The Instagram ads trigger is a feature that allows you to automatically start a conversation in Spur when someone interacts with your Instagram ads. This trigger can be used to engage users who click on your ads enabling you to deliver personalized messages, gather leads, answer questions, and guide users to a sales funnel directly within Instagram.
Why Run Click-to-DM ads?
Instant conversations: Tap → DM → Spur handles the rest.
Welcome message: With Spur, you can send the first message the moment a customer interacts with your Ad, boosting the leads
Better targeting: When users qualify, Spur sends a Conversion API (CAPI) event to Meta to optimize ad delivery.
Smarter spend: Meta learns what leads work and finds more of them.
Meta needs about 50 CAPI events before it can optimise for a new objective. Make sure you let the campaign learn before judging performance.
Regional note: Pages registered in the EU or Japan may face CAPI restrictions due to the ePrivacy Directive. If you see Messaging Event Within Messaging Restrictive Region errors, this is expected.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Connect Your Meta Assets in Spur
Open Settings → Meta Business Accounts and click Add new account.
Follow the OAuth flow; make sure you grant access to the Business Account, Instagram account, and Ad account you’ll use for the campaign.
Back in Spur, go to Settings → Ad Accounts and confirm the ad account appears.
2. Create the Click-to-Instagram DM Ad
In Meta Ads Manager, start a new campaign with the Engagement objective.
At the Ad Set level, choose Messaging apps as the conversion location and select Instagram.
Build your ad creative. Keep the campaign in Draft until your Spur automation is ready.
Pro tip: Grab a Preview Link from Ads Manager so you can test the chat flow before going live.
3. Build the Automation Workflow in Spur
Navigate to Automations → New Workflow (or edit an existing one).
Starting Trigger:
Select Instagram → Click To DM Ad.
Send Message #0: Craft a warm welcome. Use quick replies (e.g., “Yes, I’m interested”) to qualify users.
(Optional) Delay / Conditions: Branch the flow based on user replies.
Action: Send Meta Conversion API Event
Event Type: LeadSubmitted (or Purchase if you collect orders inline).
Map customer fields like Email and Phone to maximize match quality.
Save and switch Workflow Enabled on.
4. Test the CAPI Event
In Meta Events Manager, open your dataset and copy a Test ID (Test Events tab).
Back in Spur, open the Workflow Test modal, paste the Test ID, and trigger a test message.
Return to Events Manager. The test event should appear within a minute.
5. Publish
Turn your ad campaign Live in Ads Manager.
Track funnel metrics in Automations → Analytics:
Conversations started
Messages sent / delivered / opened
Flow status (In-Progress, Complete)
Use Meta Ads reporting for spend, CTR, and cost-per-message.
Set up the ad in Meta Ads Manager
After completing the steps above, navigate to Meta Ads Manager to create your Instagram ad. Choose a call to action button that says Send Instagram message, which will initiate a conversation with the user in Instagram DMs:
⚠️ Please note that with the current objectives in Ads Manager, the Instagram ads trigger is only available for Engagement campaigns.
In the Message template section, select the Partner app option. Then, click the Select flow button to open the setup pop-up window:
In the following window, go to the Select message flow section to configure your settings.
From the dropdown list, choose Spur as the Partner app. Next, select the specific automation in the Message flow section.
Once everything is configured, click Finish and proceed to publish your Instagram ad.
💡 We strongly recommend adding additional messages or actions to your flow, as demonstrated in our example, to keep the conversation going after the initial message.
Lastly, remember that Instagram users must click a button or type a response to your initial message to become a Spur contact.
Limitations and troubleshooting
1. With the current objectives in Ads Manager, the Instagram ads trigger is only available for Engagement campaigns.
2. You should have at least one Quick reply button in the very first message to be able to activate the Instagram ads trigger within the automation. Otherwise, you will encounter an error.
3. Due to platform limitations, you cannot use variables (such as First Name, IG Username, etc.) in the initial message. If any of these variables are included in your opt-in message, you will encounter an error. To fix this, remove the variables from the first message in your automation.
4. If an automation is linked to an active ad, it cannot be modified. This means you cannot update or edit the automation, nor can you deactivate the Instagram ads trigger associated with it.
To make changes to the automation connected to your ad, you'll first need to turn off the ad in Ads Manager. After that, update the automation in Spur, reactivate the Instagram ads trigger, and then turn the ad back on in Ads Manager.
Best Practices
Personalise: Use
{{contact.username}}to greet users.Guide the chat: Offer 2–3 quick replies; avoid open-ended questions.
Use media: A carousel or product image lifts reply rates ~20%.
Retarget: Build Spur segments of users who chatted but didn’t convert and run follow-up ads or WhatsApp/Instagram broadcasts.
Respect the 24-hour window: After 24 h of last user message, send only approved message templates.
Troubleshooting
Issue | Fix |
LeadSubmitted events missing | Check that your dataset is linked to the Instagram account and at least one customer info field is mapped in the CAPI step. |
Page/ad account not showing in dropdown | Ensure the asset is part of the connected Meta Business Account and has the required permissions. Refresh the account list in Settings → Meta Business Accounts. |
Error: Messaging Event Within Restricted Region | CAPI calls are limited for EU/Japan pages; conversions will not be accepted for those regions. |
Need a hand? Reach out via Contact Us inside Spur, and we’ll walk you through your first campaign.