Instagram DMs are where a lot of buying questions happen: "price?", "do you ship to Pune?", "is this in stock?". Automating the replies saves hours. But Instagram has firm rules about what a business can send and when, and tools that promise to "DM all your followers" break them.

Here is what you can automate safely, and what you cannot.

The 24-hour window

Instagram lets a business reply to someone for 24 hours after that person last messaged it. Inside that window you can answer, send links, share products and keep the conversation going. Once it closes, you cannot start a new message to them until they write again.

Every rule below follows from this one.

What you can automate

Instant replies to DMs. Answer common questions the moment they arrive: prices, sizes, delivery times, opening hours.
Replies to comments. When someone comments a keyword on a post, reply publicly and send them a DM with the details. Their comment opens the conversation.
Replies to story mentions and replies, since those are messages to you.
Handing over to a person when a question needs one, without losing the conversation.
Messages to people who wrote recently, such as an announcement to everyone who messaged you in the last 24 hours.

What you cannot automate

Messaging all your followers. Following you does not open a conversation. There is no approved way to bulk-DM followers.
Cold DMs to people who have never messaged you.
Messaging someone after the window closes, however good the reason.
Fake engagement, such as automated likes, follows or comments on other accounts.

Tools that claim otherwise usually rely on unofficial methods. They put your account at risk of restrictions.

What works instead of mass DMs

If you cannot message people first, make it easy for them to message you.

Comment keywords: "Comment GUIDE and we will DM you the size chart." Every comment starts a conversation you are allowed to have.
Story calls to action: ask people to reply to a story for a discount code or the link.
Profile and bio prompts: "DM us 'price' for today's rates."
Click-to-message ads that open a DM with your business.

Then answer instantly, while the person is still on the app.

Write replies that do not feel robotic

Answer the actual question first. "It is ₹1,499 and ships in 2 days" beats a menu of options.
Keep messages short. People read DMs on a phone.
Offer a person when the question gets specific: custom orders, complaints, returns.

How IotaBot handles Instagram DMs

IotaBot connects your Instagram professional account through Meta's official API. The AI answers DMs from your knowledge base, per-post comment rules reply publicly and send a DM, and anything complex goes to your team in the same inbox as WhatsApp, email and website chat. Announcements only go to people who messaged you in the last 24 hours, because that is what Instagram allows. Read more on the Instagram DM marketing page.