By business · Teaching and courses

Instagram auto-replies for online tutors

Online tutors can use Instagram DM automation to answer the questions that arrive mid-lesson: fees, demo classes, which syllabus you cover and when the next batch starts. When a student or parent types FEES, DEMO or SOLUTION in a comment or a DM, the answer goes out even if you're halfway through explaining a quadratic to someone else.

Updated 6 October 2026

Start free See the set-ups

Comment words for online tutors

Ask people to comment one word in your caption or video. Each word sends something different.

SOLUTION: The worked solution to the question in your Reel, every step shown, with the trap most students fall into.
DEMO: How your free demo class works: its length, what you'll assess and the page to book it.
FEES: The fee sheet parents ask for: per-class and monthly prices, group rates, how to pay and your cancellation notice.
BATCH: Start date, timings and seats left in the next small-group batch for one subject and exam year.
FORMULAS: Every formula from the topic in your carousel on one printable page, each with a line on when to use it.
TIMETABLE: A revision timetable that counts back from the first exam and spreads topics across the weeks, with rest days.
PARENTS: A one-page guide for parents: how classes run, how you report progress and how you handle contact with students.

4 set-ups to try

Each one shows the conversation it creates. After a comment, the first DM is plain text, as Meta requires, and the link follows once they answer.

Worked solution from a “solve this” Reel
Someone comments on your post
SOLUTION
Public reply under their comment
Look in your DMs for the worked solution ✏️
First DM (plain text)
Nice work having a go. The full solution shows every step, plus the trap most students fall into at step three. Want me to send it?Yes pleaseStep-by-step worked solutionSee the steps
Puzzle Reels reach the students you teach, and the worked solution shows how you explain a method, which is what a parent wants to judge before booking. Say “comment SOLUTION” in the video and the caption, since many viewers post their answer instead.
Fee sheet for parents who message FEES
FEESThank you for asking about classes. Fees depend on the level and on 1:1 or group classes, and every student starts with a free demo. Shall I send the fee sheet with this term's timings?Fees, timings and the demo classSee the fees
Parents write “fees?”, “charges?” or “how much per month?”, so give this auto-reply FEES, CHARGES and HOW MUCH. Their messages tend to arrive after school and work, exactly when you're likely to be mid-class, and a full answer at once saves them a long wait.
Seats in the next batch from a Story
Replied to your story
BATCHHi, the new Saturday batch for exam-year maths starts on the 1st, with six seats and two hours of class a week. Would you like the timings and how to reserve a seat?Next batch: timings and seatsReserve a seat
A batch announcement reaches families who already follow you, and a reply to it is a warm enquiry. Change the date and subject each time you announce a new batch, and pause the auto-reply once the seats are gone.
Revision timetable that builds an email list
Someone comments on your post
TIMETABLE
Public reply under their comment
Have a look in your DMs 📅
First DM (plain text)
Thanks for commenting. The timetable counts back from your first exam and spreads every topic across the weeks, with rest days built in. Shall I send you a copy?Yes pleaseRevision timetable templateGet the timetable
Collect emails on this one. Families decide on tutoring around exam season, but Instagram won't let you message anyone more than a day after they last wrote to you. An email list, downloadable as a CSV, lets you announce next term's batches to everyone who asked.

Freebies worth commenting for

A revision timetable template that counts back from the first exam date
A one-page formula sheet for a single topic, such as trigonometry, with a worked example per formula
A guide to exam command words: what “explain”, “evaluate” and “compare” each ask for
The ten mistakes that cost the most marks in your subject, with a fix for each
A 20-minute diagnostic quiz with an answer key, to find gaps before the first class
An essay-planning frame for literature and history answers
A night-before-the-exam checklist: what to pack, what to skim and when to stop
A times-tables tracker for primary pupils, with a weekly target
A parents' guide to how classes run, how progress is reported and how to cancel

Students watch your Reels, parents book the classes

For school-age learners, the person who books and pays is usually a parent, while the student is the one who saw your Reel. Write the study words (SOLUTION, FORMULAS, TIMETABLE) for students and the business words (FEES, DEMO, BATCH, PARENTS) for parents.

Instagram places users under 18 in Teen Accounts, which by default can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to. Take that as your cue: arrange fees, timings and payment with parents, by email or on your booking page, and keep any contact with students on channels their parents know about. Safeguarding expectations for tutors vary between countries, so find out what applies where you teach.

Questions that arrive while you're teaching

Question	Auto-reply sends	Step in yourself if
“Do you teach our syllabus?”	The boards, curricula and levels you cover, on the FEES card	It's a syllabus you haven't taught before
“What are your fees?”	FEES, with group rates and how to pay	They ask about a sibling discount or a custom schedule
“Can we try a class first?”	DEMO, with what you'll check in it	The parent wants to talk about a learning difficulty or extra support
“Is the next batch full?”	BATCH, with seats left	It's full and they'd like a 1:1 slot instead
“Can you do my assignment?”	Nothing	Always: you'll teach the method, but you won't complete graded work
“Are classes in our time zone?”	Timings on the FEES card, with the city whose clock you use	They live abroad and need a slot outside your usual hours

Tip: Some parents ask about background checks, such as a DBS check in England and Wales. If you have one, say so in the PARENTS guide, so the question is answered before anyone has to ask it.

Reels and Stories that start tutoring enquiries

A “solve this in 60 seconds” Reel with SOLUTION. Pause before the answer so viewers try it first.
A carousel of one topic's formulas, each with a tiny example, and FORMULAS on the last slide for the printable sheet.
A screen recording of part of a class, with the family's permission and no names or faces, followed by DEMO for a free class.
A Story in the weeks before mocks or boards asking which topic worries students most, then a Reel answering the top reply.
A post for parents on how you report progress and set homework, with PARENTS for the guide.
A Story announcing a new batch, with BATCH in the text along with the subject, the exam year and the number of seats.

On results day, students and parents often tag their tutor in Stories. Thank them yourself, by name: on a day like that, a personal reply means more than anything automated.

Exam seasons and enquiry peaks

Before term: many families look for a tutor in the weeks before the school year, which means August and September in much of the northern hemisphere and around April for CBSE schools in India.
Mock exams and pre-boards show families where the gaps are. Keep DEMO and FEES current through that term.
Exam season: India's CBSE board exams begin in February, AP exams are held in May, and GCSE and A-level exams run through May and June. Crash-course batches fill in the weeks before each.
Results: A-level and GCSE results come out in August in England, which brings resit questions and bookings for the next year.
Holidays: point BATCH at your holiday crash course, and switch off auto-replies for batches that have closed.

Ground rules for tutors

Academic honesty: say on the fee sheet that you teach methods and check practice work, and that you don't complete graded assignments or tests.
Consent: get a parent's written OK before posting a student's work, voice, name, face or results.
Cancellations: put your notice period on the FEES card, so a missed-class conversation starts from a rule the family has already seen.
Instagram's limits: one private reply per comment, inside a week of it being posted, and no more than 750 private replies an hour per account. DMFast holds back anything over 700 and sends it afterwards, which matters when a puzzle Reel goes round a school.
Account type: auto-replies run on Creator and Business accounts only, so convert a personal tutoring account before you start.

Messages to copy

Questions people ask

Can I send class reminders by DM?

Only to someone who has messaged you in the past 24 hours, which is Meta's rule for business messages. DMFast's scheduled DMs, on Pro and above, have to land inside that window too. For a reminder before every class, email or your booking tool is more dependable.

Students comment their answer, not the word. Do they still get the solution?

Only if their comment includes the word. For a puzzle Reel, set the auto-reply on that post with no keyword, and every comment gets the worked solution. Link-only and promo-spam comments are ignored, and nobody receives the same auto-reply more than once a day.

Can parents pay for classes through DMFast?

In India, yes: the DMFast store takes bookings for 1-on-1 sessions, free or paid through Razorpay, and can sell notes or recorded lessons as digital products, with no DMFast fee on sales. Elsewhere, point the card at the payment or booking page you already use.

I teach two subjects. Can each have its own replies?

Yes. Each auto-reply has its own words, first message and card, and runs on one post or on all of them. Use FORMULAS on maths posts, for example, and a different word on chemistry posts, so nobody gets the wrong sheet.

Does it work with a Facebook Page?

Yes. A Facebook Page can run the same keyword replies on its post comments and in Messenger, which helps with parents who spend more time on Facebook than on Instagram. The BATCH Story set-up and the follow gate need Instagram, since Facebook has neither.

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Answer every SOLUTION comment in seconds

Pick a post and the word. DMFast replies under each comment, sends the DM and follows with your link once they answer, day and night. It can collect emails on the way. Free plan, no card.

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