In order to improve the customer service experience provided through Messenger, Facebook enforces a policy for direct message (DM) conversation response time limits on Facebook and Instagram. Please note that since this is a Facebook policy, there is no option to remove or adjust it in Social Media Management.

The policy includes rules and regulations on response windows for when you can reply to DMs and what the content can be included. The policy in place primarily to prevent spam to customers, such as excessive automated bot messages or promotional offers. Furthermore, it promotes a timely and professional customer service experience for users.

This policy took effect on March 4, 2020. This article will describe the changes on Facebook and Instagram, as well as within the Social Media Management platform.

Any time an Instagram direct message is received in Engage, the response window is set to 7 days.

Once 7 days pass after you received the last message in the conversation, you cannot make any further replies to the conversation.

If you receive a message in the conversation again from the customer's side, will you have another 7 days to send them a response.

For Facebook, Social Media Management will help you navigate the responses policy by introducing a combination of response windows and response types for Facebook direct messages. Meaning, the reply you can send through Social Media Management depends on the elapsed time since you’ve received the last DM, and the content of your intended reply.

If you’re responding to a Facebook DM more than 7 days after receiving it, you are required to limit the subject of your message to one or more of the following three message tags:

Before drafting a response, please select the message tag that fits your intended reply. If no tag fits your message, your response may not be sent according to Facebook’s policy. In that case, the conversation can only be continued if your customer sends a new reply.

More information on the policy change can be found here and more information on the message tags can be found here.

Should your DM replies frequently violate the new policy, your Page might temporarily or permanently lose the permission to send direct messages. In those cases, Facebook will send warnings with further details. They can be found in your Page Support Inbox on Facebook natively, under the Settings menu of your Page.

Please bear in mind that the response window policy is primarily meant to deter spam coming from promotional offers and automated bots. If your company uses DMs purely for responding to customer inquiries, it is unlikely that your Page is at risk of a policy violation.