DM templates · Facebook
Messenger greetings that get people writing
A Messenger greeting is the short note people see when they open a new chat with your Facebook Page, before they've typed a word. It isn't sent to them as a message, so it has one job: getting them to write, and to write something you can answer. Below are 12 for different kinds of Pages, and how the greeting fits with your instant reply.
Updated 6 October 2026 · 12 templates
12 messages to copy
Tap a card to copy the message. Swap anything in braces, like {name}, for your own words before you send it.
Shop or small business
Hi {name}! Ask us about products, opening hours or an order you've placed. A real person reads every message, usually within a few hours.
Where you see {name}, use your greeting setting's first-name option if it has one. Typed by hand, the curly brackets would show exactly as written.
Takeaway
Hi! You can order for collection right here. Send what you'd like and the time you'll pick it up, and we'll confirm it in this chat.
Only offer Messenger orders if someone watches the inbox during service. An order nobody confirms is worse than no order at all.
Hair or beauty salon
Hi {name}! Looking to book? Tell us the treatment and two or three days that suit you, and we'll offer the nearest free times.
Asking for several days at once saves a round of “Tuesday?” “Sorry, full.” “Wednesday?”
Gym or fitness studio
Welcome! Ask about classes, memberships or a first visit. Send CLASSES any time and this week's timetable comes straight back.
Name a word like CLASSES only once its automatic answer is live. The set-up further down shows one.
Charity or community group
Hello! Want to volunteer, donate or ask about an event? Tell us which, and one of our volunteers will reply, usually within two days.
A slower promise you keep beats a quick one you miss. Volunteers check in when they can, so say so.
Shop with orders to track
Hi! If it's about an order, please put your order number in your first message, and we'll find it straight away.
The order number is the first thing you'd ask for. Asking before they write saves a whole round of messages.
Venue or events space
Hi {name}! Planning something? Send the date, roughly how many guests and the kind of event, and we'll check what's free.
Date, numbers and occasion decide whether you can say yes, so they belong in the very first message.
Letting agent
Hello! Interested in one of our properties? Tell us which one, and when you could view it, and we'll come back with times.
“Which one” matters. An agent with 40 listings can't answer “is it still available?” without it.
Creator or public figure
Hey, thanks for stopping by! I read these messages myself, so replies can be slow. For work and press, the email on my Page is quickest.
Pointing business enquiries to email keeps Messenger for your audience and stops brand offers sitting unread between fan messages.
Christmas rush
Hi! Christmas orders close on {date}. Ask us about delivery dates, gift wrap or anything else, and we'll answer here.
Put a reminder in your calendar for the day after. A Christmas greeting still up in February makes the Page look abandoned.
Two languages
Hello! We reply in English and French. Bonjour ! Nous répondons en anglais et en français.
If your customers write in two languages, saying so up front spares people from struggling in their second one.
Pointing to your FAQ questions
Hi! Tap one of the questions below for an instant answer, or type your own and we'll reply in person.
Only if your Page shows FAQ questions in new chats. Otherwise people go looking for buttons that aren't there.
Set it up in DMFast
The greeting names CLASSES, the reply sends the timetable
The greeting tells people the word, and the keyword reply keeps that promise at 6am on a Sunday. Words match whole and in any case, so CLASSES catches “what classes are on Friday?” but not “class”: add CLASS as a second word. They messaged first, so the card goes out with the answer.
Pick direct messages
Connect your Facebook Page and add an auto-reply for Messenger. It answers messages, not comments.
Set the word: CLASSES
Any message with the word CLASSES in it gets this answer, in capitals or not.
Paste the message
Add the message shown here and the link card that goes with it.
Free plan, no card. Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages.
Rules to know
- A greeting is shown, not sent, so it doesn't open a conversation. The Page can reply once someone messages it, or send one private reply to a comment on its post within 7 days.
- From the moment someone writes, the Page has 24 hours after their latest message to answer through the Messenger Platform, and messages in that window may include promotions.
- Any automated reply that follows the greeting must make clear it's automated: at the start of the conversation, after a long silence, and when a person hands the chat over to automation.
- Once those 24 hours pass, Meta's human agent tag gives a real person up to 7 days to answer by hand. Automated replies can't use it.
Sources
What happens when someone opens a chat
- Someone taps Message on your Page. Messenger opens a new chat with your Page's name and picture and, if you've set them up, the greeting and your FAQ questions.
- They type something or tap a question. It's now a conversation, and your Page has 24 hours from their latest message to answer through the Messenger Platform.
- Automatic replies go out: the answer to a tapped question, a keyword reply if the message contains a word you've set, or your instant reply.
- A person picks up whatever the automatic replies can't settle, ideally within the time the greeting promised.
Each step should add something. If the greeting has already asked for the date and number of guests, the instant reply doesn't need to ask again; it can say when someone will confirm.
Tip: If an app such as DMFast answers your Messenger chats as well as Business Suite's automations, send your Page a test message and count what comes back. Two automatic hellos in a row look like a glitch.
What a greeting should say
- What people can ask about. Three topics is plenty; a list of eight reads like small print.
- What to put in the first message: an order number, a date and head count, the property they mean. Then that message carries everything you need.
- When a person will reply, in words you can stand behind on your busiest week.
- A keyword, once its automatic answer is set up, so the most common question gets answered at any hour.
Leave out links, prices and anything with a date in it. A link can follow in your reply once they write, and the greeting is the setting people forget to update when a price or a date changes.
Where it's set, and what DMFast adds
The greeting is a Meta setting, not an app feature. Meta has moved Page messaging settings around more than once, so look in Meta Business Suite under the inbox's settings and automations, or search your Page's settings for “greeting”. Apps built on Meta's Messenger Platform can set a greeting as well.
Can't find it? The instant reply does a similar job one step later. It welcomes people with a message straight after they first write, and it sits under Inbox, then Automations, in Business Suite.
DMFast doesn't touch your greeting. It handles what people send after reading it: keyword replies such as CLASSES, a reply to any new message once a day per person, comment-to-Messenger flows on your posts and, on the Growth and Business plans, AI replies written only from the business information you provide. Story replies and the follower check are Instagram-only, so they don't apply to a Page.
Greetings that work against you
- One that only informs. “Open 9 to 5, Monday to Saturday” is useful, but it gives nobody a reason to write.
- One that promises instant answers when a person replies by hand. People notice the gap, and the greeting is what set them up for it.
- A seasonal greeting still showing months after the season ended.
- A keyword that does nothing. Send every word the greeting names to your own Page and check the answer arrives.
- One written about you rather than them. “Welcome to the official Messenger of…” spends the space on your name instead of their question.
Questions people ask
What is a Messenger greeting?
A short line on the screen people see when they open a new chat with your Facebook Page, before they send anything. It belongs to your Page's Messenger set-up rather than to any conversation, so nothing reaches your inbox until they write.
Who sees my greeting?
People starting a chat with your Page for the first time. Anyone who has messaged you before opens straight onto that conversation, so a new greeting won't reach your regulars. To check yours, open a chat from a profile that has never written to the Page.
What's the difference between a greeting and an instant reply?
The greeting shows before someone writes; the instant reply is a message your Page sends straight after their first one. Use the greeting to shape what people ask, and the instant reply to say when a person will answer.
Can the greeting use the person's name?
If your greeting setting has a personalisation option, yes: Meta's greeting settings have offered the person's first name. Use that option rather than typing {name}, which would appear exactly as typed.
How long should a Messenger greeting be?
One or two short sentences, like the examples above. It shares the screen with your Page's name and picture, and people take it in at a glance before they start typing.
Can a greeting reach people who like or follow my Page?
No. Nobody receives the greeting as a message; it only appears inside a chat someone opens. There's no official way to message everyone who likes or follows a Page.
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