Instagram questions are not conversations, they are reactions to a single post. Someone has seen one photo, knows nothing else about you, and wants to know whether the thing is still available, what it costs, and whether you can do it for them. The same handful of questions arrive every week, in slightly different words, and typing them out individually is the main time cost of selling on Instagram.
Below are the actual questions by industry, with answers at the length a phone screen tolerates. Use them where they fit and swap in your own specifics where they do not.
Why Instagram questions look different from website questions
They arrive mid-scroll, from someone who has not seen your site. Handling the channel itself is a separate job from writing the answers.
Four differences, and they change what you should write.
- The question is about one specific post. So your answer has to work for the general case: how availability works, not whether that one item is in stock.
- The asker has no context. On a website they arrived through navigation. Here they arrived through an algorithm, and they have seen one photo.
- Price is the number one question, because most Instagram posts do not carry one. If you publish nothing else, publish the range.
- Nobody can see your previous answers. You have replied to this forty times and the forty-first person has no way of knowing. Every DM answer is single-use, which is why these belong on a page.
The seven categories worth building
If you want a channel-neutral starting point first, there are fifty questions across every category, and the WhatsApp version of this list covers the same ground for chat.
Most businesses need the same seven buckets. Fill these before inventing anything clever.
| Category | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Prices | Range, what is included, deposits, payment methods |
| Availability and booking | How far ahead, how to book, waiting times, cancellation terms |
| Where and when | Address, parking, access, opening hours, holiday closures |
| What you actually offer | Including the adjacent thing people keep asking for that you do not do |
| Delivery or shipping | Areas covered, timings, costs, collection option |
| Returns, changes and refunds | The window, the condition, who pays postage |
| How it works | The process, start to finish, for anyone buying this type of thing for the first time |
The fourth row is the one businesses skip and the one that saves the most time. Publishing what you *do not* do removes a whole class of DMs and a whole class of disappointed customers.
Two things stay out of all seven: anything that depends on the individual customer, and anything you are not qualified to answer - medical, legal, tax or immigration. Say so and give the route instead.
Hair and beauty salons
| Question as asked | Answer |
|---|---|
| How much for balayage on hair like mine? | [Range] depending on length and how many sessions it takes. We quote exactly at a free consultation, which takes fifteen minutes and can be the same day. |
| Do I need a patch test? | Yes for any colour, at least 48 hours before. Five minutes, walk in any time we are open. Without it we cannot colour, no exceptions. |
| How far ahead do I need to book? | About [two weeks] for colour, a few days for a cut. Cancellations come up most mornings, so ask. |
| Can you fix colour done somewhere else? | Usually, and we will be honest if it needs more than one visit. Send a photo in daylight and we will tell you before you book. |
| Do you charge if I cancel? | Free up to 24 hours before. Inside that we charge [amount], which we waive if you are ill. |
The pattern to copy: every answer contains a number the customer could not have guessed. "A range plus a free consultation" ends the exchange. "It depends on your hair" starts four more messages.
Clothing and accessory boutiques
| Question as asked | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is this still available? | If it is on the site it is in stock, and the site updates live: [link]. Sold-out sizes restock most [Thursdays]. |
| What size is the model wearing? | She is [height] in a size [M]. Every post lists the size worn in the caption, and full measurements are on each product page. |
| Does it run small? | [Brand] runs about a size small, [brand] is true to size. If you are between sizes in either, go up. |
| Do you ship to [country]? | Yes, [cost], usually [5 to 7 days]. Duties are not included and are charged on delivery. |
| Can I return it if it does not fit? | [30 days], unworn with tags. Postage is on us within [country], and exchanges for a different size we do same day. |
| Do you hold items? | For [24 hours] if you message us. Beyond that we put it back, because somebody else always wants it. |
"Is this still available" is the single most common boutique DM and it should never be answered one item at a time. Answer the *rule* - where stock is visible and when restocks happen - and the question stops arriving.
Cafes and small food businesses
| Question as asked | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are you open today? | [Hours], [days]. We close [Mondays] and on bank holidays we post it the week before. |
| Do you do proper gluten-free or just a brownie? | Separate prep area, [four] gluten-free items daily including bread. Full allergen list: [link] |
| Can I book a table? | Tables of [five] and up, yes. Below that it is walk-in and the wait is rarely more than [ten minutes] outside [Sunday brunch]. |
| Do you take cards? | Cards and phone payments only, no cash. |
| Can I bring my dog? | Yes, everywhere except the upstairs room. Water bowls by the door. |
| Do you do the [cake] from the post to order? | Yes, [48 hours] notice and [amount] for the eight-inch. Message us with the date and we will confirm. |
Food questions are overwhelmingly operational: open, allergens, booking, payment, dogs. None of them needs you personally, and most get asked at eleven at night when you are closed and the answer would have taken one tap.
Gyms, yoga and fitness studios
| Question as asked | Answer |
|---|---|
| How much is it and is there a contract? | [Amount] a month rolling, cancel any time with [a month's] notice. Class packs from [amount] if you do not want a membership. |
| Can I try before I join? | First class free, no card needed. Book here: [link] |
| I am a total beginner, will I be the only one? | No. [Two] classes a week are beginners-only, and the instructor is told in advance so nothing is assumed. |
| Do I need to book or can I turn up? | Book for classes, turn up for the gym floor. Classes fill [two days] ahead for evenings. |
| What do I bring? | Water, something to train in, and that is it. Mats, towels and lockers are here. Showers have soap, no towels. |
| Can I freeze my membership? | Yes, up to [two months] a year for injury, illness or travel. Message us before the billing date rather than after. |
The beginner question is the one that converts. Answer it with specifics rather than reassurance - a named class and a named arrangement beats "everyone is welcome".
Photographers and creatives
| Question as asked | Answer |
|---|---|
| What do you charge for a wedding? | Packages from [amount], and the most-booked is [amount] for [eight hours and two photographers]. Full breakdown: [link] |
| Are you free on [date]? | Check live availability here: [link]. If the date shows as taken, ask anyway - I keep a short waiting list. |
| How many photos do I get and when? | [Around 400] edited images, delivered in [four weeks], with a preview set within [three days]. |
| Do I own the photos? | You get full personal use including prints and social. I keep the copyright and ask before using any in my portfolio. |
| What if it rains? | We shoot anyway. I have done [number] of them and the indoor and umbrella shots are often the best in the set. |
| Do you travel? | Anywhere in [region] at no extra cost. Beyond that, travel and a night's accommodation added at cost, quoted before you book. |
Creative pricing questions get the most evasive answers on Instagram and it costs work. A starting figure filters out the people who were never going to book and reassures the ones who were.
Local services and trades
| Question as asked | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do you cover [area]? | Yes, anywhere within [radius]. Further out we do, with a [amount] travel charge quoted before we book anything. |
| How quickly can you come? | Emergencies same day where we can. Routine work is about [a week] at the moment. |
| Can you give me a price from a photo? | A rough one, yes, and it is genuinely rough. Send photos and the rooms or measurements and we will give a range, then confirm on site. |
| Is there a call-out charge? | [Amount], taken off the bill if you go ahead. Nothing at all if we cannot get access. |
| Are you insured and qualified? | [Amount] public liability and [registration] registered. Numbers are on every quote. |
| Do you clear up afterwards? | Yes, including taking the old [unit] away. It is in the quote, not an extra. |
The last row is the kind of question that never appears on a template list and arrives constantly. Those are the ones worth collecting from your own messages.
The questions to put in your DM prompts
Instagram lets a professional account show a few tappable questions when someone opens a new chat, and most businesses fill those slots with greetings. Use them instead for whatever costs you the most repeat typing. For nearly every business on this page that means some combination of what does it cost, are you available, do you cover my area or ship to me and how do I book, with each answer ending in a link rather than trying to be complete in a chat bubble.
Comment questions and DM questions are not the same set
Worth separating, because the answers belong in different places.
| Asked in comments | Asked in DMs |
|---|---|
| Price, availability, "where is this from", "do you ship to X" | Anything personal: my order, my booking, my measurements, my complaint |
| Asked by people who want others to see the answer too | Asked by people who would rather not ask publicly |
| Answer publicly, once, then pin it | Answer privately, and send the published link alongside |
Anything that shows up in comments repeatedly should be in the caption or the first pinned comment of the next post. That is a free FAQ slot most businesses never use.
Name your highlights after these categories
Highlights point; they do not hold the detail. Decide where that link should point before you design them.
Your highlight names are a navigation menu, and "Info", "More" and "Deets" tell nobody anything. Rename them after the seven categories above, then use each one to point at where that answer actually lives.
Building your own list, the Instagram way
Collect from three places rather than one, and write down which post each question came from. That last detail is what makes this exercise better on Instagram than anywhere else.
- •Your DMs, verbatim, including the badly phrased ones. The badly phrased version is how the next person will search.
- •Your comments, which are a different set and skew towards price and availability.
- •The post each question followed. If one Reel generated eleven sizing questions, the caption is the problem and the FAQ entry is only half the fix.
Anything asked three times is an FAQ entry. Anything asked once was a real conversation and should stay one. Answrii takes the collected set and publishes it as a structured, searchable page in the languages your customers read, with a record of what people searched for and did not find.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions should an Instagram FAQ have?
Fifteen to twenty-five for most small businesses, grouped into the seven categories above. Fewer than a dozen and people still message you. More than about thirty-five and nobody finds anything.
Where should the FAQ actually live?
On a page, linked from your bio and sent in replies. Instagram has no way to hold twenty searchable answers - the DM prompts hold a handful and highlights cannot be searched at all. Keep the three most-asked as saved replies for speed, and let the page carry the rest.
What do I do about questions arriving on posts from a year ago?
Answer them, briefly, and check whether the post is still accurate. Old posts keep circulating, and an out-of-date price in a caption generates DMs indefinitely. If an old post is still bringing questions, that is a sign it is worth a fresh one.
Should I answer price questions in the comments or send people to a link?
Answer in the comments, with the range, and link for the detail. Replying "DM us for prices" to a public question reads as evasive and guarantees you answer it again next week. The range in public is what stops the question repeating.
Should I put prices in my FAQ if I do not put them in posts?
Yes, at least a range. Price is the most-asked Instagram question by a wide margin, and withholding it does not create enquiries, it creates one-line DMs you have to answer individually. A range plus what changes it is enough.
How do I stop people messaging when the answer is already published?
Put the link where the question happens: the bio, the DM prompts, the away message, the caption of the post that keeps generating it. And make the first line of each answer do the work, so one tap settles it.
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