Instagram DMs

Your Instagram DMs, inside Maelo

Most enquiries start as an Instagram DM. Connecting Instagram brings those DMs into Maelo, so you can read and answer them next to your requests, calendar and clients, instead of switching between two apps all day.

Once connected, new DMs arrive in Maelo as they come in, and your replies from Maelo land in the client's Instagram chat exactly as if you had typed them in Instagram. The same connection can also send new enquiries a Book button and show your latest posts on your page.

Connecting Instagram

Go to Settings, then Integrations, then Instagram, and tap Connect Instagram. Instagram asks you to sign in, even if you are already signed in on that device, and then shows what Maelo is asking for. Allow messages so your DMs can come through.

It works with Instagram Business and Creator accounts. A personal account cannot connect. Switching is free and takes a minute in Instagram's own settings, and the Settings panel links to Instagram's guide.

Your existing chats

When you connect, Maelo brings in your recent conversations so the inbox is not empty on day one: up to 25 chats, with the newest 20 messages of each. That limit is Instagram's, not ours, so it is a head start rather than your full history. Older messages stay in Instagram, where they always were.

Everything that arrives after you connect comes through in full. If the inbox looks thin, Bring in recent chats in the Instagram settings runs the import again.

Reading and replying

Open Messages and switch from Clients to Instagram. Pick a chat to read it and reply. Photos, shared posts and reels, voice messages and story replies all show, and anything Instagram keeps to its own app is labelled rather than left blank.

A reference photo someone sends you in a DM can go straight onto their booking request: open the photo and choose Add to request. Maelo keeps its own copy, so it does not disappear when Instagram's link expires.

Auto-reply with a Book button

Turn on Reply to new enquiries with a Book button in the Instagram settings and Maelo answers a brand new enquiry straight away with a short message and a button that opens your booking form. You can write the message yourself or keep the one Maelo suggests.

It is careful about who it answers. It only replies to someone who has never messaged you on Instagram before, and only once. It never replies to people you follow, people you have already talked to, or replies to your stories, so friends and regulars never get a booking link they did not ask for.

Letting your AI assistant help

If you use Claude or ChatGPT with Maelo, you can let it read and draft replies to your Instagram DMs. Turn on Let AI assistants read and reply to your Instagram DMs in the Instagram settings. It is off until you choose it, and the assistant shows you each reply before anything is sent. Setting up an assistant is covered in AI assistants.

Disconnecting

Disconnect sits next to your connected account in the Instagram settings. It removes your Instagram chats from Maelo and stops your posts showing on your page. Nothing changes in Instagram itself, and you can reconnect any time.

If you get no DMs for around 50 days, Instagram signs Maelo out. The settings panel will say so, and reconnecting picks up where you left off.