An instant reply for every hello
Response time is the whole game on Instagram. A customer who gets an answer in a minute buys; one who sees “seen 3h ago” moves on. Auto reply gives every message an immediate, specific answer you wrote yourself: TIMINGS gets your hours, MENU gets the menu, a story reply gets a thank-you and today's offer, and a plain “hi” gets a warm once-a-day fallback that points people at what you can help with. Nothing generic, nothing sent twice, and you can step in whenever you want.
Instagram Business or Creator account. Official Meta API, no password, free plan with no card.
Coming soon. Instagram automation opens once Meta approves our app for Instagram messaging. It will be part of every plan, not an add-on.
Who it's for
One-person businesses where the owner is the receptionist, the salesperson and the person behind the counter.
Shops in a different time zone from a chunk of their customers.
Anyone who answers “what are your timings?” twenty times a day and would like to answer it zero times.
How it works
Create the post, publish it, and let the replies, the leads and the clicks follow. Four steps, one afternoon.
- Create01
Write the answers to your five most common messages
Start from a template or from scratch: keywords on one side, your reply on the other. Use {{first_name}} to greet the person, and {{business_name}} so a reply reads like it came from your front desk.
- Engage02
Match the words people actually type
Matching ignores case and punctuation, so “Timings??”, “timing” and “what are the timings pls” all land on the same reply. Up to 20 keywords per automation, on comments, DMs or story replies.
- Capture03
Add a fallback for everything else
A DM with no keyword gets your fallback, once per person per day. It's what turns “seen” into “we're on it”, without repeating itself inside a real conversation.
- Convert04
Let the AI take the questions your templates don't
Switch on AI replies and unmatched questions are answered from your knowledge base, in the language the customer wrote in, Hinglish included. When the AI isn't sure, the person gets your handoff message and the thread waits for you in the inbox.
What it looks like
Real templates, with the reply rendered the way the customer sees it. Names and links are examples; yours come from your own setup.
TIMINGS → opening hours
Hi Ananya! We're open 10am–8pm Monday to Saturday and 11am–6pm on Sundays. Walk-ins welcome 🙂
A plain text reply. Add timing, hours and open as keywords and this one automation answers the question in all the ways it gets asked.
MENU → the menu, as a link
Here you go Dev: occasely.com/l/m3Nu4k — the Sunday brunch section is on page two 🥞
The Send website link template with your menu URL and a friendlier sentence. Clicks are counted, so you know whether the menu link is being opened.
Story reply → thank you + today's offer
Thanks for replying Isha 🙌 Here's today's offer: occasely.com/l/s4Mn8p
Every typed reply to a story gets an answer; emoji reactions don't trigger it. A story that used to get three unanswered replies now gets three conversations.
“hi” → a fallback that helps
Hi Tara 👋 Thanks for messaging! Reply PRICE for rates, BOOK for a slot, or just tell us what you need and someone will reply shortly.
Once per person per day. The person learns the keywords, and you've bought yourself the hour it takes to get to the inbox.
Part of every plan
Engage isn't an add-on. It comes with the same plan that writes and schedules your posts, in USD everywhere, tax handled at checkout.
Free
$0- 1 Instagram account
- 2 live automations
- 200 automated messages a month
- Keyword and story replies
- Leads flagged, no capture questions
- Plain links
Growth
$19/mo- 1 Instagram account
- 10 live automations
- 2,000 automated messages a month
- 500 AI replies a month
- Lead capture, 1,000 leads stored
- Tracked links with click counts
Pro
$39/mo- 3 Instagram accounts
- 50 live automations
- 10,000 automated messages a month
- 3,000 AI replies a month
- Lead capture, unlimited leads stored
- Tracked links with click counts
Limits are Occasely's. Instagram's own rules, one private reply per comment within 7 days and a 24-hour DM window, apply on every plan. Full pricing
Questions
Won't automatic replies feel robotic?
Only if you write them that way. Every reply is your wording with the person's first name, sent once and then held back by a cooldown (24 hours by default) so nobody gets the same line twice. The fallback goes once per person per day. The AI, when you use it, answers in the customer's own language and register, from facts you wrote.
Can it reply in Hindi or Hinglish?
Your keyword replies are in whatever language you write them; keywords match in any script. AI replies follow the customer: if they write in Hindi, it answers in Hindi; if they mix Hinglish, it mixes the same way.
What messages can't be auto-replied?
Ones Instagram doesn't allow. A business can only reply in a DM for 24 hours after the customer's last message, and a comment gets one private reply within 7 days. Emoji reactions to stories, likes and message reads aren't messages, so nothing fires on them. Occasely logs every skipped send with the reason.
Does it reply to spam?
Keyword automations only reply when a keyword matches, so a spam comment without your keyword gets nothing. AI comment replies classify first and skip spam, emoji-only and tag-a-friend comments. Abusive messages are never answered automatically; they're flagged to you.
What do I need to start?
An Instagram Business or Creator account and a free Occasely workspace. You connect through Instagram's own login screen (no password is ever typed into Occasely), and the Free plan runs 2 live automations with 200 automated messages a month. AI replies, lead capture and click-counted links are on Growth at $19/mo.
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Paste your website, pick your next occasion, and have this week's posts written before your next customer walks in. Free plan, no card.