An average Instagram shop gets dozens of DMs a day: "is this in stock?", "how much?", "are you open Saturday?". Each one is a potential buyer — and each delayed reply is a buyer walking to a competitor.
The three levels of automation
1. Saved replies (the basic level) Meta offers saved replies and away messages for free. Fine to start, but customers instantly recognize a template — and real questions ("do you have the blue one in M?") go unanswered.
2. Keyword rules Tools that trigger when a message contains "price" or "hours". The problem: customers don't write in keywords. They write "hey is this 1 cheap??" — and the rule fails.
3. An AI assistant (the level that pays off) An AI trained on your business content understands the question however it's phrased, in any language, and answers with your real data: prices, stock, hours, bookings. When it doesn't know or the customer asks for a person — it hands the conversation to your team and pings your phone.
What to keep in mind
- Instagram and WhatsApp have rules — automation must go through Meta's official APIs (not fake accounts or grey tools that risk getting your page blocked).
- First questions decide everything — configure starter questions (the tappable prompts customers see before typing) to guide conversations.
- A human always within reach — good automation knows its limits. Sensitive conversations should reach people, immediately.
How Toong does it
Toong connects officially to Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Telegram as a verified Meta Tech Provider. The assistant is trained on your website, price lists and FAQs; replies in the customer's language; takes bookings from your calendar; and when a human is needed, your team takes over with one click.
Connecting Instagram takes about 2 minutes — try it free.
