Write the non-goal into the SOW
Always-on new-follower DMs are out of scope until official webhooks exist. Link this page.
Use case · Platform honesty
Follower-welcome without the industry lie.
If Meta does not provide a durable follow webhook, marketing always-on “DM every new follower” as a working product is fiction. This page exists so briefs, SOWs, and RFPs stop demanding magic.
What to run insteadOfficial entry points
New followerTriggerNo webhook
No reliable official event today
Comment keywordTrigger
Scope this instead — real hand-raise
Private replySend message
A real bridge with real rules
Keyword menuStart automation
Always-on without a follow event
Use cases
What to run instead
Refuse the fantasy. Scope working entry points. Document the non-goal.
Lead with comment-to-DM
Highest-intent hand-raises on posts and reels with a real private-reply model.
Use story reply for ephemeral CTAs
Short-lived creative still starts durable contact paths when people reply.
Ship keyword menus for evergreen demand
HOURS, LINK, PRICES, COLLAB — always-on without a follow event.
Add multi-channel only when the relationship exists
WhatsApp and SMS after legitimate entry — not as a cold follower spray.
This is not a feature landing page pretending a platform capability exists. It is a ranked honesty page for a common RFP demand. Agencies and brands get burned twice: once when the feature fails, and again when someone “solves” it with scrapers. SocialReply documents the non-goal and redirects energy to entry points Instagram actually supports.
The rules that shape this job
Official APIs onlyWhat we will not claim
Platform capabilities change. Until they do, this remains a non-goal.
01Non-goalNo reliable official Instagram follow webhook for always-on welcome DMs today.
02Verify liveIncumbent UIs have shown follower templates unavailable when the platform cannot deliver — verify live.
03Non-goalScrapers are not a SocialReply product path.
04CommitmentWe will update this page when official capability changes — not market fiction in the meantime.
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Where this job goes wrong
Follower-welcome theater creates two expensive failures.
Campaigns built on a missing platform event waste creative, media, and trust when nothing reliable fires.
Scrapers and session tools “make it work” until the account is at ban risk — risk the agency inherits.
Silence from vendors is almost as bad as lies. Teams deserve an explicit non-goal with alternatives.
Who needs this page
Anyone writing or receiving a brief that says “automatically DM new followers.”
- Agency SOWs that must refuse gray-market workarounds in writing.
- Founders evaluating vendors who still sell follower-welcome as a checkbox.
- Marketers rewriting RFPs toward official-API entry points.
- Client education when the request is common but the platform cannot deliver.
Channels this job touches
Instagram
Comments, Stories and keywords do work
ConnectedMessenger
No follow webhook here either
Not connectedWhatsApp
Needs legitimate entry first
Not connectedTelegram
Bot API only — never scraping
Not connectedSMS
Needs consent first
Not connectedEmail
Amazon SES, owned follow-up
Not connectedWhy an honest non-goal page helps you win
Trust compounds. Fantasy scopes do not.
Cleaner kickoffs
Stop spending week one arguing about a feature the platform cannot deliver.
Lower ban-risk delivery
No scraper “just for welcome messages” pressure from the account manager.
Better alternatives in writing
Comment, story, keyword, and lead-capture scope that actually ships.
RFP education at scale
Send this URL instead of rewriting the same paragraph for every prospect.
Aligned commercial conversations
Packaging pages stay about packaging; this page stays about platform truth.
Future-proof posture
If official follow webhooks arrive, this page flips to a real use case instead of hiding a past lie.
Questions about follow-to-dm
Can SocialReply DM every new Instagram follower automatically today?
Not via a reliable official follow webhook. We will not fake it with scrapers. Re-scope to comment, story, keyword, and ref-based entry points that work on official APIs.
Why do some decks still sell follower-welcome as a checkbox?
Because the brief is common and gray-market tools claim it. Incumbent products have even shown follower templates unavailable when the platform cannot deliver. Verify in-product, not from outdated slides.
What language belongs in an agency SOW instead?
Explicit non-goal: always-on new-follower DMs until official webhooks exist. Working scope: comment-to-DM, story reply, keyword menus, lead capture, multi-channel nurture.
If Meta ships a reliable follow webhook later, what happens here?
We update this page from non-goal to real use case. Until then, the honest page is the product surface — silence would be worse than a non-goal.
Why not just use a scraper “only for welcome DMs”?
Ban risk and ToS issues transfer to the brand and the agency. Scrapers are not a SocialReply product path and will not be packaged as a paid unlock.
What should a founder do with an RFP that requires follower-welcome?
Educate with this page, rewrite the RFP around official-API entry points, and point packaging reviewers to /pricing and /compare for commercial rules — not for fake feature checkboxes.
Scope what works. Document what does not.
Start free on real entry points. Put follower-welcome in the non-goals until the platform catches up.