Amongst a whole lot of other things, Spur allows you to respond to Instagram comments automatically. However, Instagram imposes certain limitations that may hinder this process. In this article, we’ll discuss these limitations and the workarounds you can implement to overcome them.

Prefer watching over reading? Check out this video on the topic:

Although there is no set limit on the number of comments you can automatically reply to on an Instagram post or reel, Instagram has spam filters that block accounts if they post too many identical comments.

To avoid this, Spur limits the number of comment replies to 1,000 by default.

Note: If your flow includes sending DMs after commenting, those DMs will still be sent even if the comment replies are blocked. There is no limit on the number of people you can send DMs.

To mitigate the risk of being flagged, we recommend adding at least one unique reply for every 100 comments you anticipate. For example, if you expect more than 1,000 comments, you should have more than 10 different replies preconfigured in the dashboard.

Note: This is not a permanent solution, as Instagram’s spam filters are constantly improving. We still recommend keeping the 1000 reply limit intact. Increase it at your own risk.

Spur can detect when your account is flagged for spam and will automatically disable all comment automations for 24 hours to help get you back on the whitelist. So even if you surpass the 1000 comment threshold, we’ve got you covered!

During this pause, you can still reply to comments directly from Instagram.

You can set up automatic DMs to be sent to everyone who comments on your post. Even if comment replies are limited, DMs will still be delivered. However, by default, you can only send one DM per comment (ie, if someone posts 10 comments, you can send them 10 DMs)

If the recipient responds to your initial DM or starts a conversation on their own, you get a 24-hour window to send unlimited messages. So, the first message you send can be configured to be a quick reply message to encourage getting a response.

When the recipient taps the quick reply button, the message text is sent as a reply, opening the 24-hour conversation window.

Replies after this can also be automated with Spur!

While slightly off-topic, it is important to note that certain features and messages (such as the aforementioned quick replies) don’t work correctly if the recipient is using the web version of Instagram. This is a general rule and not specific to messages sent after a comment.

Currently, there are no workarounds for this limitation, as it is an issue with Instagram itself.

Therefore, make sure to always test your flows using the Instagram mobile app.