How UGC agencies run creator comment keywords in 2026
UGC agencies can now set comment keywords on every creator's account from one dashboard, with no passwords. What the BetterSocials Agency plan does.
By The Shipping Log staff8 min readUpdated Nov 10, 2026
A UGC agency can now set comment keywords on every creator's account from one dashboard, without a single creator password. BetterSocials shipped an Agency plan on November 5, 2026 that does exactly that, at $29 per creator a month: you write a keyword once and apply it to the whole roster. Manychat and Metricool also sell comment-to-DM automation, and they bill by contacts or executions instead.
Can one dashboard run comment keywords for every creator?
Yes, since November 5. That day BetterSocials added an Agency plan as a fourth plan beside Creator, Pro and Team, built for agencies that run brand campaigns through a roster of creators.
The release changes three things for you. You edit any creator's keywords from the Agency Admin. You push one keyword template to many creators at once. And you never see a creator's DMs, because the plan was built to keep them out of your view.
How BetterSocials runs keywords across a creator roster
BetterSocials is best for UGC and creator agencies that run keyword campaigns on Instagram and Facebook and want one place to change the link, the reply and the code. The plan costs $29 per creator a month, and each creator's account includes 4 social accounts and 1,000 AI credits a month. It starts with Talk with us on the pricing page, not a self-serve checkout.
A keyword, in BetterSocials, is a word someone comments (GUIDE, LINK) that triggers a public reply under the comment and, on Instagram and Facebook, a DM with your link. The Agency plan adds four tools on top of that:
- Keyword templates. You write the word, the reply, the DM and the link once, then apply the template to many creators. Edit it, apply again, and every creator gets the new version.
- Per-creator fields. {first_name}, {name} and {code} fill in for each creator, so one template can send each creator's own promo code.
- Creator setups. A campaign, keyword templates and settings that a new creator starts with the moment they accept your invite.
- Numbers per creator and per campaign. A campaign here means a brand you run creators for.
The agency can add, edit, pause and delete every keyword on a creator's account, and change that creator's account settings. Logins for your own team are free.
How can a UGC agency set up comment keyword replies on all of its creators' accounts from one place?
The setup takes three steps, all in the BetterSocials Agency Admin.
1. Invite your creators by email
Add each creator by email. Every creator added gets a 14-day free trial, and each one keeps their own BetterSocials account. The creator then connects their own Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook accounts from their own login. If you built a creator setup first, the creator starts with your campaign, templates and settings already in place.
2. Write the keyword once and apply it to the roster
Build the keyword as a template: the word to watch for, the public reply, the DM and the link. Apply it to the creators on the campaign. Put {code} in the DM and each creator's message carries their own promo code.
When the brand changes the landing page, you edit the template and apply it again. Every creator gets the new link.
3. Read the numbers for each creator
The Agency Admin shows, for each creator and each campaign, over 7, 14, 30 or 90 days:
- Keyword DM triggers (comments that matched a keyword)
- DMs sent
- Links clicked, counted for real people only
- Click rate
- Posts published, with views, likes, comments, saves and shares
Link tracking is always on for a creator on a roster. For a client, pick a campaign and a date range, then Save as PDF, Download CSV (one row per creator) or Get a client link. The client link is a read-only page that stays up to date and needs no account. You choose whether creators show by name or as Creator 1, Creator 2, and the report carries your logo and colour.
Can a creator agency edit comment-to-DM keywords without passwords or seeing DMs?
Yes on both counts, in BetterSocials. Creators connect their accounts on each platform's own sign-in screen, from their own BetterSocials login, so the agency never needs a creator's passwords.
What you can change: every keyword (the reply, the DM and the link) and the creator's account settings.
What you cannot see: in the Agency Admin you never see a creator's messages, comment threads, who they talked to or their inbox. You cannot write or send a reply for them. The creator answers their own comments and DMs.
The same wall holds when you run the roster from Claude or Claude Code. A connected assistant can read the numbers, add creators, edit or pause a keyword, apply a template to everyone, set up campaigns and make a client report link. It cannot read an inbox, a comment thread or a DM, and it cannot send a message as a creator.
One handover case matters. When a creator leaves, the agency can change the email the account signs in with to an address it controls. The account keeps its connected accounts, keywords and history, and the creator is signed out and told by email. Whoever holds that login can open the whole account, inbox included.
What Instagram's API lets an agency tool do with comments and DMs
Instagram sets the same limits for every tool on its official API, BetterSocials and Manychat included. A private reply is the DM a tool sends in answer to a comment.
- One private reply per comment, sent within 7 days of the comment being posted.
- A DM through any tool must go out within 24 hours of the person's last message. You can still answer in the Instagram app after that.
- Meta's published cap is 750 private-reply calls per hour per Instagram professional account for posts and reels (Meta's developer docs, checked July 2026).
- A private reply lands in the main inbox only if the person follows the account. Otherwise it goes to their message requests folder.
That last rule is why sent is not the same as delivered. A tool's counter records that Meta accepted the call. It cannot know which folder the message reached, so judge a campaign by links clicked rather than DMs sent.
Meta Business Suite has its own free keyword automation, with tighter rules. Per Meta's help page, a keyword automation holds up to 5 keywords or phrases, the keywords are case-sensitive, and keyword automations run only in Meta Business Suite on desktop.
How Manychat, Metricool and CreatorFlow handle many creator accounts
Manychat documents its keyword setup in a comment keyword trigger guide. The prices below are what each vendor's own page listed: Manychat in October 2026, Metricool in November 2026 and CreatorFlow in September 2026.
| Tool | Price seen | Billing meter | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetterSocials | $29 per creator a month | Nothing per contact | Agencies running creator rosters |
| Manychat | $39 a month on Pro | Active contacts past 2,500 | Funnels that also need WhatsApp |
| Metricool | $12 a month Flows add-on | Executions past 2,500 | Teams already scheduling in Metricool |
| CreatorFlow | $30 a month on Growth | DMs, 10,000 included | Instagram-only rosters on a budget |
Manychat works on Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and TikTok. Pro includes 2,500 active contacts, and each extra one costs $0.05, billed monthly. Pick Manychat if a campaign needs WhatsApp, which BetterSocials does not connect.
Metricool sells Flows, which turn comments into DMs and reply to DMs with keywords, as an add-on. Each add-on covers 2,500 executions a month, and each extra execution costs $0.01. If your team already plans posts in Metricool, that add-on keeps everything in one tool.
CreatorFlow Growth is $30 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for 10,000 DMs, 5 accounts and 5 seats. CreatorFlow is Instagram only and sends template replies, with no AI replies. Its Pro plan is $15 a month, or $12 billed yearly, for 5,000 DMs and 2 accounts.
InstantDM takes another route: its Multi Pro tier connects up to 10 Instagram accounts, each in a separate workspace with an account switcher.
What keywords do on TikTok, YouTube and Threads
On Instagram and Facebook only, a BetterSocials keyword sends a DM with the link. On TikTok, YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages the keyword posts a public reply under the comment, and the link goes in that reply.
The platforms set this, not the tool. YouTube's API has no messaging, so no product can send a YouTube DM. A TikTok comment cannot trigger a private DM on any tool outside TikTok's limited rollout in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
Two things follow for your reports. Those public replies count as replies, not DMs. And a link in a public reply is not click tracked, so the click numbers for a TikTok or YouTube creator cover Instagram and Facebook only.
FAQ
Can an agency manage Instagram comment-to-DM automation without the creator's password?
Yes. On BetterSocials each creator connects Instagram from their own login, on Instagram's own sign-in screen, so the password never reaches the agency. The agency then adds, edits, pauses and deletes the creator's keywords, including the public reply, the DM and the link, from the Agency Admin.
Can the agency read a creator's DMs?
No. In the BetterSocials Agency Admin, and through a connected assistant such as Claude, the agency never sees a creator's messages, comment threads, who they talked to or their inbox. It cannot write or send a reply for them, and the creator answers their own comments and DMs.
How do keyword templates work across creators?
You write a keyword once in BetterSocials: the word, the public reply, the DM and the link. Apply it to as many creators as you like, and edit and apply again to update every one. {first_name}, {name} and {code} fill in per creator, so each DM can carry that creator's own promo code.
What does the BetterSocials Agency plan cost?
The Agency plan is $29 per creator a month, shown on the BetterSocials pricing page, and it starts with Talk with us rather than a self-serve checkout. Each creator gets 4 social accounts and 1,000 AI credits a month and a 14-day free trial. Logins for the agency's own team are free.
Which numbers does the agency see for each creator?
For each creator and each campaign, over 7, 14, 30 or 90 days, BetterSocials shows keyword DM triggers, DMs sent, links clicked by real people, click rate, and published posts with their views, likes, comments, saves and shares. Client reports export as a PDF, a CSV with one row per creator, or a live read-only link.
What happens to a creator's account when they leave the agency?
The agency can change the email the BetterSocials account signs in with to an address it controls. The account keeps its connected accounts, keywords and history, and the creator is signed out and told by email. The agency can hand the account to a new creator later, and whoever holds the login can open the whole account.