The vocabulary
Trigger — the thing that starts an automation. Usually a comment containing a keyword, sometimes a story reply.
Keyword — the word someone types to fire the automation. "LINK", "GUIDE", "PRICE".
Automation — one complete rule: this post, this trigger, this message.
Follow gate — an optional check that asks non-followers to follow before the message is sent.
Variants — several versions of the same message, rotated at random so the automation does not read as identical every time.
Your first automation
Start with something you already get asked for. The best first automation replaces a reply you are genuinely tired of typing.
Use one post, one keyword and one message. Resist building five automations before you have seen one work.
Pick a post that still gets comments. Attaching your first automation to something that stopped getting engagement a month ago will make you think the tool is broken.
The four common mistakes
Not telling people the keyword. The automation cannot fire if nobody knows to comment. The caption has to ask.
Choosing a keyword that appears naturally in conversation. If "LOVE" is your keyword, every "love this!" fires it.
Writing one message and sending it a thousand times. Variants exist for a reason.
Never checking the logs. The log tells you whether it worked; assuming is not the same as knowing.
How to tell whether it is working
Look at sends per post rather than the total. That tells you which content and which offers actually pull.
Compare a post with a clear spoken call to action against one where the keyword is buried in the caption. The difference is usually large and immediate.
If you use the follow gate, watch follower growth on days you post, not the raw DM count.
What to do next
Once one automation works, build the next around a different offer rather than a different wording of the same one.
Add story automation when you are comfortable, since stories generate more replies than posts and those replies disappear within a day.