You can already schedule posts and Stories on Instagram, and soon, you’ll be able to schedule your DMs as well.

Currently in testing with a select group of users, Instagram has added a new DM scheduling tool, so you can send your messages at optimal times.

As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Lindsey Gamble, some users on Android can now choose a date and time to send out their DMs, helping to align your outreach across time zones.

Which could be helpful for brands looking to reach people at the right times, or just for planning, and mapping out your content all at once.

Users with access to the option can schedule a DM by opening the relevant chat and creating a message, then long-pressing on the send button. That’ll open up the above prompt to schedule a date and time to send.

It could be a handy way to stay in touch with your audience, at the best times for them. And with more and more IG activity taking place in DMs, that could end up being a valuable outreach option in your toolkit.

Or alternatively, you could set up an AI bot to respond to your DMs for you.

I would recommend against this, as it can feel spammy and impersonal. But then again, at some level of scale, responding to all of your DMs can become laborious, and it could also be a consideration to help maximize your IG outreach.

Meta’s also experimenting with AI bots that will respond in the style of a creator, and even video chat bots that can talk to fans.

Meta’s a little too excited about AI in my opinion, but there are expanded options as well, if scheduling your DMs is not enough.

But for more small businesses at least, I’m guessing it will be, and it could be worth considering, once it becomes available to you.