A business’ success is not only determined from the quality of its products and services but also the strong relationships it forges with customers. Strong customer relationships can foster long-term trust and loyalty; in fact, 83% of customers are found to refuse to transact with businesses or brands they do not trust. To strengthen customer relationships, businesses need to create meaningful conversations with customers, and even more so on social media platforms such as Instagram, where most customers are on now.
With one billion monthly active users under its wings, Instagram has always been targeted by businesses and brands as a place to create meaningful conversations to strengthen relationships with customers online. It is found that more than 150 million people on Instagram have a conversation with businesses or brands every month.
Check out the following article to find out how to create meaningful conversations with your audience on Instagram.
Increase Two-Way Communication on Instagram to Create Meaningful Conversations
To create meaningful conversations with customers, businesses need to vary how they interact with customers on Instagram. Instead of just sharing content on product and service benefits, businesses may now find that producing thought-provoking content and those that leads to a Call-to-Action are the ones which incite conversations with their followers. Whether it is through an interesting caption on a post or asking questions and creating an interactive poll on Instagram Stories, attracting the attention of followers is a large step to turning them into customers.
When posting content on Instagram, telling a relevant and interesting story in the caption is the tip of the iceberg. Customers today want to be heard – go one step further and encourage your audience to share their stories in the comments section. For example, if you are the owner of a coffee shop business, perhaps talk about a public or famous figure who likes to drink coffee and then invite the audience to talk about their favorite type of coffee or if they have a taste similar to the public figure’s favourite coffee.
Sparking conversations are one of the best ways to attract your audience’s attention. Using Instagram Stories or Reels, create a poll or ask a question to customers about their opinion on what they want most in a coffee shop. Whether it’s the taste of the coffee, the atmosphere and interior of the coffee shop, or the pleasant service, it is all in the details to better understand what your audience likes to show that you are genuine in wanting to provide them with the best products and services.
Talking to customers about their experiences is one way that businesses can create meaningful conversations. People love it when their thoughts and opinions are heard. In addition, businesses will also gain insights into the thoughts, preferences and behaviors of their audiences.
Have Meaningful Conversations More Effectively On Messenger API for Instagram
While creating meaningful conversations, it’s important for businesses to pay attention to every message and comment they receive from their audience on Instagram. Businesses must respect, empathize with and listen to their audience actively.
When your audience has responded to a question you have asked, whether it’s through a Story reply or a comment on a post, make sure you reply and create further conversations. Demonstrate a genuine commitment to listen to any opinions or suggestions a customer has.
The Messenger API for Instagram, launched by Qiscus in June 2021, is a solution aimed at Instagram Business accounts which need to overcome large-scale customer inquiries and requests. Messenger API for Instagram helps businesses respond to messages and comments from their audience more effectively and efficiently, and quickly, making it easier for businesses to create meaningful conversations on Instagram with their followers and customers.
Never Miss a Message from Followers Again
Replying to messages and comments of your audience shows responsiveness, making customers feel seen and heard, and thus more excited to engage with the your business. 80% of customers say that speed, convenience, knowledgeable help , and friendly service are the most important elements of a positive customer experience.
Messenger API for Instagram, which is integrated into Qiscus Multichannel Chat, consists of various features that businesses may find helpful in avoiding missing messages from the audience. The Story Mention and Private Replies features are especially useful for you to keep track of who is communicating with your brand.
The Story Mention feature notifies businesses when an audience or customer mentions a business on Instagram Stories. Such interactions will be collated in the Messenger API for Instagram to allow businesses to read and reply to them. The API also ensures that the messages can be categorized as pending or unresolved, or assigned to another person on the customer service team to manage.
The Private Replies feature, on the other hand, allows businesses to reply to comments which followers or the audience posts on public Instagram posts. Wia Direct Messages (DM), a follower who faces a transactional problem and submits his complaint in the comments section of any posts can be contacted right away via Direct Messaging for the business to offer immediate assistance. This is a useful way to manage complaints and feedback in a timely manner before things get out of hand.
The API also allows agents to have interactions with followers to put a human face to the brand. By introducing themselves by name and providing more specific assistance, such personal touches will leave a positive impact on the customer’s or follower’s perception of your brand.
Send Targeted Messages to Customers
By using the Messenger API for Instagram which is integrated into Qiscus Multichannel Chat, take advantage of the Customer Properties feature available in the Contact menu.
Customer Properties is where businesses can store important information including customer characteristics. Through Customer Properties, you can use relevant tags for every customer or lead who has contacted the business. Use these tags as keywords that are pegged to the Customer Properties list.
This way, you can easily send your audience or customers more targeted broadcast messages or promotional messages to audiences which are already categorised by the tags. Businesses can create more meaningful conversations this way because your messages can be customized to suit the followers’ characteristics in a closer way, making your messaging more relevant.
Meaningful Conversations = Customer Loyalty & Trust
With continue engagement and communication, brands can foster long-term trust and loyalty with their followers and customers to leave behind a positive Customer Experience. There are many ways that brands can take advantage of the features the Messenger API for Instagram can offer,
Messenger API for Instagram is made even more powerful with being integrated into Qiscus Multichannel Chat. Qiscus is here to make it easier for businesses to create meaningful conversations through more effective and efficient ways to improve the quality of communication as well as the responsiveness, and the targetted nature of broadcasting messages to customers with the Contact feature.
To receive all these benefits, you must own an Instagram Business account in order to use the Messenger API for Instagram and Qiscus Multichannel Chat. Want to know how you can also implement these in your business? Contact us here for a non-obligatory consultation.
