How-to
Instagram keyword DMs: LINK, PRICE, and catch-all
Exact, contains, and every-comment matching — how to pick keywords that people will actually type.
23 August 2026 · 3 min read
A keyword DM is a contract: they type a word, you send a private answer. The contract fails when the word is cute, the matching is wrong, or you asked them to type a sentence.
This is how to choose keywords that survive a real comment section, using the same modes as Xuios: exact, contains, and any.
Exact match — giveaways and clean words
Use exact when you printed one word on a story sticker: FREE, GUIDE, LIST.
Exact stops “I already have your free course, this is a scam” from firing the download automation. It also stops your cousin commenting “freelance” from getting the freebie.
Keep exact words short. Nobody types DOWNLOADTHEPRESETPACK.
Contains — humans who cannot follow instructions
Use contains for commerce questions. People write “how much for a set?” and “price???” and “what’s the cost in USD.”
A contains list like price, cost, how much catches the mess. Xuios is never case-sensitive, so you do not need Price and PRICE as separate rows.
Contains has a failure mode: link inside blink is rare, but free inside freedom is not. For giveaways, prefer exact.
Any / catch-all — launch day
When everything on a post should get the same DM, do not play keyword police. Use every comment. That is the Xuios “Launch day” template.
Catch-all is wrong for an evergreen reel that collects jokes, hate, and “first.” You will DM people who were not asking.
Keywords that work in the wild
| Intent | Keywords | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Send a URL | link, info | contains |
| Giveaway | free, guide | exact |
| Pricing | price, cost, how much | contains |
| Waitlist | wait, list | exact |
| Story offer | (none) | story reply + any |
Put the word in the spoken hook, on-screen text, and a pinned comment. If you only say it once at 0:47, half the commenters will invent their own word.
One automation, one job
Do not bolt pricing, a freebie, and a booking link onto one keyword. You will send the wrong DM and then “fix it” with AI. AI is for leftovers. Keywords are for the path you designed.
Xuios lets you run eight automations on Free and unlimited on Creator. Use that. Split PRICE from LINK.
Public reply vs private reply
A public “Sent you a DM” does two jobs: it proves the system works in the thread, and it tells lurkers the keyword is real. Keep it short. The link lives in the private message, where it does not get scraped by every competitor in the comments.
If you use tracked links, the public reply should not contain the raw URL.
When keywords are not enough
Someone DMs “hey is this still available” with no keyword. That is inbound DM matching, or Pro AI for unmatched messages — not a reason to delete your keyword automations.
Story replies often have no keyword at all. Use a story reply automation.
A caption that does not fight the keyword
Write the spoken hook as the keyword. “Comment LINK and I’ll send the set.” Then pin that sentence. Then say it again at the end of the reel. Three repetitions is not spam; it is how people who watch with sound off still learn the word.
If you hide the word behind a joke, you will get 200 jokes and 12 DMs.
Pricing note
Keyword DMs are the entire product for a lot of creators. You should not need a $29 AI add-on to send LINK. Xuios Free covers 1,000 of them. Creator is $4.99 unlimited. See pricing and the comparison table.