Instagram Lead Generation Straight Into Your CRM
Instagram lead generation works when every person who asks about buying in your DMs ends up in your CRM, with their details and what they asked about. AeroChat answers the DM, a comment or a click from an ad, collects the details, checks HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Zoho CRM or GoHighLevel for an existing record, and creates or updates it with a note of the conversation.
What happens today
People comment “price?” under a reel or send a DM after a story. Someone on the team replies when they get to it, often hours later, and the interest has cooled.
The details stay in the Instagram inbox. Nobody copies them into the CRM, so sales never sees Instagram as a lead source, and a lead who messaged twice gets two different answers.
How it runs on Instagram
- A person sends a DM, replies to a story, comments on a post or reel, or taps a click-to-Instagram-Direct ad.
- For a comment, AeroChat sends one private reply to that comment, which opens the conversation in DMs.
- It answers the question first, from your knowledge base.
- It asks for the details it is missing, such as name, email or phone number, and what they are interested in. An Instagram DM comes from an Instagram account, so the email or phone number is what links the lead to your CRM.
- It searches your CRM by email, then by phone number, and reads any existing record.
- It creates the contact or lead, or updates the existing one, with Instagram as the source and a note of what they asked.
- If the lead asks for a person, AeroChat hands the conversation over in the inbox or on the mobile app, to the record’s owner where there is one.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When someone on Instagram asks about our products or services, answer their question first from our knowledge base. Then follow these steps.
- If the message started from a comment, reply privately to the comment with the answer and ask if they would like more details here in DMs.
- If we do not have their name and email, ask: “Can I take your name and email so our team can follow up?”
- Search HubSpot for a contact with that email, then with their phone number if they gave one.
- If the contact exists, update any missing details. If not, create the contact with lead source Instagram and lifecycle stage Lead (example).
- Add a note to the contact with a two-line summary of what they asked about, the post or ad they came from if they mention it, and anything they said about budget or timing.
- If they ask to speak to someone, hand the conversation to the contact owner in HubSpot, or to our sales team if there is no owner.
Do not ask for their email more than once. If they don’t want to share it, carry on helping. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the source and stage values to the ones your HubSpot account uses. For Pipedrive, Salesforce, Zoho CRM or GoHighLevel, name that CRM instead and keep the steps.
Connect the systems behind it
- HubSpot. AeroChat finds or creates the contact, sets Instagram as the lead source and adds a note of the conversation.
- Pipedrive. AeroChat creates the person and the lead, and adds a note your salespeople see on the lead.
- Salesforce. AeroChat creates the Salesforce lead and logs the conversation as a task on it.
- Zoho CRM. AeroChat creates the lead in Zoho CRM and adds a note with what the person asked.
- GoHighLevel. AeroChat creates the contact, adds tags and opens an opportunity in your pipeline.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Meta’s rules on Instagram
A business can message someone on Instagram only after they message first, and automated replies must go within 24 hours of their last message. A person on your team can reply within a separate 7-day window, which is not for automated replies. A comment allows one private reply within 7 days of the comment, on posts, reels, stories, Live and ad posts, and once the person replies, follow-ups are allowed within 24 hours of their reply. After a click-to-Instagram-Direct ad, you can reply for up to 7 days from the person’s first message. Instagram messaging works with professional accounts.
Also on WhatsApp, TikTok and web chat
The same lead capture workflow runs on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, TikTok (direct messages and TikTok Shop buyer chat), Telegram, web chat and email. Every lead lands in the same CRM with the channel recorded as the source, so you can see which channels bring in leads.
Who uses it
- Property agents: listing enquiries recorded with the property, budget and timing before an agent calls.
- Spas and wellness centres: first-visit offer enquiries from Instagram captured as new clients.
Read more: Instagram comment to DM sales automation.
Questions
Can Instagram DM leads go into my CRM automatically?
Yes. AeroChat creates or updates the contact or lead in your CRM during the conversation, with Instagram as the source and a note of what the person asked. Nobody has to type it in afterwards.
Can AeroChat reply to comments on my posts?
Yes. It can send one private DM reply to a comment within 7 days of the comment, and carry on the conversation once the person replies.
How long can I keep messaging an Instagram lead?
Automated replies can go within 24 hours of the lead’s last message. Your team can reply by hand within 7 days. If the lead came from a click-to-Instagram-Direct ad, you can reply for up to 7 days from their first message.
Which plan do I need?
Workflows via Skills are on every plan, Free included. Starter has 500 AI responses and 3 seats, Growth 2,000 and 10 seats, and Advanced 5,000 and 25 seats.
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On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.
Related: lead qualification and Instagram CRM integration.