Auto-DM every new Instagram follower
The moment someone follows your Instagram account, MegaSend fires a personalised welcome DM. No flow builder, no manual follow-up — just a real first conversation, every time. Built with hard safety rails so you stay on Meta's good side.
Free on every plan · No credit card · Activate in under a minute
- Welcome DM delivery
- < 1s
- Configurable safety cap
- 200/day
- On every plan
- Free
248
posts
12.4K
followers
318
following
MegaSend
Marketing automation platform
🚀 Auto-DM new Instagram followers · WhatsApp + Instagram automation · app.megasend.io
Tap Follow to see what your new followers will get →
How it works
Three minutes to set up. Sends in seconds. Visible in your dashboard from the very first follower.
- 1
Enable in settings
Open the Follow to DM panel on any connected Instagram account, write your welcome message, set a daily cap, acknowledge the policy notice, and save.
- 2
Someone follows you
Meta sends us a real-time follow webhook. We capture the new follower in your Followers analytics tab — even if you decide not to send a DM.
- 3
Welcome DM fires
We dispatch the message via the official Instagram Messaging API. Successful sends, daily-cap skips, dedupe skips, and any policy blocks are surfaced live so you always know what's happening.
Why teams pick MegaSend
Everything ManyChat does on Follow to DM, plus the safeguards their dashboard hides from you.
Instant delivery
Webhook-driven send path. Typical delivery is under a second from the moment Meta tells us about the follow.
Hard daily cap
Set 1–200 sends per UTC day. We stop the moment you hit the cap, so a viral post can't blow up your reputation.
Honest delivery analytics
See exactly how many DMs were sent, skipped, blocked by Meta, or failed — over the last 7 and 30 days.
Policy-aware classification
Every Meta error response is classified. Real policy blocks stop retries immediately and show up in red on your dashboard.
Per-follower dedupe
Don't re-welcome the same person within a configurable window (default: 365 days). No accidental spam if a follower toggles you on and off.
Free on every plan
No paywall, no per-DM fee, no Premium tier upsell. Pay for the rest of MegaSend, get this for free.
MegaSend vs ManyChat
We respect ManyChat — they pioneered Follow to DM. Here's where we go further.
| Capability | MegaSend | ManyChat |
|---|---|---|
| Sub-second welcome DM | ✓ | ✓ |
| Configurable daily cap | ✓ | — |
| Surfaces Meta policy blocks in the UI | ✓ | — |
| Configurable dedupe window | ✓ | — |
| Per-event delivery analytics | ✓ | Limited |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Open public webhooks API | ✓ | — |
Comparison based on publicly documented ManyChat behaviour as of April 2026. ManyChat's Follow to DM uses a private Meta Business Partner integration; results may vary as Meta tightens enforcement.
We're honest about Meta's position
Meta does not officially sanction follow-triggered DMs through the public Graph API. Sends are best-effort and may be silently blocked when the messaging window is enforced.
Other tools hide this from you. We don't — every block is logged, classified, and visible in your Followers analytics dashboard so you know exactly when delivery health changes.
- Explicit policy acknowledgement required before the feature can be enabled.
- Hard daily cap (1–200) prevents reputation damage from runaway sends.
- Per-follower dedupe stops the same person being messaged twice.
- Every Meta error code is classified — permanent blocks stop retries immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Is Follow to DM officially supported by Meta?
Not as a publicly documented feature. Meta's official messaging window allows DMs only after a user-initiated event (comment, story reply, DM). Following you is not on that list. Tools like ManyChat get extra access through a private Business Partner programme; we use the public Graph API plus the follow webhook (which Meta does serve to us) and we're transparent when sends are blocked.
Will my account get banned for using this?
We've engineered to minimise the risk: a daily cap of up to 200 sends, per-follower dedupe, an explicit policy acknowledgement before the feature can be enabled, and immediate stop-on-block when Meta returns a permanent error. That said, Meta's enforcement can change at any time — use this feature with realistic expectations and start with a small daily cap.
How fast does the DM fire?
Typically under a second from the moment Meta delivers the follow webhook. We enqueue the send onto a high-priority background queue immediately, then dispatch via the Instagram Messaging API.
What happens if Meta blocks my message?
Each Meta error is classified as permanent (policy block) or transient (network glitch, rate limit, 5xx). Permanent blocks stop retries immediately and the event is marked 'Blocked by Meta' in your Followers analytics. Transient errors are retried with exponential backoff up to 4 times before giving up.
Can I customise the welcome message per follower?
The current release sends a single, fixed welcome template per Instagram account. Personalisation tokens (follower username, first name) are on the roadmap. If you need multiple templates today, you can use our Comment-to-DM and Story-Reply automations to ask the new follower a question and branch from there.
How does this compare with ManyChat's Follow to DM?
Functionally similar — both fire on Meta's follow webhook. Differences: we publish a configurable daily cap, configurable dedupe window, and a real-time delivery health dashboard that shows you when Meta blocks your sends. ManyChat keeps that data internal. Pricing is free on both sides.
Does it work for personal Instagram accounts?
No. Like every Instagram automation tool, MegaSend requires an Instagram Business or Creator account connected through the official OAuth flow. Personal accounts cannot receive the follow webhook from Meta.
What if I want to send a DM only to followers from a specific country or city?
Targeting by follower geography is on the roadmap. For now the welcome DM goes to every new follower (subject to your daily cap and dedupe rules). You can pair this with our Story-Reply automation to qualify the follower after first contact.
Other Instagram automations you'll love
Welcome DMs are step one. Pair them with these to convert every interaction into a conversation.
Find your Instagram Post ID
A free guide to grabbing the post ID you need for comment-trigger and product-share automations.
Learn moreComment-to-DM automation
Reply to public comments with a private DM that delivers a link, coupon, or product card — fully Meta-supported.
Learn moreStory Reply automation
When someone replies to your Story with a keyword, send them an instant tailored DM. The reliable, policy-safe alternative to Follow-to-DM.
Learn moreTurn your next follower into a conversation
Activate Follow to DM in under a minute. No credit card. Free on every plan.