Apply an automation to your next post

Most creators build the automation after the post is live. The better habit is the other way round: set the rule up first, so the first comment already gets its DM. Apply to my next post lets you do that. You build a normal comment automation, tell it to wait for the next post you publish, and Dartzo attaches it when that post appears.

How to arm it

1. 1
   Start a comment automation

   Open the Automation Studio and keep the trigger on Comment on a post or reel. This option only exists for comment automations, not for story, DM or live triggers.
2. 2
   Choose “Next post”

   In the Post or reel strip at the top, the first tile is Next post. Tap it. The card changes to Your next post. If your account has no posts yet, the strip says “No posts yet.” and offers Apply to my next post instead.
3. 3
   Finish and go live

   Add keywords and write the DM as usual, then press Go live. Until it attaches to a post, the automation shows a Waiting for your next post pill in your automations list, with “Will bind to your next post’s first matching comment.” underneath.
4. 4
   Post as normal

   Publish the post or reel on Instagram. You don’t have to do anything in Dartzo.

Changed your mind? Before it attaches you can press Pick a specific post instead and choose a post from the strip. The rest of the studio is covered in Build your first automation.

How it attaches

Instagram doesn’t tell Dartzo the moment you share a post. So three things can attach a waiting automation, and the first one to happen wins:

In the normal case the background check does the work within about a minute and a half of you posting, before any fan has commented. If that check is delayed or can’t read your posts, the first matching comment does it instead, and that comment still gets its DM. We say “roughly” because it’s a polling interval and not a guarantee. If it matters, press Refresh posts.

What if you publish a Story or a Reel?

• A Reel counts as a post. It appears in the same list of your recent media, so a next-post automation can attach to it. Careful with the Limit to setting in Advanced (Any, Posts or Reels): the filter is applied to comments, not to the attaching step. A rule limited to Posts can still attach itself to your next Reel, and then ignore that Reel’s comments. For a next-post rule, leave Limit to on Any.
• A Story is not a post. Stories don’t have comments, and a story-based automation is a different trigger. Sharing a Story is not a post, so it isn’t what your waiting automation is looking for. To automate story replies, see Story replies and mentions.
• A carousel counts as a post and attaches like any other.

Several automations waiting at once

You can have more than one automation armed. They’re served oldest-first: the one you armed first takes the first new post, the next one takes the following post, and so on. If you want two automations on the same new post (say, one for LINK and one for PRICE), let the first attach, then add a normal automation to that post. When two automations end up on one post, only one fires per comment, as described in Which automation wins.

Cases where it doesn’t behave as you’d hope

• An older post can grab it. If a fan comments your keyword on an older post that has no automation of its own *before* your new post has attached it, the automation can attach to that older post instead. The cure is to publish promptly after arming, or press Refresh posts after you post.
• A rule that already fires wins. When a comment matches a rule that’s already on that post, that rule handles it, and a waiting automation is not pulled onto the post. Only a comment that no rule on its post answers can attach one.
• It must be active. A draft or paused automation doesn’t attach to anything. Nothing is waiting until you’ve pressed Go live.
• Only the 10 newest posts are checked. If you post more than ten times before the check runs, an older post could be missed.

Everything that follows once the automation is attached is the same as any comment automation: the 7-day reply window, the one private reply per comment rule, and the queue described in How delivery works.

An example

A home baker in Pune is about to post a reel of her Diwali hamper. On Monday evening she arms an automation on the keyword HAMPER for “next post” and publishes it. At 8 pm she shares the reel, and a minute or two later the automation shows the reel in the list instead of “Waiting for your next post”. The first person to comment HAMPER gets the DM below.

Hi {{first_name}}! 🪔 The Diwali hamper is ₹1,299 and we deliver across Pune till 3 November. Order here 👇
{{link}}