Key takeaways
- When someone messages your Facebook Page or Instagram professional account, you have 24 hours to reply with any message, offers included.
- After that, Meta allows only narrow exceptions. The human agent tag gives a person, not a bot, up to 7 days to answer an open question.
- A comment on your post or ad lets you send the commenter one private reply, within seven days of the comment.
- Plan broadcasts and follow-ups for people who wrote recently, and never message people who haven't contacted you.
The standard messaging window
Meta calls it the standard messaging window. It opens when a person contacts your business, for example when they:
- send a message to your Facebook Page or Instagram professional account,
- tap a button such as Get Started in your chat,
- follow an m.me or ig.me link back into a conversation they already have with you, or
- send their first message after tapping one of your click-to-message ads.
For most of these, the window lasts 24 hours, and each new message from the person opens it again. A first message from a click-to-message ad can keep it open for up to seven days. Inside the window, you can send any message, promotions included, and so can your automations.
Outside the window, a regular message can't be sent. Meta's messaging policy covers Messenger and Instagram alike, and Instagram adds a few limits of its own: quick replies are text only, and ice breakers show only in its mobile app.
The human agent tag: more time for a person
Some questions take longer than a day to settle: a refund that needs a manager, or a message that arrived on Friday night. For these, Meta offers the human agent tag. It lets someone on your team answer a person's message by hand for up to 7 days after it arrived.
- It is for replies a person writes. Meta describes it as a way for a business representative to respond manually, so automated messages don't qualify.
- It is for answering their question. Meta doesn't allow promotional content in tagged messages.
- Misuse has consequences. Using tags outside their approved purpose can restrict your Page's ability to send messages.
Comments and private replies
Many conversations start in the comments, with a "price?", a "link please" or an "is this still available?" Meta lets a business answer a comment on its post or ad with a private reply:
- one message per comment,
- sent within seven days of the comment,
- with a link back to the comment, added automatically.
If the person answers your private reply, they have messaged you, and the 24-hour window opens from their message. If they don't, that one message is all you get, so make it count: the link they asked for, the answer to their question and an easy next step.
A comment-to-DM automation does this for every comment that matches your keywords: it replies publicly, sends the private message and starts a conversation, and it only ever messages the people who commented. See how comment automation works.
Broadcasts and follow-ups within the rules
A broadcast on Messenger or Instagram can only reach people who messaged you in the last 24 hours. Meta's paid and opt-in marketing messages are separate products, and Postocial doesn't send them, so Postocial sends broadcasts to people inside the 24-hour window. That makes Messenger and Instagram broadcasts a tool for timely follow-ups rather than for reaching your whole audience:
- Send the answer to a question many people asked today, such as changed opening hours during a storm.
- Share today's offer with the people who asked about prices this morning.
- Thank everyone who messaged you during an event, with a link to the photos.
Sequences follow the same clock. A sequence sends a short series of timed messages after someone subscribes through a flow, and its standard sends go out only while that person's window is open. Plan the steps for the first day, stop the sequence when someone replies, and make each message useful on its own.
To reach people who haven't written recently, publish a post on your Page or account instead, or use a channel where they gave you their opt-in, such as approved templates on WhatsApp.
Automations and the window
A welcome message, a keyword reply or an AI reply answers inside the window the person has just opened, which is why automations suit Messenger and Instagram so well. Two habits keep them in good standing:
- Tell people they're chatting with an automated assistant where the law requires it. Meta's policy asks for this, and recommends it even where it isn't required.
- Offer a way to reach a person, and hand the conversation over when someone asks.
A checklist for Messenger and Instagram
- Every automated message answers someone who wrote, commented or tapped a button.
- Regular messages go out within 24 hours of the person's last message.
- Each comment gets at most one private reply, within seven days.
- Human agent replies are written by a person and answer that person's question.
- No promotions go out after the window closes.
- Broadcasts and sequences reach people who wrote recently, and stop when they reply or opt out.
- People can always reach a human, and know when they're talking to a bot.
Sources
Network rules, limits and specs in this article come from these pages, checked on November 1, 2026. Networks change them from time to time.