How To Use Instagram Messaging For Business
Instagram DMs enable immediate one-on-one, business-to-consumer communication, allowing businesses to have several options to drive customer engagement. For example, you can:
Send images and videos that are informative or entertaining.
Share GIFs that show off your brand’s personality.
Use voice messages to coach clients or walk customers through troubleshooting.
Embed Instagram feed posts from your business, brand ambassadors, influencers, and more.
Drop a location pin to help customers navigate to stores, events, and more.
How to get the best use of Instagram
Reactions and replies to Instagram Stories go straight to businesses’ inboxes, which start a thread of communication or build upon previous conversations with that person.
When someone responds to your story, do you follow up with a message? This could be a great opportunity to engage with a potential customer since you already have their interest.
Want to make your super fans feel extra special? Surprise and delight them by sending exclusives, discounts and sneak peeks directly. Singling followers out and making them feel seen is sure to give them an elite experience.
Use the filter function to organize your inbox
Filters functions, found on the top right-hand corner of your DMs inbox, can help you organize and keep track of messages.
Once you open a DM, it’s marked as read, so if you’re not ready to respond, leave it unopened. Then, when you’re ready, apply the Unread filter to get back to that message.
Move people from the comment section to your DMs
Someone leave an outstanding comment about your product or service? Don’t wait for them to hit your DMs. Take the initiative and reply to their comment privately as a message.
Instagram DM templates
Save yourself some time by having a few pre-planned messages for common topics and FAQs on-hand. Here are a few scenarios in which your business should use Instagram messaging to connect with your audience, plus message templates.
Thank someone for following/liking
Welcome people to your community, make them feel seen, and start building a relationship from the jump.
“Thanks for following us and welcome to our Instagram community! We love hearing from our followers, so if you ever have questions, feedback or even just want to say hi, DM us here.”
Reply To Feedback
Whether someone wants to share their love for your brand or has feedback on how you can improve, respond. After all, customer feedback is how brands get better.
“Thank you so much for sharing your feedback. We’ll pass this along to our […] team. We’re always looking to improve our [customer experience, products, content…] and ensure that it stays [enjoyable, helpful, relevant…] which feedback like yours makes possible. Keep it coming!”
Reach out to influencers
Expand your influence. Use this template to connect with influencers about potential partnerships.
“Hi [name], we absolutely love your profile and the way you […]. Your latest post about […] really caught our attention. How would you feel about partnering with us on […]? If you’re interested, provide an email address and we can send you more information! We look forward to hearing from you.”
Be careful with auto-replies.
An instant reply to a message, especially when it’s set to reply to everyone, even your regulars, can create a disconnected experience. Remember, people like to be talked to, not talked at, so be careful of an auto-reply that feels generic and not personal.
Most people don’t expect an immediate reply, so it may be best to get rid of it all together.
Instagram is a fun place to hang out. If you want to make Instagram work for your business, try the above tips!
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