Reach you would otherwise lose
A reel that escaped your audience put you in front of people who have never heard of you. Without an ask, the view count is all you keep.
Meta approved partner
Turn a viral reel into followers, not just views
A reel that travels past your audience is a one-off unless something asks those people to stay. Follow Before DM makes the ask at the one moment it reliably works — when they have just asked you for something.
Free to start · No credit card · Follow Before DM from $19/mo
Live
62commented GUIDE
44followed, then got it
asha.makesGUIDEfollowed → sent
dev.coguide plsfollowed → sent
mia_rGUIDEfollowed → sent
jay.buildssend itfollowed → sent
nina.kGUIDEfollowed → sent
Each one a follower and a contact, from a single post
Why this works
The ask lands when they want something from you
Asking a stranger to follow you is normally a cold request with nothing in it for them. Here it arrives in the half-second between asking for something and receiving it, which is the one moment the trade is obviously fair.
No extra step for them
They were already commenting. The follow happens inside the thing they started, not as a separate decision later.
A follower and a contact
The same automation saves them as a contact with the post attached, so you are not only building a number you rent from the algorithm.
The play
What has to happen between a view and a follower
Growth from a single post is four stages. Skip the third and you get downloads without followers; skip the fourth and you get followers you can only reach when the feed allows it.
Reel · 128k views
71% non-followers
62 comments so far
Stage 01 · the reach
Put it on a post built to travel
This converts people who are not following you yet, so its value scales with how much of your reach sits outside your audience. On a post only your followers see, you are asking people to follow you twice.
- Reels that travel beyond your audience
- Works on a post already performing
- Applies to comments from the moment it is on
“Comment GUIDE and I’ll send it 👇”
GUIDE guide plsStage 02 · the hook
Tell them exactly what to comment
One clear word in the caption does most of the work, and the AI trigger behind it catches the near-misses and the typos that a keyword alone would drop on the floor.
- “Comment GUIDE and I’ll send it”
- A word nobody types by accident
- AI trigger catches the rest
Follow first and I’ll send it over 👇
asha.makes followed
Guide sentStage 03 · the ask
Ask for the follow before the link lands
This is the stage people skip, and it is the one that turns reach into an audience. The request arrives when they want something from you, which is why it converts at all.
- Follow Before DM, one toggle
- Then it sends what they asked for
- Included from the Starter plan
AMasha.makesFollower
From: Reel · 128k views
asha@••••.com
Stage 04 · the keep
Make them reachable without the feed
A follower is rented from the algorithm. The same automation saves the person as a contact, so the next launch does not depend on the feed showing them anything.
- Saved as a contact, with the post
- Exportable to Excel or your CRM
- Still yours if you change plans
Stage three is the one everyone skips. Without it a viral reel hands out your guide to strangers and you never hear from any of them again.
What you get back
Followers you can also reach directly
Followers are rented from the algorithm — one change to the feed and your reach halves. The same automation that won the follow also saves the person as a contact, with the post that brought them in.
So the growth is not only a number on your profile. It is a list you can export to Excel or your own CRM, and it stays yours if you change plans.
Proof
Creators growing one post at a time
“Nothing comes close for automating Instagram replies. I gained around 8K followers from a single post automation. Their follow-before-DM feature is lit.”
FAQ
Questions about follower growth
01How does Follow Before DM actually work?
The automation asks the commenter to follow you before it sends what they asked for. Because the ask arrives at the moment they want something from you, a reel that travelled beyond your audience adds followers instead of only DMs. It is included from the Starter plan.
02Does this work on a post that is not going viral?
It works, but it earns far less. The mechanic converts people who are not following you yet, so its value scales with how much of your reach sits outside your existing audience. Put it on reels that travel.
03Will automating this get my account restricted?
Augst AI is an official Meta partner and everything runs on the official Instagram API, within Meta's guidelines for chat automation. The Message risk check also reads your reply before it publishes and flags wording that breaches Meta policy.
04Can I run it on every post automatically?
An automation belongs to the post it runs on, and you can also set one to apply to every post you publish from here on. Most people run specific setups on specific posts, because the payoff should match what the post is about.
05Does it work on stories and ads too?
Story replies and reactions fire an automation the same way a comment does, and comments on ads and boosted posts have their own triggers. All of them are included from Starter.
06What do I actually send them?
Whatever you promised in the caption — a guide, a template, a discount code or a price list — as a card with a button they tap rather than a link they have to copy. You preview the exact message before publishing.
07Is the free plan enough to try it?
For one post, yes. The free plan covers 3 automations with a short Augst AI line on the messages. Follow Before DM itself is on Starter at $19/mo, which also removes the branding and the cap.
Related
The reel already travelled. Keep the people it reached.
Put this on your best performing post and see what a week of its comments is worth.
No card · Live in minutes