Practical guide
Instagram welcome and away messages: from free tools to smart rules
Before you go looking for any paid tool, Instagram itself has a few free features: saved replies, an away message and frequently asked questions. Their exact names and places in the app vary by version and account, but the idea is the same.
This article says where each one helps, where it falls short and how keyword rules can fill the gap. It also includes a few sample texts you can copy.
What does Instagram give you on its own?
In Instagram’s professional tools you can write ready-made texts and send them with a shortcut, set an away message for when you are unavailable, and put a few common questions in front of the customer as buttons.
All of it is free and enough to start. If the page is small and you get a few messages a day, you may not need any other tool.
What is each feature good for?
Saved replies
They are for you: you drop repeated text such as the address and opening hours into a chat with a shortcut. You still press “send” yourself.
Away message
It tells the customer you are not here now and when you will answer. It stops the worry that the page has been abandoned.
Frequently asked questions
The customer taps once and gets the answer to a common question. Useful for a shop whose questions are the same every day.
Where do they fall short?
These tools do not understand what the customer wrote. If someone writes “price” or “how much” or “price?”, none of them answers unless you send it yourself. They also do not show a product or a cart link.
They have no priority and no several spellings for one question. As the number of messages grows, this is where keyword rules earn their place.
Three rules that fill the gap
A “hello” rule
With the showcase module on, a rule on “hello” can open the product showcase instead of a plain welcome line.
A price and shipping rule
Put one answer and a link behind “price”, “how much” and “cost”. shagerdAi unifies letters like ی/ي and ک/ك and digits before matching.
An opening hours and address rule
Questions whose answer never changes. If no rule matches, no automatic message is sent and the conversation stays for you.
Three sample texts
Welcome
“Hello, welcome to our page. If you are looking for a particular product, write its name and I will send you the link.”
Away
“Thanks for your message. We are not available right now and will answer at 9 a.m. If you are in a hurry, the order link is at the top of the page.”
After hours
“Your message arrived. Orders are registered today and shipped from tomorrow. If you have a question, write it right here.”
Three small tips
Promise only what you keep. “We reply within 5 minutes” is untrue at night and customers remember it. Write the real time.
Instagram’s away message and shagerdAi rules are two separate systems. If you turn on both, test once with another account to make sure a customer does not get two messages.
Q&A
Do I need an automatic welcome message?
You do not. If questions are few, saved replies are enough. When the same questions repeat, rules free your time.
How is Instagram’s away message different from a keyword rule?
The away message is for when you are unavailable and does not understand text. A rule matches what the customer wrote and can give a link or the showcase.
What if no rule matches?
No automatic message is sent. The conversation stays in the inbox until you or an admin answer.
Do rules keep running after I reply by hand?
No. After a manual reply in a conversation, rules are off for that conversation for 120 minutes by default.
Make the first answer smarter
Build a few keyword rules and connect your page to one inbox.