DM templates · Instagram
Bring past customers back within Instagram's 24-hour rule
Official tools can't DM past customers out of the blue: Meta lets a business message someone only within 24 hours of that person's last message, and a purchase isn't a message. The work is getting past customers to write first, with a Story or a post made for them, then answering well when they do. A few regulars can also hear from you by hand. The 12 templates below cover each route.
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.
Story asking past customers to reply
Ordered from us before? Reply EARLY to this Story and I'll send you the new range a day before everyone else sees it.
This one is the Story text, not a DM. Every reply to it lands in your DMs as a message, which opens the 24 hours your answer needs.
Answer to that Story reply
Welcome back, {name}! Here's your early look at the new range: {link}. It goes public tomorrow at {time}, so you've got first pick until then.
Answer the same day. Their reply opened a 24-hour window, and links and offers are allowed inside it.
Caption with a comment word
Been with us since the first batch? Comment REGULAR and I'll DM you the restock list before it's posted anywhere else.
Another public line rather than a DM. The caption chooses the audience, and each comment allows one private reply within 7 days.
First DM after that comment
Hi! You commented REGULAR, so this message is automatic. The restock list is ready, and past customers see it first. Want it here? Reply YES.
The first message after a comment can't carry a link, so it asks for a yes. Their reply is what lets the list follow.
Personal check-in, typed by hand
Hi {name}, it's {your name} from {shop}. You bought the {product} last spring, and it's just come back in two new colours. Would you like me to put one aside for you?
Write it yourself in the app, to a few people you've dealt with, and mention something only they bought. A copied message sent down a list reads as spam, to them and to Instagram.
Running-low reminder
Hi {name}, it's been about six weeks since your last bag of {product}, which is usually when people start running low. Shall I send another?
Only for things that really run out, such as coffee, candles or skincare, and only to people who've ordered from you in DMs before. Send it by hand.
Lapsed client of a service
Hi {name}, it's been a few months since your last {service} with us, so I wanted to say hello. I have a couple of openings next week if you're due a visit. Shall I send the times?
From a salon or studio they've visited, this reads as service. From an account they've never dealt with, the same words read as an ad.
Welcome back when they write first
So good to hear from you again, {name}! Last time you went for the {product}. Same again, or something new this time?
Mention their last order only if you know it for certain. Getting it wrong is worse than leaving it out.
Thanks for a Story mention, with news
Thank you for the tag, {name}! Lovely to see the {product} still getting worn. If you're curious, there's now a matching {other product}: {link}
A mention arrives as a message, so a link can follow within 24 hours of it. Thank them first; the news is a postscript.
Asking for an email while the chat is open
Before you go: would you like to hear about new pieces by email? Once this chat goes quiet, email is the only way we can reach you, and we write once a month at most.
The DM window closes 24 hours after their last message, every time. An email list doesn't, so ask while you can.
Winning back someone after a problem
Hi {name}, I know your last order didn't go to plan, and I'm sorry again. We've changed couriers since then. If you ever want to give us another try, I'd love to show you it's fixed.
Only once the original problem is fully settled, and only typed by hand. A sales message to someone still waiting for a refund makes everything worse.
When they say no thanks
Thanks for telling me, {name}, and no problem at all. I won't message you about new things again, but you know where we are if you ever need us.
Stop straight away, and note it where the whole team can see it, so nobody writes to them again by mistake.
Set it up in DMFast
Story reply EARLY, early access for past customers
Replied to your story
EARLYWelcome back, and thanks for replying! This message is automatic. Past customers get the new range a day before everyone else, and your early-access link is in the card below.Early access for past customersSee the new rangeNo tool can message past customers first, so the Story asks them to write. A Story reply is a message, so the card follows straight away, with no YES step. Turn on “Ask for their email first” as well, and you can still reach them by email after the 24 hours run out.
Pick Story replies
Connect your Instagram account and add an auto-reply for people who answer your Stories.
Set the word: EARLY
Story replies with the word EARLY in them get this message.
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
- Through Meta's API, which every official tool uses, a business can message someone only within 24 hours of that person's most recent message. Buying from you, liking a post or following you doesn't open that window.
- Each new message restarts the 24 hours. A reply to your Story and a mention of you in their Story both count as messages.
- A comment allows one private reply, sent within 7 days of the comment. The 24-hour window only opens when the person answers it.
- Meta's human agent tag lets a person answer support questions for up to 7 days after the last message. It isn't for win-back offers, launches or other marketing.
- No official tool can send a DM to all your followers, or to all your past customers, at once.
- Messages you type in the Instagram app don't go through the API, but Instagram can still restrict accounts whose messaging looks like spam.
Sources
The 24-hour rule, with a real example
Say a customer messaged you in March to ask about sizes, then placed an order. Through Meta's API, anything automated had to go out within 24 hours of their last message that month. By June, when your new range arrives, no tool can reach them, however much they liked the first order. The window opens again only when they write to you.
| Past customer | Can a tool DM them? | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Bought on your website, never messaged | No | Email them, if they agreed to hear from you |
| Last messaged you three weeks ago | No, that window closed long ago | A personal message typed in the app, or a Story they can reply to |
| Replied to your Story an hour ago | Yes, for 24 hours | Answer now; links and offers are allowed |
| Commented on your post yesterday | One private reply, within 7 days | Ask a question; the chat opens if they answer |
| Follows you but has never written | No | Posts and Stories, or a broadcast channel if you run one |
Ways to get past customers writing first
- A Story aimed at them, with a word to reply, such as “Ordered before? Reply EARLY.” Every reply opens the chat.
- A post or Reel with a comment word in the caption. Each comment allows one private reply, and their answer to it opens the 24 hours.
- A note in the parcel or the order email: “DM us REFILL when you're running low.” Their message starts the conversation.
- Ads, if you run them. Meta lets you show an ad to a list of customers you upload, and the ad's button can open a DM with you.
- A broadcast channel, if your account has one. Followers who join see your updates, and anyone ready to buy can then message you.
Tip: Give each campaign its own word, such as EARLY for a launch and REFILL for reorders, so you can tell which prompt brought people back.
Writing to regulars by hand
Messages you type yourself in the Instagram app don't go through Meta's API, so the 24-hour limit for tools doesn't apply to them. That doesn't make every message welcome. A note from a shop someone has bought from twice, about something they'd want, usually is. The same words pasted to two hundred people are spam, and Instagram can limit accounts that send lots of near-identical messages.
- Choose a handful of people you've actually talked to, not everyone who ever bought.
- Give a reason that's about them: their size is back, their usual has a new flavour, it's been a year.
- Ask one easy question, so a reply takes a word.
- Spread them over a few days rather than sending them in one sitting.
- Take a no at once, and write it down.
Keep a way back for next time
Every chat closes 24 hours after its last message, so the moment a past customer is talking to you is the moment to ask how you can reach them later. An email address lasts; a DM thread doesn't. In DMFast, “Ask for their email first” puts that question before the link goes out, turns away throwaway addresses and keeps every address for CSV export, so your next launch can reach them by email.
What to measure
Count how many past customers reply to each Story prompt, how many tap the early-access card (a tracked link shows this), and how many order again within a month. If plenty reply but few order, the offer is the problem, not the message. If nobody replies, try a different word, a different day or a clearer reason to write.
Questions people ask
Can I send a DM to all my past customers on Instagram?
Not with any official tool. Meta's API lets a business message someone only within 24 hours of their last message, and there's no bulk option for customers or followers. You can type personal messages to a few regulars in the app, but a mass message is exactly what the rule is there to stop.
What is Instagram's 24-hour messaging rule?
It's Meta's rule for business messages sent through its API: they can only go out within 24 hours of the person's most recent message, and every new message from them restarts the clock. A person using the human agent tag gets up to 7 days, for support only, never marketing.
Does replying to my Story let me message them?
Yes. A reply to your Story arrives in your DMs as a message, so for the next 24 hours you can answer it, automatically or by hand, with links and offers if they fit. That's why a Story aimed at past customers is the most direct way to restart a conversation.
Is it okay to message old customers by hand?
A few personal messages, to people you've really dealt with and about something relevant to them, are usually welcome. Copy-paste messages to long lists aren't, and Instagram can restrict accounts that send them. Stop the moment someone says no.
Can DMFast run a win-back campaign?
No, because Meta's rules don't allow one through any official tool, DMFast included. What it can do is answer instantly when past customers reply to a Story, mention you, comment a word or DM you, and collect their email address so you can reach them next time.
Related templates
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