As you already know, the new Instagram Messaging API will make brand-to-consumer conversations way cooler. The Messenger API will integrate support for Instagram and will add many more conversational elements to Instagram direct messaging experience than what is available today. What does this mean for you as a brand?
You will be able to leverage the Jumper’s conversational commerce solutions for managing customer interactions on not just Facebook Messenger but also Instagram. For example, you will be able to deploy brand advisors to guide shoppers and enable automated self-serve checkouts via Instagram direct. You will also be able to manage conversations based on context, entry points, and customer needs. Here are some of the awesome conversational commerce features the new Instagram messaging experience will support:
- Manage Messenger and Instagram conversations together from Jumper’s unified inbox
- Answer product-specific shopper queries, drive sales conversions, generate leads, and offer customer care via Instagram messages
- Enable customers to send a direct message and start conversations from Instagram Shops and Stories
- Send private replies to customers who comment on your posts
- Receive message notifications when a consumer mentions your brand in their Instagram story
- Leverage clickable ‘Ice breakers’ and ‘Quick replies’ to help users respond quickly to standard qualifying questions (such as What do you need help with: ‘Shopping,’ ‘Order update,’ ‘Returns/exchanges’)
- Auto-respond with ‘Away messages’ when agents are offline
- Configure routing of conversations to relevant agents
- Set up chatbot automation to help customers self-checkout, track their orders, and respond to frequent customer queries
- Integrate Instagram customer data with your CRM applications
Together, these capabilities will make your Instagram brand presence more profitable from the perspective of shopper engagement, improve your customer experience, and increase sales opportunities.
Instagram messaging’s new conversational commerce capabilities are currently being rolled out to only a limited set of Instagram Business Accounts and geographies, subject to specific guidelines. And they will be made available to brands via Jumper.ai – An Approved Facebook Partner for Instagram Messaging API.
(If you are a brand looking to take your Instagram shopper engagement to the next level, Get in touch to discuss eligibility for early access.)
In this blog, we will give you an insider’s know-how on all the pre-requisites you need to comply with and the do’s and don’ts you need to adhere to before getting started with the new Instagram messaging experience.
4 Steps to Get Started with Instagram DM
Facebook’s guidelines around the roll-out of the new Instagram messaging features for brands are aligned with their overarching goal of preserving the platform’s integrity and providing a high quality of user experience. Below are the essential requirements you should consider before getting started with the 2020 Instagram messaging experience.
STEP 1: Check your brand’s eligibility
STEP 2: Staff and train your live agents
STEP 3: Analyze and finetune performance
STEP 4: Apply for the beta launch via your partner/provider
STEP 1: Check your brand’s eligibility for Instagram Messaging API
Brands wanting to adopt the new Instagram messaging must exhibit readiness and a real need for the advanced conversational features that come with it. Brands need to satisfy the below two conditions:
(i) The brand must have a high volume of incoming messages on Instagram. Moreover, these messages must be around the relevant use cases such as pre-purchase or post-purchase inquiry, lead generation, or general community management.
(ii) The brand must leverage and have enough live agents to manage conversations via Facebook approved Messaging Partners for Instagram Messaging API (Eg Jumper.ai)
To confirm your eligibility or to know about Jumper.ai’s readiness for supporting the new Instagram messaging capabilities, speak to Jumper.ai experts.
STEP 2: Staff and train your live agents for Instagram Messaging API
Live human agents are central to the new Instagram messaging experience for brand-to-consumer conversations. Hence, Facebook mandates that applying brands must be adequately staffed with such agents and ensure they are internally trained and equipped to handle customer interactions according to the conversational commerce best practices and etiquettes. These include things like:
- Fast response time
- Suitable greetings and closures
- Respect for privacy
- Smooth agent transfers
- Minimal channel switching
- And case-to-case response automation
STEP 3: Analyze Instagram Messaging performance and fine-tune the customer experience
With the new Instagram messaging beta launch, you must evaluate the performance and learn from the patterns, use cases, or hiccups. These will then be used to improve the user experience for the broader roll-out. Some of the conversational commerce metrics you should be tracking are:
- The number of messages handled,
- Response rates,
- Improvement in agent productivity,
- Time to resolution,
- The number of sales opportunities, etc
STEP 4: Apply for the beta launch of Instagram Messaging API via your partner/provider
Interested brands can collaborate with an approved Facebook Messaging partner and design the complete integration plan and customer journey. In this regard, Jumper is helping brands:
- Design their agent workflow and user experience
- Train their agents,
- Design agent workflows that might be unique to them, e.g., how agents will prioritize the messages, mark a conversation as ‘closed,’ etc.
Finally…
A social shopping boom on the back of conversational commerce is coming our way. The new Instagram messaging experience will only catalyze the same. For brands to make the best use of this phenomenon and gain the first-mover advantage, it is imperative to catch hold of the right partner. Jumper.ai is in a unique position today, at the very cusp of this shopping revolution, and has a vast experience in enabling conversational shopping for global brands across Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other channels.
Get in touch to explore how your brand can leverage our solution and expertise in integrating the new Instagram Messaging API.