DM templates · Instagram
Sign people up to your course waitlist by DM
When someone comments that they want your course, the waitlist DM has one main job: get their email address. Enrolment may open weeks later, and no automated Instagram message can reach them that far ahead. The 12 templates below cover the rest, from the first reply to the day doors open, including what people ask while they wait: when, how much, and is it right for me.
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.
First DM after a comment on a course post
Hey! You commented on my course post, so this message comes from my auto-reply. I'm opening a small waitlist for the first round. Shall I save you a place on it? Reply YES.
A one-word answer is the easiest thing to ask of someone mid-scroll. The email question comes after their YES.
Asking for the email
Lovely! What's the best email for the course news? Expect a handful of emails before launch: the date, the price and a free lesson. Nothing else.
In DMFast this is the email prompt that follows their YES. Saying what you'll send, and roughly how much, is the honest way to ask for an address.
You're on the waitlist
You're on the list, thank you! Enrolment opens around {time}, and you'll hear before anyone else. While you wait, here's the free lesson most people start with: {link}
Give them something useful now. A waitlist that hears nothing for six weeks forgets why it signed up.
Nudge when the email never came
Just checking in: do you still want a place on the waitlist? Send me your email whenever you're ready and you're in.
DMFast can send one reminder like this when someone stops halfway. Set it to go within the day, while Instagram still lets you message them.
When does it open?
Enrolment opens on {time}, and the waitlist gets the link two days before anyone else. Once you're on the list, there's no need to keep checking Instagram for it.
Give a date, even a rough one, and only promise early access if it's real. “Soon” sends people off to find a course that has a date.
How much will it cost?
It'll be around {price}. I'll confirm the exact price to the waitlist first, a few days before doors open, along with any payment plan.
A rough figure now beats a surprise at checkout. Nobody can budget for a number they've never seen.
What's in the course?
Six weeks of short video lessons you can watch any time, a live Q&A once a week and feedback on your final project. The full outline is here: {link}
Lead with the format: how long, how many hours a week, live or recorded. That decides whether it fits their life before the topic does.
Is it right for beginners?
Yes, it starts from zero, so you don't need any experience, just about two hours a week. If you've already done a course on this, look at weeks three and four in the outline first; they may cover ground you know.
If it isn't for beginners, say so. A beginner in an advanced course is a refund request waiting to happen.
Can I pay now?
Not yet: I'm not taking payments until enrolment opens on {time}. Stay on the waitlist and the link will reach you first. Thanks for being so keen!
Keep money out of it until the course has a start date. Payments with no date attached make refunds and support messy.
Doors are open
It's open! Here's the enrolment page: {link} The waitlist price runs until {time}, then it goes up to the full price. Any questions before you join, ask me here.
Use it on launch day as the answer to a keyword like OPEN. After a comment it follows their YES; after a DM or a Story reply it can go at once.
Enrolment has closed
Enrolment for this round has closed, sorry you missed it. I'll run it again, and the waitlist always hears first. Want me to add you?
If there won't be another round, say so. A closing date only means something if the course really closes.
What are you hoping for?
While you wait, can I ask: what's the one thing you're hoping this course will help you do? I read every answer, and they shape the lessons.
Ask while the chat is still open, within a day of their last message. Their words tell you what to teach, and how to describe it at launch.
Set it up in DMFast
Comment WAITLIST, join with an email
Someone comments on your post
WAITLISTPublic reply under their comment
You're nearly on the list, check your DMs 📩First DM (plain text)
Hi, thanks for your interest in the course! This reply is automatic. The waitlist hears about the opening date and the price before anyone else. Would you like to join? Reply YES and I'll ask for your email.Yes pleaseCourse outline and a free lessonSee the outlineThe course may open weeks from now, past any DM window, so the email is the real goal. A comment allows just this one private reply until they answer, so it asks for a YES. With email capture on, DMFast then asks for the address, turns away throwaway inboxes and saves it before the card goes out.
Pick a post
Connect your Instagram account, then choose the post or Reel it runs on, or every post.
Set the word: WAITLIST
Anyone who comments WAITLIST gets a reply under their comment and a DM. Capitals don't matter.
Paste the message
Add the public reply and the first DM shown here. Once they answer, your link follows as a card.
Free plan, no card. Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages.
Rules to know
- Each WAITLIST comment can get one private reply, sent within 7 days of the comment, and nothing more until the person answers.
- After they answer, automated messages can follow for 24 hours from their latest message: long enough to collect an email and send the outline, not to announce a launch next month.
- Instagram supports a single message tag, human agent, which gives a person up to 7 days to answer someone by hand. Launch announcements don't qualify.
- There's no official way to DM all your followers when the course opens. Only people who message you, comment or reply to a Story can get the link by DM.
- Automated chats must say they're automated, at the start of a conversation and again after a long gap.
Sources
Why the waitlist belongs in email
Waitlists run for weeks. Someone comments WAITLIST in March and enrolment opens in May; by then their last message is two months old, and no auto-reply on Instagram can reach them. An email address can. So the DM has one real job: get the address, say what you'll send, and send something useful straight away.
| When | What the waitlist gets |
|---|---|
| Right after they join | A thank-you and a free lesson, or the full outline |
| When the date is set | The opening date and time, with the time zone |
| A few days before | The price, any payment plan and what's included |
| Doors open | The enrolment link, and when the waitlist price ends |
| Last day | One reminder, only if the deadline is real |
Bringing people back on launch day
Email the waitlist before anything goes on Instagram, so “you'll hear first” stays true. Then give everyone else a way to start a conversation, because that's what lets you message them:
- Post a Reel or carousel that says “Comment OPEN for the link”, with an auto-reply for OPEN switched on before it goes up.
- Add a Story with a link sticker, and another asking people to reply OPEN if they'd rather ask questions first.
- Set a DM keyword reply for OPEN and PRICE, so anyone who messages gets the enrolment page in seconds.
- Put the enrolment page on your link-in-bio page for the people who go looking.
- If you run an Instagram broadcast channel, share the news there as well.
Mistakes that shrink a waitlist
- Promising “I'll DM you when it opens”. An auto-reply can't, and typing 400 DMs by hand on launch day isn't realistic.
- Choosing COURSE as the keyword. Because matching is by whole word, “of course!” would set it off. WAITLIST, LIST or EARLY are safer.
- A waitlist with no date at all. Give at least a month, and tell people if it moves.
- Scarcity that isn't true, such as “only 20 places” on a recorded course with no limit.
- Letting the public in before the waitlist after promising the waitlist goes first, even by an hour.
- Turning the waitlist into a daily newsletter. People joined for the opening date, not for daily emails.
What to measure
Four numbers show how the waitlist is doing: comments on your waitlist posts, YES replies to the first DM, emails collected and, on launch day, how many people on the list bought. DMFast's CSV export gives you the list itself, ready for your email tool.
The last number matters most. If plenty of people join but few buy, look at what they heard while they waited, and when they first saw the price.
Questions people ask
Can I DM my waitlist when the course opens?
Not with an automation, unless someone has messaged you in the last 24 hours. Email the list instead, and post on launch day in a way that invites a comment, a DM or a Story reply. Any of those lets you send the link.
Should people join through a DM or a waitlist page?
Both work, and you can run both. In a DM it takes one word and an email, without leaving Instagram. A page can ask more, such as experience level, and it suits the link in your bio.
Is a waitlist discount a good idea?
It's a fair reward for joining early, as long as it's real and ends when you say it will. Put the end date in the first email about price, and don't quietly extend it: the people who bought on time will notice.
How do I say the DM is automated without sounding robotic?
One plain line near the start is enough, such as “This first message is automatic.” Meta requires automated chats to say so, and saying it plainly is friendlier than leaving people to guess.
What if someone comments WAITLIST after the course has opened?
Change the auto-reply on launch day so a WAITLIST comment gets the enrolment link instead of a sign-up for news. Leaving the old flow running puts eager buyers on a list for something they could buy today.
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