# Turn Instagram comments into booked calls, not just a DM.

Someone comments your keyword on a reel and Luca opens the DM in your voice. It qualifies the lead and lines up the call, instead of dropping a link and going quiet.

Last updated: 2026-08-23

- Keyword or every comment
- Replies at a human pace
- You approve every send

## What happens between the comment and the call.

Two of these are yours and take about a minute. The other two run whether you're on the gym floor or asleep.

1. **You pick the post and the word** (you). Choose which posts run it, and whether the trigger is a keyword like "PLAN" or any comment at all. Nothing runs on a post you didn't choose.
2. **Luca spots the comment** (Luca). A matching comment arrives and Luca reads it along with the post it sits under, so the opener can reference what they asked about.
3. **The opener lands in your queue** (you). Drafted in your voice, referencing their comment, ending in a question rather than a link. You approve, edit, or skip it.
4. **The conversation keeps going** (Luca). From there it's an ordinary lead: qualified in the DM, sorted by how close they are to buying, followed up if they go quiet, booked when they're ready.

## A comment starts it. The DM is where it sells.

Comment automation is the most common thing in this category and the most commonly wasted. The comment is proof of interest; what happens in the next sixty seconds decides whether it becomes a client.

### From comment to conversation

A comment is public; the sale happens in the DM. When someone comments on a post you've chosen, Luca opens the thread with an opener drafted in your voice, referencing their comment and the post it sat under, waiting in your review queue like every other reply.

- You pick which posts run it, and the trigger word
- Openers reference the comment, not a template
- Auto-send stays off until you say otherwise

### Qualified in the DM, not the comments

This is where a link-drop tool stops and Luca keeps going. It asks your qualifying questions, answers the price question the way you answer it, works through the objection, and sorts whoever is ready to book to the top of your queue.

- Your qualifying questions, in your phrasing
- Price and objection handling, not a link and a prayer
- Buyers sorted to the top; noise stays in the comments

### Account-safe by design

Comment automation is where accounts get burned. Mass-DMing every commenter the same message in the same minute looks like a bot because it is one. Luca replies at a human pace, never blasts, and only ever writes to people who engaged with you first.

- Human-paced replies, never bursts, even on a viral post
- Writes only to people who commented on your post first
- A warm-up of at least 7 days on new Instagram connections

### One lead, wherever they came from

A commenter who moves into your DMs is the same person as the one who messaged you last month. Luca keeps the history together, so nobody gets asked the same qualifying question twice and nobody gets two openers for one hand raised.

- Comment leads join the same queue as every other lead
- History stays with the person, not the post
- Follow-ups and booking work the same way they do everywhere else

## Three posts, three jobs.

The same feature pointed at different work. Each of these is a post you're already making.

### The lead magnet

You post the "5 mistakes killing your cut" reel and ask people to comment PLAN for the guide.

Luca sends the guide and then asks what they're cutting for, so the download turns into a conversation instead of an unsubscribe.

### The launch

Doors open Monday. Your post says comment JOIN, and the comments pile up all day.

Every one gets a real opener at a human pace, and by Tuesday your queue is sorted by who asked about price rather than who commented first.

### The everyday reel

A training clip does numbers and the comments fill with "how much?" and "do you coach online?"

No keyword needed. Luca answers each one in your voice with your actual price, and the ones who qualify get your calendar.

## Why most comment automation stalls at the first message.

If you've run comment automation before, in Manychat or anything like it, you know the pattern. The tooling handles the first message and has nothing for the second.

### Keyword-to-link automation

- One canned message, identical for everyone who typed the word. Forty people comment READY and forty people get "Hey! Here's the link 👇". The one who wrote "READY, I've had two c-sections, is this safe for me?" gets it too.
- A link in the first DM, and the conversation ends there. They tap it, skim the page, close it. Nothing about that exchange told you they were pregnant, on a budget, or ready to start Monday.
- Nothing happens when they reply with a question. They answer "how much is it?" and the automation has no branch for that. It sits unread until you open Instagram that night, often the next day.
- Same message, same second, to everybody: the pattern platforms look for. A reel does numbers, 200 identical DMs leave in four minutes, and the account that was working an hour ago is now limited.
- You find out how it went by scrolling the inbox yourself. Ninety threads, no order, no idea which three were ready to pay. The good ones are in there somewhere.

### Comment-to-DM in Luca

- An opener written in your voice, referencing their comment. The c-section comment gets "congrats on the babies, postpartum is what the first block is built around", because the comment was read before the reply was written.
- A question instead of a link, so the thread stays open. "Are you training around a desk job or coming back from a break?" One question, and now you know which offer to put in front of them.
- Their reply gets qualified, priced, and objection-handled like any lead. "how much is it?" gets your real price, your real payment-plan answer, and a next step, in minutes, in your words, waiting for your approval.
- Human pacing on every send, however hard the post goes. The same 200 openers go out across the afternoon instead of the same minute, each one worded on its own, so a good post stays a good day.
- Everything lands in one queue, sorted by who's closest to buying. You open the app to the three people who asked about price at the top, not ninety threads in the order they happened to arrive.

## The details, for people who want them.

What it runs on, what it touches, and where the limits sit.

- **Where it runs.** Instagram posts and reels on a connected account. Comments, DMs, and story replies all feed the same queue.
- **Triggers.** A keyword you choose, or any comment on a post you've enabled. Per post, never account-wide by default.
- **The public reply.** Optional. Luca can leave a short reply under the comment so the thread doesn't look ignored, and you approve it like anything else.
- **Approval.** Auto-send is off by default. Turn it on per channel when you trust the drafts, and off again with one tap.
- **Pacing.** Sends are spread at a human rhythm regardless of comment volume. A post that goes viral does not produce a burst of identical DMs.
- **Older comments.** Turning it on starts from the next comment in. Comments left before you enabled the post are not messaged.
- **Follow-ups.** A commenter who opens the DM and then goes quiet enters the same three-touch cadence as any other lead, if you've turned it on.
- **Plans.** Included on every plan. What changes between plans is how many messages a month you get, plus what Starter leaves out: Voice tuned weekly from your newest DMs and Follow-ups that win back ghosted leads. All four channels are on every plan.

## Questions

### Does it DM everyone who comments, or can I set a trigger word?

Both options are yours. You choose which posts run comment-to-DM, and most coaches set a keyword -- so someone who comments the word you asked for gets the DM, and someone saying nice work doesn't. Every opener still follows the same rule as any other Luca reply: drafted in your voice and waiting for your approval by default.

### How is this different from the comment automation I've already tried?

Most comment-to-DM tools are keyword-to-link: the same message to everyone who typed the word, with a URL attached, and the conversation ends there. Luca sends a real opener in your voice, then keeps talking -- asks what they're training for, answers the price question, handles the objection, books the call. The DM is the start of a conversation, not the end of one.

### Will Instagram flag this?

Comment-to-DM runs under the same account-safety rules as everything Luca sends: human pace, no bursts, no cold outreach. Only people who commented on your post hear from you. The full safety story is at setluca.com/trust.

### What happens if a reel takes off overnight -- does it spam everyone at once?

No. The comments keep arriving and Luca keeps drafting, at the same human pace it always uses, so hundreds of comments at 2am don't turn your account into an obvious bot. You wake up to a sorted queue instead of a mess.

### Will the lead know the DM was automated?

There's nothing to notice. It arrives in your normal DM thread, in your words, at a human pace, with no badge or disclosure attached. And unless you've turned auto-send on, you read it before it goes.

### Which plans include comment-to-DM?

Included on every plan. What changes between plans is how many messages a month you get, plus what Starter leaves out: Voice tuned weekly from your newest DMs and Follow-ups that win back ghosted leads. All four channels are on every plan.

## Try it

Turn your comment section into booked calls. Pick a post, pick a word, and watch the openers land in your queue before you've finished your coffee.

[Start free for 7 days](https://app.setluca.com/signup). Plans and prices are on the [pricing page](/pricing.md). SetLuca is the company behind Luca.

## Other features

- [Your voice](/features/voice.md): Replies that sound like you, learned from your DMs
- [Review queue](/features/review-queue.md): You approve every send. Auto-send is opt-in
- [Follow-ups](/features/follow-ups.md): Win back the leads who ghost
- [Booking](/features/booking.md): From DM to booked call on your calendar
- [Channels](/features/channels.md): Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp in one queue
- [Automations](/features/automations.md): Build the follow-up flow once, then let it run
- [Broadcasts](/features/broadcasts.md): One campaign to every lead who's a fit
- [Ask Luca](/features/ask-luca.md): Your business questions, answered from your own data
- [Lead memory](/features/lead-memory.md): Every lead's history, remembered across channels
- [Analytics](/features/analytics.md): Know what's working before your gut does
- [Integrations](/features/integrations.md): Your CRM stays current, synced both ways
- [Inbound](/features/inbound.md): Every channel, one prioritized queue