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Instagram DM link: how to make an ig.me link and use it

4 min read

An Instagram DM link is a web address that opens a chat with your account. The common format is https://ig.me/m/ followed by your username, so for the account yourbrand it is https://ig.me/m/yourbrand. You can put it in a website button, an email, a QR code, or a bio link. VivaDialog does not create these links, since you make them from your username, but it can answer the first message the link produces. This article shows how to build the link, where to use it, and how to pair it with an auto reply.

A note on sources: ig.me/m/<username> is a Meta short link that is widely used and documented by third-party tools. We cannot check Meta’s current documentation from our own repository, so test your link before you publish it, as shown below.

  1. Take your Instagram username, the one after the @ on your profile. Leave out the @.
  2. Add it to the end of https://ig.me/m/.
  3. Open the link on your phone and on a computer. It should open a conversation with your account, in the Instagram app on a phone or in the browser.

Example: for an account called yourbrand, the link is https://ig.me/m/yourbrand. If you rename the account, the link changes, so update it wherever you pasted it.

Test with a different Instagram account if you can. Opening the link from your own account may not show what a customer sees.

Where to use it

These are suggestions, not requirements.

  • A “Message us” button on your website. Link the button to your ig.me address.
  • Your email signature or newsletter. One line, such as “Questions? Message us on Instagram”, with the link.
  • A QR code. Make a QR code from the link and print it on a menu, a package, or a poster.
  • A link in your bio or a Story. This gives people a one-tap way to start a DM instead of searching for the Message button on your profile.

Tell people what to send, for example “Tap here and send PRICE”, so the first message contains a word your automation can match.

When someone taps the link and sends a first message, a new 24-hour window opens in which your business can reply. An automation can answer within that window. It replies to messages people send, and it does not start a conversation with someone who has not contacted you.

In VivaDialog:

  1. Under What starts this automation?, choose New DM.
  2. Under Which messages?, choose Messages with certain words and enter the word you told people to send, such as price. Separate several words with commas. Capital letters do not matter.
  3. Under How should it reply?, choose Same text every time and write the reply, or Answer with AI and give it the facts it may use.
  4. Use Test it first, then turn the automation on.

An automation matches words inside the message, so a short keyword also matches longer messages that contain it. Pick a word that people will not type by accident. Instagram auto-reply templates by business type warns about this with examples.

Whatever the link or keyword, a message that matches no automation still lands in the inbox, where your team can answer it by hand. Add a catch-all such as the DM away message template if you want every new DM to get a short first answer.

VivaDialog’s automations match on the text of the message. They do not read anything attached to the link itself.

The ig.me link is for people who are outside Instagram, such as on your website or in an email. For people already looking at your post, a comment keyword works better. The Comment INFO, get the link template replies to a comment with your link, and how to send an automatic DM when someone comments shows how to add a private DM. Both send people to the same place, and the guide to Instagram comment automation covers when to use which.

  • Check the username for typos, and that you removed the @.
  • Check that the account username did not change.
  • Open the link in a private browser window to see what a visitor without your login sees.
  • If it still fails, check Meta’s Help Center, since link behavior is Meta’s and can change.

Frequently asked questions

https://ig.me/m/<username>, with your username in place of <username> and no @.

We have not verified that. VivaDialog connects only professional accounts (Business or Creator), so the automation steps in this article apply to those.

No. The link opens a chat, and the person sends the first message. After that, your replies have a 24-hour window. Replying to Instagram DMs after 24 hours explains what happens when it closes.

Not through VivaDialog’s automations, which match on the message text only. Use a different keyword in each place you share the link, and the keyword tells you where the person came from.

VivaDialog is in early access right now, and participants get the Growth plan free for 30 days. The pricing page has the details.

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