A comment-to-DM post lives or dies on one word. If people don't know what to type, or type something your automation doesn't expect, the DM never goes out. Here are 60 keywords across 12 niches, each with what the DM should send and a caption line you can copy. New to the idea? Start with how comment-to-DM works.
What makes a good keyword
- It names the thing. RECIPE tells the person what they will get and tells you which post it came from.
- It's one word. Phrases get typed a dozen different ways. One word gets typed one way.
- It isn't a word people use anyway. “love”, “yes” or “this” will fire on every compliment and send DMs nobody asked for.
- It's different on every live post. If two posts both use LINK, you can't tell which one sold.
Keyword ideas by niche
Five keywords per niche. The highlighted word is what the commenter types.
Coaches and course creators
DM sends: A free guide or checklist, then a booking link for people who want more.
“Comment PLAN and I'll send you my 30-day plan.”
Fitness
DM sends: The full workout as a PDF or an app link, and a code for the paid program.
“Comment WORKOUT for the full 4-week split.”
Food and recipes
DM sends: The written recipe, a shopping list, or your cookbook's page.
“Comment RECIPE and I'll DM you the measurements.”
Fashion and e-commerce
DM sends: The product link, a size guide or a discount code that expires.
“Comment SIZE and we'll send the fit guide and a 10% code.”
Beauty and salons
DM sends: Your booking page, a shade match quiz or this week's open slots.
“Comment BOOK to grab one of this week's slots.”
Real estate
DM sends: The listing page, a virtual tour, or a free home valuation form.
“Comment TOUR for the full walkthrough and floor plan.”
Restaurants and cafés
DM sends: The menu, a reservation link or today's offer.
“Comment TABLE and we'll send you the booking link.”
Travel creators
DM sends: The day-by-day itinerary, a saved map or your affiliate booking links.
“Comment MAP and I'll send every spot from this video.”
SaaS and B2B
DM sends: A template, a demo booking link or a free trial page.
“Comment TEMPLATE to get the exact Notion template.”
Photographers and events
DM sends: Your packages, open dates, or a free preset for your list.
“Comment PRESET for the free film preset.”
Authors and newsletters
DM sends: A free chapter, a newsletter sign-up or a pre-order link.
“Comment CHAPTER and I'll send you the first one free.”
Local services
DM sends: A quote form, your service area and prices, or a callback link.
“Comment QUOTE for a free estimate this week.”
Test your keyword
Comments are messy. Try a few the way real people type them and see which ones match. This box runs the same matching DMFa.st uses: whole words, any capitalisation, punctuation and emoji ignored.
Try it: does this comment trigger the DM?
✓ Match. The DM goes out.
GUIDE 🙏
The keyword appears as a whole word, in any case.
Where to say it
People only comment what they're told to comment. Put the keyword in four places:
The 10-minute pasta I make every week
RECIPEstudio.mae Comment RECIPE and I'll DM you the measurements ↓
📌 studio.mae Comment RECIPE 👇 and check your DMs
On screen
Big text in the first 3 seconds. Plenty of people scroll with the sound off.
Out loud
Say it in the voiceover, and spell it if it's unusual.
First line of the caption
Before the “more” cut-off, so it shows without a tap.
Pinned comment
Your own comment with the keyword, pinned to the top.
Plurals, typos and other languages
- Plurals: GUIDE and GUIDES.
- Common typos: RECIPE and RECIPIE.
- Your audience's language: RECETA, REZEPT, रेसिपी. Matching works in any script.
- Emoji as the keyword? Skip it. People pick different emoji, and some keyboards swap them.
DMFa.st takes up to 20 keywords per automation, so variants cost nothing. Before you go live, check what Instagram allows automated DMs to do.
Written by the DMFa.st team. We build on Meta's official Instagram API and check every platform rule in this post against Meta's developer documentation. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.