies to stories” trigger node to open its node form, which will appear on the right side of the screen.
   
2. The node form contains the following fields for you to set up the trigger:
   • Setup tab
     • Page: Select the connected Instagram account you want to monitor. 
     • Content type: Select which stories should trigger the flow.
       1. All stories: The workflow will trigger whenever someone replies to any story from the selected page or account.
       2. Specific story: The workflow will trigger only when someone replies to the stories you selected. 
     • Comment: Select which comments should trigger the flow
       1. All comments: The workflow will trigger whenever someone comments on any story from the selected page or account.
       2. Comments with specific keywords: The workflow will trigger only when the comment includes the keywords you define 

• Filter tab
  • Enrollment conditions: When toggled on, you can set specific conditions at the “Filter” tab that the customer must meet in order to be enrolled into the flow. 

Configure “Time delay” node

After defining when the flow should run, use the “Time delay” node to add a short pause before the automated direct message is sent.

This template includes a pre-configured Time delay node set to 5 seconds.

1. Click the “Time delay” node to open its node form.

2. The node form contains the following field for you to set up the trigger:

• Setup tab
  • Delay duration: Enter how long the flow should wait before moving to the next step
  • Time unit: Choose the time unit for the wait time. You can select:
    • Seconds
    • Minutes 
    • Hours
    • Days

Adding a short delay makes the automated response feel more natural, especially when the customer has just replied to your Instagram story.

Configure “Reply post comment via direct message” action node

Use this node to configure the message that customers will receive after replying to your Instagram story.

1. Click on the “Reply post comment via direct message” action node to open its node form, which will appear on the right side of the screen

2. The node form contains the following fields for you to configure your action:

• Reply type: Select the type of message you want to send via direct message.
  • Message: Enter your message in the text field. You can personalize the message using variables
  • Media:  Upload or drag-and-drop the media file you want to send. 
• Like Facebook comment: Toggle this on to automatically like the original comment when the reply is sent.
  

3. Click “Publish” to activate the flow.

Once published, customers who reply to your Instagram stories will automatically receive the configured direct message after a short delay. This helps your team respond faster while keeping story-based engagement organized in SleekFlow.