Instagram DM Automation
What is Instagram's 24-hour messaging window?
Direct answer
Under Meta's rules, once a customer messages your business, you have a 24-hour window to reply freely (including automated replies). Each new customer message resets the clock. Outside the window, business-initiated messaging is restricted, which is why answering fast, inside the window, is both policy and good business.
How the window works in practice
- A customer DM, story reply, or comment private-reply interaction opens the window.
- For 24 hours after their last message, you (or your automation) can send normal messages: answers, photos, order confirmations, follow-ups.
- Every new message from the customer resets the 24 hours, so an active conversation never expires.
- After the window closes with no reply, your options to restart the thread are limited by policy.
What this means for a store
- Speed is compliance-friendly. Answering in seconds keeps every conversation comfortably inside the window; answering tomorrow risks arriving after it shut.
- The follow-up has a deadline. The "just checking you still want this" nudge must happen within the window, another reason automated follow-up beats remembering manually.
- Dead threads are hard to revive on Instagram. Unlike WhatsApp (which has approved templates for re-opening contact), a cold Instagram thread mostly stays cold. Capture the phone number during the conversation so WhatsApp can carry long-term follow-up.
The design consequence
Good DM automation frontloads everything into the live window: answer, qualify, close, confirm. ReplAi is built around that rhythm, replying in under 14 seconds and completing orders inside the conversation, so the window closes on a finished sale rather than an unanswered question.
Last updated 2026-07-09