How to manage and automate Instagram Ad comments in Wati

Summary

Connect your Meta ad account to Wati to view and reply to comments on your Instagram ads from the Team Inbox. You can also set up automation rules to reply to comments and send direct messages (DMs) to commenters automatically. This guide explains how to connect your ad account, manage ad comments, create automations, and track contacts acquired through your ads.

Instructions

Prerequisites

Before you connect your Meta ad account, make sure you have:

• An Instagram professional account connected to Wati.

• Access to the Meta ad account that runs your Instagram ads.

• Active ads running on Instagram.

Why connect your Meta ad account to Wati for Instagram ad comments?

Ads created in Meta Ads Manager are not published on your Instagram profile. Each ad has its own post, so comments on these ads do not appear alongside comments on your regular posts and reels.

Connecting your Meta ad account lets Wati find your active Instagram ads and bring their comments into the Team Inbox, where you can view and reply to them.

Supported ad formats

How to connect your Meta ad account

Permissions Wati requests

When you connect your ad account, Meta asks you to give Wati permission to:

• Access your Instagram account (instagram_basic).

• Read and reply to Instagram comments (instagram_manage_comments).

• Read engagement data from the Facebook Page connected to your Instagram account (pages_read_engagement).

• Read your ads (ads_read).

Follow these steps to connect your ad account:

• Log into your Wati account.

• Go to Ads > Instagram Ads.

  • If you've just connected your Instagram account, you can also follow the prompt to connect your ad account.

• Click Connect Add account.

• Log in with Facebook and select the ad account that runs your Instagram ads.

• Allow the requested permissions.

After the connection is successful, Wati syncs your active Instagram ads and displays them on the Instagram ads page. For each ad, you can select Manage in team inbox to view its comments or Setup automation to create an automation rule.

How to view and reply to Instagram ad comments

You can manage Instagram ad comments from the Team Inbox.

• Log into your Wati account.

• Go to Team Inbox and select Instagram.

• Go to Comments.

• Use the filter to show only Instagram ad comments, or open the IG ads section.

You can also select Manage in team inbox next to an ad on the Instagram ads page to go directly to its comments.

Ad media displays an Ad label so you can distinguish ad comments from comments on your regular posts and reels.

You can reply to ad comments publicly or send the commenter a DM, just as you do with comments on posts and reels.

How to automate replies to Instagram ad comments

You can use automation rules to reply to Instagram ad comments and send DMs to commenters automatically.

• Log into your Wati account.

• Go to Automations > Rules and click Create Rules.

• Select the trigger New Instagram Ad comment is received.

• Select ad accounts: Choose the ad account or accounts you want to apply the rule to. Only ad accounts connected to Wati are available for selection.

• Select an Instagram account: Choose the Instagram account you want to apply the rule to. This step appears only if you have more than 1 Instagram account connected to Wati.

• Select ads: Choose the specific ads you want the rule to apply to.

• Add keyword filters and actions, such as a public reply or a DM. These work the same way as comment-to-DM automations for posts and reels.

• Save and turn on the rule.

How to track contacts acquired through Instagram ads

When someone comments on your Instagram ad, Wati adds them as a contact with IG ads as their source. This helps you identify contacts who came from your Instagram ads.

A dedicated IG ads section under Ads analytics will show how your ads generate conversations and contacts. It will include:

• Total comments received on synced ads.

• Comments replied to manually and through automation.

• Comments that received a DM reply.

• DMs opened by commenters.

• Contacts acquired from ads.

Until this analytics section is available, you can filter your contacts by the IG ads source to see how many contacts your ads have brought in.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Instagram ad comments

1. Is Instagram ad comment management available on all Wati plans?

Yes. Instagram ad comment management is available on all Wati plans.

2. Why don't comments on Instagram ads appear in Wati?

Ads created in Meta Ads Manager are not published on your Instagram profile. Their comments appear in Wati only after you connect the Meta ad account that runs those ads.

3. Do I need to connect my Meta ad account to manage comments on boosted posts?

No. Boosted posts are published on your Instagram profile, so their comments already appear in Wati without connecting your Meta ad account.

4. Can I manage comments on Instagram Stories ads?

No. Instagram Stories do not support public comments.

5. Which Instagram ads does Wati sync?

Wati syncs active Instagram ads from the Meta ad accounts you connect.

6. What happens if my Meta ad account is already connected to Wati for Click-to-WhatsApp ads?

You'll be asked to grant the additional permissions required to manage Instagram ad comments.

Instagram ad contacts and analytics

7. How can I identify contacts who came from my Instagram ads?

Wati adds people who comment on your Instagram ads as contacts with IG ads as their source. You can filter contacts by the IG ads source to identify contacts acquired through your ads. A dedicated IG ads analytics dashboard is coming soon.