Turn Instagram Comments Into Email Leads With HighLevel

Key Takeaways

• The system Chris Koerner builds in HighLevel's two-day workshop is a free lead magnet first. A short video asks people to comment a word, HighLevel DMs them a link, and a one-field page collects the email.
• The DM goes out inside the window Instagram allows, because the person just commented. Asking for the comment is what makes the follow-up allowed.
• His landing page is a headline, one email field and a button. No logo, no testimonials, no name field.
• Every commenter becomes a HighLevel contact right away, even before they hand over an email.
• The paid product comes later, sold to the email list. His example was a Google Drive folder of recorded consulting sessions sold for $97.

Most local businesses post on Instagram and hope. Somebody likes the video, maybe follows, and then nothing. No name, no email, no way to reach them again. HighLevel's free two-day workshop, The $97 Digital Product Launch System, hosted by Paulson Thomas with guest Chris Koerner of The Koerner Office, spends most of its time on the fix for that: turning a comment into a contact you own. On Point Tech Solutions is a GHL consultant Bay Area businesses work with out of Los Gatos, and this is the part of the workshop we would actually build for a local owner, rewritten step by step.

Day 1: content that earns the comment

Day 1 is strategy. Koerner calls short-form video an asymmetric bet, because every post is a free shot at reach. His advice is to show your real face, test formats early until the algorithm responds and you enjoy making it, and then stay in your lane.

The idea he leans on most is what he calls hiding the idea. Open with a hook, hold back the payoff while you tell the story, then deliver what the hook promised. Give the answer away in the first two seconds and people swipe. Put the call to action right after the payoff, when viewers care most, and keep it to one ask per post. Free asks like follow or comment can go on everything. Paid asks should be rare.

Before he builds anything to sell, he polls his audience with Instagram Stories over a few days, narrowing the problem each day. That is how he decides what the product should be.

Day 2: the comment to DM workflow in HighLevel

Day 2 is the build. First, connect Instagram under Settings, then Integrations, then Facebook, since Instagram rides on the Facebook connection. Then go to Automation, create a workflow from scratch, and set it up like this:

• Trigger: Instagram comment on a post. Pick the page, choose published post, and select the specific video.
• Filter: comment contains the phrase, like AUDIT, rather than an exact match, so casing and quotes do not break it. Tick first level comments so replies to replies do not fire it.
• Action one: respond to the comment and like it. Load three to five different replies so the thread does not look like a bot.
• Action two: send the DM right away, with a button that links to your landing page. Koerner uses a button because a pasted link in an Instagram DM is not clickable.

He pins a comment on the post with the same ask. To reuse the whole thing for the next video, copy the workflow and swap the trigger word.

The one field page and the thank you email

The landing page is built under Sites as a new funnel. Koerner tried funnel AI, then stripped the result down to a headline that says what the free thing is, one email field and a submit button. He says that bare page beat everything else he tried in extensive A/B testing behind his Facebook ads. He also removes the name field, and puts a rough number on why, saying a first name ask can cost 20 to 30 percent of signups while admitting he is not exact.

The thank you step does two things, for redundancy. The page redirects to the free resource or to a short page that says check your email. And a second workflow, triggered by the form submission, sends an email with a short, vague subject line and a plain body: thanks for signing up, here is what you asked for, plus the link. His free resource was a business plan he generated with AI and hosted as a PDF. HighLevel's media library can host it too.

Where the $97 product comes in

Here is the honest part. The workshop does not build a checkout. No order form, no course delivery on screen. What Koerner describes is simpler. He recorded paid consulting sessions with permission, put the tactical recordings in a Google Drive folder, and sold that link for $97 to the right slice of his email list. He also floats sending a payment link from a workflow step for a future product. The lesson is the order of operations: build the list with something free, learn what people struggle with, then sell the answer to the people who raised their hand.

Every commenter lands in HighLevel as a contact the moment they comment, with just their Instagram handle. When they submit the form, the email attaches to the same record. Tag by lead magnet and you know exactly who to offer the paid version to later.

Why This Matters for Bay Area and San Jose Businesses

Picture a San Jose landscaper posting a clip about fixing a brown lawn, or a Los Gatos med spa explaining what to ask before a first treatment. Comment GUIDE, get the checklist. Now every curious neighbor is a contact in the CRM, not a like that disappears. The paid product does not have to be a course. For a local business it can be a booked estimate, a seasonal tune-up, or a paid consult, sold by email to people who already asked for help.

There is also the ownership point. On Day 1 Koerner tells the story of a Facebook account that was banned overnight. Followers on a platform can vanish. An email list in your own HighLevel account does not. When On Point Tech builds this for a Bay Area client, the Instagram connection, the workflows, the page and the contact list all live in the business's own sub-account.

Practical Steps

1. Pick one problem your customers ask about, and make a short free guide or checklist that answers it.
2. Connect Instagram in HighLevel under Settings, then Integrations, then Facebook.
3. Build a funnel page with a headline, one email field and a submit button, plus a short check your email step.
4. Create the comment workflow: Instagram comment trigger, contains phrase filter, first level comments only, varied public replies, and a DM with a button to the page.
5. Create a form submitted workflow that sends the thank you email with the link.
6. Post a video that ends with one ask, comment the word, and pin that ask as a comment.
7. Tag contacts by lead magnet, and only pitch a paid offer to the people who asked for that topic.

Watch the HighLevel workshop

Day 1, the content strategy half, is here: Day 1 Replay on YouTube.

Final thoughts

The flashy part of this workshop is the $97 product. The useful part is the plumbing underneath it: a comment becomes a DM, the DM becomes a signup, and the signup becomes a contact you own. Get that working first and the paid offer is a short email away. On Point Tech Solutions is a GHL consultant Bay Area owners use in Los Gatos, serving San Jose and the wider Bay Area. We build this done for you, or teach it with an SOP, and the account stays in your name.

Want to build this yourself? Join the On Point Tech Academy. It's free, and we build live every Tuesday and Thursday.