A quick reply is a pre-written answer to a question you get again and again: price, opening hours, shipping, how to order. On Instagram you can type each one by hand, or let a tool send it when a comment or DM contains the right words. This article gives twelve examples you can copy, then explains how to decide which ones to automate and how to set that up in VivaDialog, where a quick reply becomes an automation that sends the same text every time. Instagram and Facebook also have saved-reply tools inside their own apps. Their steps and limits are in Meta’s Help Center, and this article does not cover them.
What makes a quick reply work
Most good quick replies share four habits:
- They answer the question in the first sentence. “Package B is $25” comes before “Thanks so much for reaching out”.
- They carry one link or one next step. Two links split attention, and the customer picks neither.
- They are short enough to read in the notification. Two or three sentences cover most questions.
- They leave room for a person. If the customer needs more, the reply says who will answer and roughly when.
The examples below follow those rules. Text in square brackets is yours to fill in.
Twelve quick reply examples
| Situation | Reply |
|---|---|
| Price asked in a comment | Sent you the price by DM! |
| Price, in the DM that follows | Hi! The price is [price]. You can order here: [order link] |
| Opening hours and menu | Here’s our menu: [menu link]. We’re open [your opening hours]. |
| Location | Our address: [your address]. Map: [map link] |
| How to order | Ordering is easy: [your ordering steps] |
| Shipping | We ship to [where you ship]. Delivery usually takes [delivery time]. |
| Payment | You can pay by [your payment methods]. |
| Size | Here’s our size guide: [size guide link]. Tell us your usual size and we’ll help you pick. |
| Where is my order | You can check your order here: [tracking link]. If it doesn’t show, send us your order number and we’ll look it up. |
| Promo code | Here’s your code: [promo code]. It’s valid until [end date]. |
| Sold out | It’s sold out for now. We expect it back [restock date] and we’ve noted you. |
| Asks for a person | Of course. Someone from our team will reply here [within your reply time]. |
Each of these is a ready-made template in VivaDialog, so you do not have to retype it: Comment INFO, get the details by DM, Menu and opening hours on request, Where are you located?, How do I order?, Do you ship to my city?, Which payment methods do you take?, Which size? Send your size guide, Where’s my order?, DM PROMO, get the promo code, Sold out? Note who wants it back, and Asks for a person. The Instagram auto reply templates article shows more of them with the setup, and the template gallery lists the rest.
Keep the tone of your account
A quick reply goes out under your name, so it should sound like you. Three small edits help:
- Change the greeting to the one you use in your captions. “Hi!” and “Hey there” are both fine; pick one and keep it.
- Replace “We apologize for any inconvenience” with what you would actually say to a customer at the counter.
- Add the customer’s name only where you know it. A DM gives you one; a comment does not always.
Which quick replies to automate
Typing the same answer by hand makes sense while you are still learning what people ask. Automate a quick reply when three things are true:
- You have sent the same answer many times this month.
- The answer does not depend on who is asking. Price lists, hours, and shipping areas qualify. A refund request does not.
- A wrong or late answer costs little. An away note is safe; a quote for custom work is not.
Keep these by hand: complaints, refund requests, anything with an order number you must look up, and anything where the customer is upset. In VivaDialog you can also tell an automation to stay quiet. Under Skip messages that contain, add words such as refund or complaint, and the automation does not run on a message that has one. Skip people who are already customers keeps it away from people your team already knows.
Turn a quick reply into an automation
This is the setup for a price or shipping reply, on Instagram or on a Facebook Page.
- Open Automations, click New rule on the Rules tab, and pick a template such as Do you ship to my city?. Click Use this.
- Under What starts this automation?, choose New comment, New DM, or Comment or DM.
- Under Which messages?, choose Messages with certain words. In Words to look for, enter the words people use, for example
ship, shipping, delivery, deliver. One matching word is enough, and capital letters do not matter. - Under How should it reply?, choose Same text every time and replace the text in square brackets with your own. The automation cannot be saved while a placeholder is left.
- Under Skip messages that contain, add
refund, complaint. - Use Test it first: type a message the way a customer would and click Test. Nothing is sent and no quota is used.
- Click Save rule.
Matching looks for the word anywhere in the message, so ship also matches “relationship”. If a short word catches too much, use a longer one or Use an advanced pattern (regex) instead of words under Advanced settings. For questions with many ways to say the same thing, such as “how much is it”, “what does it cost”, and “price?”, choose Messages with a certain intent instead, or let Answer with AI reply from the facts you write. How automations work describes both.
A short wait can make an automatic reply feel less automatic. Under Wait before running?, pick 1 to 60 minutes. If someone on your team answers first, the wait is cancelled and nothing is sent.
The limits every automatic quick reply runs under
- One automatic reply per comment or message, even when several automations match. The one with the highest priority replies.
- Nothing older than 24 hours gets an automatic reply.
- Your own account never triggers an automation.
- For DMs, Meta allows a reply within 24 hours of the customer’s last message. After that, the reply is refused until they write again. The 24-hour window explained covers it.
- For a private DM to someone who commented, Meta allows one per comment, within 7 days.
The Instagram comment automation guide covers the comment side in depth, and DM automation explains how DM replies differ. The Instagram DM automation guide puts quick replies into the full DM setup.
A quick check before you save
Read each reply once as the customer. Does it answer the question, with no leftover brackets? Is the link yours, and does it open? Would you be comfortable if the customer knew a tool sent it? If the answer to the last one is no, rewrite it until you would say it yourself.
Frequently asked questions
What is a quick reply on Instagram?
It is a saved answer to a common question that you send with little typing. Meta has built-in versions in its apps. In VivaDialog, the same idea runs as an automation that sends the text when a comment or DM matches words you choose.
Can I send quick replies automatically?
Yes, with an automation. It watches new comments and DMs for your words and sends the same text. It runs under the limits above, and Test it first lets you try it without sending anything.
How many quick replies should I set up?
Start with the three questions you answer most. Add more after a week, once you have seen what the automations caught.
Do quick replies work on Facebook Pages too?
Yes. The same automation works on a connected Facebook Page, and you can pick the channels it runs on under On which channels?.
Do hand-written replies count toward my plan?
No. Replies you write in the inbox never count toward the plan’s conversation quota. Only what automations and AI send is counted.
VivaDialog is in early access right now, and participants get the Growth plan free for 30 days. The pricing page has the details.