How Quickly Should You Reply to Instagram Enquiries From New Clients?
If you post regularly to Instagram or Facebook, you've probably noticed that DMs have quietly become one of the main ways new clients get in touch. (We wrote more about why this shift is happening in Why Beauty Clinics Run on DMs.) Someone sees a treatment photo, scrolls through your before-and-afters or educational posts for a minute or two, then sends a quick message:
“Hi, that looks great, how much is it?” “Can you fit me in this week?” “Where are you based?”
But there's a good chance this message hasn't just been sent to you. In most cases the potential new client has messaged two or three clinics at the same time. They are in “booking mode”, and are waiting for a reply. In this situation, the first helpful reply wins the booking. Not necessarily the cheapest clinic, or closest one, just the one that answered while the client was still actively looking.
DMs behave more like phone calls than emails. People expect a relatively quick response akin to ‘picking up the phone’. If they don't hear back, they try somewhere else.
So reply speed matters. A lot. One of the simplest ways to improve it is to use an Instagram inbox for beauty clinics that keeps all your messages in one organised view — so you can work through enquiries quickly without switching between apps.
When someone messages you, they are usually ready to book
By the time someone sends a DM asking about a treatment, they have normally already decided they want it. They are not casually browsing. They are comparing options. Once they receive a good response from a clinic, they often stop looking elsewhere. That means the difference between replying in ten minutes and replying three hours later can sometimes be the difference between winning or losing the booking.
How long do clients actually wait?
In reality, not very long.
Someone who messages during their lunch break is hoping for a reply by the time they finish work. If nothing comes back for several hours they often assume the clinic is busy, closed, or not interested.
A reply within ten or fifteen minutes is excellent. Within an hour is still very strong.
Once replies start drifting into several hours, the chances of converting that enquiry begin to drop. And when the reply arrives the next day it is quite common to discover the client has already booked somewhere else.
Existing clients are usually much more patient. They already know you, they trust your work, and they know you are worth the wait.
New enquiries are different. They don't know you yet. If they don't hear back, they simply move on.
The real problem: you're with clients all day
Of course, the obvious challenge is that beauty professionals are not sitting at a desk waiting for messages. You are with clients, and that of course needs your full attention. So what actually happens in most clinics is something like this.
Messages arrive during the day while you are busy. Many clinic owners describe this as a constant background pressure — something we explored further in Messaging Overwhelm: Why Beauty Professionals Struggle. You intend to reply later. By the time you look again, there are several conversations mixed together and it is not always obvious which ones are new enquiries and which ones are existing clients. Sometimes you reply in the evening. Sometimes the next day. Occasionally a message gets buried and never gets answered at all.
It is completely understandable. But from the client's perspective, they simply sent a message and never heard back.
One thing worth remembering is that replying late is still much better than not replying at all. Many clinics assume slow replies lose them bookings, but in reality it's often missed replies that cause the real damage. If a client receives a helpful and professional response, even a day later, they may still come back to you the next time they are looking for treatment. When a message is never answered, however, it leaves a much worse impression and the customer never comes back.
The simplest system that works for most clinics
One of the easiest improvements a clinic can make is to build specific message reply times into the day.
Instead of replying randomly when you remember, it helps to create a simple rhythm. Check and reply to messages three times a day if you can: once in the morning, once around the middle of the day, and once towards the end of the day. Depending on how many messages you get, ten to fifteen minutes each time can be enough to keep conversations moving. If you can, block those 15 minutes in your calendar.
Or, try to attach it to existing habits. If you always grab a coffee at a certain time of day, that can be a natural moment to quickly go through messages.
The key is making it part of your routine. If you need a clearer view of all incoming enquiries, the Esteti inbox for beauty clinics brings Instagram and Facebook messages into one organised workspace, making it much easier to work through conversations in batches.
Use automatic replies so people know you've seen them
Another very useful tool is the automatic reply.
Both Instagram and Facebook allow messages to be sent automatically when someone starts a conversation. It doesn't need to be complicated. Even a short message can be reassuring:
“Hi, thanks for your message. We're usually with clients during the day but we check messages regularly and will reply shortly.”
Or you can go a step further:
“Hi, thanks for your message! We're usually with clients during the day but we check messages regularly and will reply shortly. If you'd like to see our prices or book a consultation, you can do that here: [and then insert your booking link].”
The important thing is that the client knows their message has been received. Don't let them assume it has been missed.
Your automatic reply can do more than just say hello
A good automatic reply should answer a lot of common questions straight away — things like pricing, availability, and location are the most common things people ask about before booking.
You can include things like:
- A link to your booking page
- Your price list
- Answers to frequently asked questions
- Your location or opening hours
If a potential client can immediately see the price or book a slot online, they may not even need to wait for a conversation.
Instagram and Facebook also allow you to create menu options inside messages, such as:
- Get the price list
- Book a consultation
- Ask a question
This allows some enquiries to resolve themselves without you needing to respond instantly.
Save yourself from typing the same answers all day
Another small improvement many clinics overlook is using saved reply templates. Most enquiries ask the same handful of questions: price, location, availability, or how to book. If most of your bookings start in Instagram messages, it's worth thinking about how your clinic runs inside that inbox — something we discuss in How to Run Your Clinic Using Instagram DMs. Instead of typing the same answers again and again, Instagram allows professional accounts to create saved replies that you can insert in a couple of taps. This means you can answer common questions quickly without rushing your message or sounding abrupt. A short, friendly template with a link to your booking page or price list can keep the conversation moving while saving you a surprising amount of time over the course of a week.
Although these require a small amount of technical set up, they are worth it. In Instagram they are called Saved Replies, which are short templates you can insert into conversations. Facebook Messenger offers similar tools through Instant Replies/Automated Responses.
The controversial evening message check
A surprising number of enquiries arrive outside normal working hours. People often browse Instagram in the evening once their day has finished. That's when they start thinking about treatments and messaging clinics. A quick scroll turns into a DM asking about price or availability.
If those messages sit unanswered until the following afternoon, there is a good chance the client will have booked elsewhere.
So should you check messages in the evening? Everyone needs time away from work, and not every clinic wants messages creeping into the evening, so it's a personal decision. Ten minutes around 8 or 9pm is enough to acknowledge enquiries and keep the conversation moving.
If you prefer not to check messages at night, an evening automatic reply can help here as well. Something simple explaining that you will respond the next morning reassures people that the clinic is active and paying attention.
Even that small acknowledgement can be enough to stop a potential client from moving on to another clinic.
As your clinic grows, messages become harder to track
When a clinic is receiving just a few enquiries a day, it is relatively easy to stay on top of them.
As message volume grows, it becomes much harder. Many clinics try to solve this with traditional salon software, but those systems were never designed for social messaging.
Instagram, Facebook and other platforms all have their own inboxes. Conversations get mixed with existing clients, enquiries from new prospects, and general questions. During a busy week it becomes surprisingly easy for something to slip through the cracks.
This is one of the reasons tools like Esteti exist — to bring Instagram and Facebook enquiries into one organised inbox so clinics can see new enquiries clearly and respond before they go cold.
You don't need anything complicated to start with, but having a simple system for tracking conversations makes a big difference as the clinic grows.
The key idea to remember
Replying quickly does not mean constantly checking your phone or interrupting treatments. Put in place a simple system or routine for checking messages.
Use automatic replies so people know their message has been seen. Make it easy for clients to self-serve where possible.
When someone is ready to book a treatment, they often just want a quick answer and a clear next step.
The clinic that provides that first wins the appointment.
👉 How Beauty Clinics Use Instagram DMs to Get Clients
Managing Instagram DMs manually can quickly become overwhelming. If you want a simpler way to organise enquiries, track conversations and never miss a new client, see how the Instagram inbox for beauty clinics works.
Try Esteti
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