Instagram has evolved significantly through the years, transforming from just an image-sharing app into a social media platform that has taken over the e-commerce world by storm. Brands and businesses are now able to leverage on Instagram’s huge following and its features keep on evolving for the better.
Essentially a marketer’s playground, Instagram has become the de facto platform for consumers to go to now for e-commerce. Brands are able to purchase ads with some even having a followership large enough to earn the Instagram Shopping feature. Additionally, Instagram allows marketers and brand owners to delve into the consumers they are targeting by allowing analytics to study the stats behind your audience. It is no surprise then that Instagram Shopping is purported to receive 130 million taps every month, proving that people are making endless purchases on Instagram. It is undeniable that Instagram has become the new way to grow in this pandemic era.
Instagram: A Place to Share & Transact
Instagram has grown to become a platform for interactions and transactions between consumers and brands. Instagram found that 90% of its users follow at least one business account.
With the pandemic and closure of physical stores, consumers are getting closer and closer to brands. Instagram features such as comments, likes, Instagram Stories and Direct Messages help to keep the customer-brand relationship alive and help brands to understand what their customers want.
Such close and frequent interactions have grown increasingly attractive to consumers and essential to businesses which have led to the latest release of the Messenger API for Instagram. With enhanced tools to allow more efficient and private communication with consumers, the API has added a new dimension to Customer Experience (CX), a crucial tool that businesses need to adopt nowadays to be able to increase sales and online presence.
New Features in the Messenger API for Instagram
The Messenger API for Instagram brings with it many features although not all can be accessed by general users. Since the initial period of the release of the Messenger API for Instagram, it has been divided into three phases for allowing access to the API suite of features:
- Phase 1: Business Instagram accounts with 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- Phase 2: Business Instagram accounts with 1,000 to 100,000 followers
- Phase 3: All business IG accounts will eventually be able to access the API, estimated at the end of the third Quarter in 2021
With the Messenger API for Instagram, it also means that it can now be integrated and accessed on one dashboard using multichannel services. This adds more convenience to businesses, which allows them to save more time in responding to consumer messages. Learn about these features, include private replies, quick replies, generic templates and ice breakers, in more detail here.
Terms for Using Messenger API for Instagram
What is very clear is that the Messenger API for Instagram is here to help businesses optimize the Instagram Direct Message function. It also allows businesses to integrate their Instagram accounts into other channels using multichannel.
There are two conditions to note to be able to use the Messenger API for Instagram, namely:
Brands must own a Business Instagram account
If you already have a Personal Instagram account, you can switch to a Business Instagram account under “Settings” through your profile menu. Next, the “Switch to Professional Account” option will appear. Select “Business Account”, and add the relevant contact information. In addition to making it easier to use the Messenger API for Instagram feature, an Instagram Business account can also help to increase brand presence with various features that support digital business activities.
Your Instagram account must be connected to a Facebook Page
To use the Messenger API for Instagram feature, your Instagram Business account must first be connected to a Facebook Page. Connecting Instagram with a Facebook Page has many advantages, one of which is using the Instagram Shop feature. If you already have an Instagram Business account and a Facebook Page, you can connect the two by clicking “Edit Profile” on Instagram, selecting “Page”, and clicking the Facebook Page you want to link to. However, if you don’t have a Facebook Page, click the “Create New Page” option.
After activating an Instagram Business account connected to a Facebook Page, you can now start using the Messenger API for Instagram feature, which can then be integrated with multichannel. You will now be able to communicate with consumers on Instagram DM and other channels in one dashboard.
Integrate Messenger API for Instagram with Multichannel
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumer behavior has transformed the face of transactions. For businesses, one way to win in the current pandemic era is to adapt to consumer behavior and develop customer experience (CX) strategies. Integrating two or more messaging platforms in one dashboard can help your business deliver a positive and responsive CX.
Integrate Messenger API for Instagram through multichannel platform and increase your business reach to create memorable CX with Qiscus here.
