Every Instagram DM answered, even at midnight
DMs are where Instagram sales close, and where they quietly die. Someone asks “price?” at 11pm, you see it at 9am, and by then they've bought from whoever answered first. DM automation replies the moment the message arrives: a keyword like INFO or CATALOG gets the reply you wrote, a message with no keyword gets a polite fallback so nobody is left on read, and real questions go to an AI that answers from your own knowledge base. You take over whenever you want, from the same inbox.
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
Shops and studios whose DMs fill up after every post and whose owner is the only one answering.
Service businesses that get the same five questions (price, timings, location, delivery, booking) forty times a week.
Anyone who has lost a sale to “seen 3 hours ago”.
How it works
Create the post, publish it, and let the replies, the leads and the clicks follow. Four steps, one afternoon.
- Create01
Connect Instagram and choose a DM template
Sign in with your Business or Creator account and approve messaging. Pick “DM keyword → lead capture”, which listens for INFO, details and interested, or “Answer common questions with AI”, which replies to every DM from your knowledge base. Edit the keywords and the wording to suit you.
- Engage02
A DM with a keyword gets your reply right away
Matching is forgiving: INFO, info?, “send info pls” all count. Add a fallback reply for messages with no keyword, sent once per person per day, so a plain “hi” still gets a warm answer and a nudge toward what you can help with.
- Capture03
Ask for the email or number inside the conversation
A reply can be a question. Ask which service they're interested in, then their email; each answer is saved on the lead, with the automation that captured it. If they answer an hour later, it's still saved.
- Convert04
You finish the conversation from the inbox
Every automated DM shows in the Engage inbox with a marker for what was sent by an automation, by the AI, or by you. Reply yourself while Instagram's 24-hour window is open; the composer tells you when it isn't, and why.
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.
DM INFO → email and service captured
Happy to help Neha! What's your email so we can send everything over?
Then “And which service are you interested in?”, then a thank-you. Two questions, two saved fields, one lead with a source you can filter by.
DM CATALOG → the whole range, as a tracked link
Sure Rahul! Here's our full catalog: occasely.com/l/c4Tg9w
The Send catalog template answers catalog, catalogue and collection. Because the link is tracked, you know who opened it: the click shows on their lead timeline and in analytics.
DM “hi” with no keyword → a fallback reply
Hi Sana 👋 Thanks for messaging! Reply PRICE for our rates or BOOK to grab a slot, and a real person will be with you shortly.
Sent once per person per day, so a long back-and-forth never gets the same canned line twice. It's the difference between “seen” and “we're on it”.
DM “do you have this in a size M?” → an AI answer
We do! The linen shirt runs S to XXL and M is in stock right now. Want the link to order?
No keyword matched, so the AI answered from your products entry. If the stock question isn't covered in your knowledge base, it says so and hands the thread to you instead of guessing.
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
Can Occasely message someone who hasn't messaged me?
No, and neither can anything else that uses Instagram's official API. Instagram only lets a business reply to a person who wrote to it first. A comment is different: it earns one private reply on its own, which is why comment-to-DM works for people who never opened your DMs.
What is the 24-hour window?
After a customer's last message, your account can reply for 24 hours, whether it's an automation, the AI or you typing. Once it lapses, only the customer can reopen it by writing again. Occasely's inbox greys out the send button when the window is closed and says so, rather than letting a message fail silently.
What happens to a DM that doesn't contain a keyword?
Whatever you decide. Add a fallback reply and it's sent once per person per day. Turn on the AI template and the message is answered from your knowledge base, or handed to you if the AI isn't confident. Leave both off and the message simply waits for you in the inbox.
Will it reply to my own messages or to my team?
No. Messages sent from your account, including replies typed in the Occasely inbox, never trigger an automation, and a person who's already inside a conversation with a pending question isn't hit with a second automation on top.
Can I take over a conversation?
Any time. Open the thread in the Engage inbox and reply; the customer sees a normal DM from your account. If the AI hands off, the person gets your handoff message (“Someone from the team will get back to you here shortly” by default, editable) and you get a notification.
How many DMs can it send a month?
Free includes 200 automated messages a month across 2 live automations. Growth ($19/mo) includes 2,000 messages, 10 automations and 500 AI replies. Pro ($39/mo) includes 10,000 messages, 50 automations and 3,000 AI replies. Messages you type yourself are never counted.
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